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Dr Alexander Jenkins

I'm a theoretical physicist, working at the interface between cosmology, astrophysics, high-energy physics, and quantum matter. My research looks at new ways of probing the fundamental laws of Nature, whether by using gravitational waves as powerful new astronomical messengers, or by using cutting-edge quantum technologies to simulate the early Universe.

I'm currently based at the University of Cambridge, where I hold the Gavin Boyle Fellowship in Cosmology at the Kavli Institute for Cosmology (KICC) and the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP). I am also supported by a UKRI Stephen Hawking Fellowship, and am a Fellow of Selwyn College.

Much of my current work focuses on vacuum decay, a fascinating quantum-mechanical phenomenon that is a ubiquitous feature of early-Universe cosmology. As a member of the Quantum Simulators for Fundamental Physics (QSimFP) Consortium, I am helping to develop laboratory experiments that will empirically test our understanding of vacuum decay for the first time. These experiments could have important and far-reaching implications for areas ranging from inflation and the multiverse to the stability of the Higgs field.

Another key focus of my research is gravitational-wave astronomy. I am particularly interested in using gravitational-wave observations to probe cosmology and fundamental physics, for example by searching for signals generated in the very early Universe, or by using gravitational-wave sources as tracers of cosmic structure formation. In 2023 I was awarded a Buchalter Cosmology Prize (2nd prize) for my work on detecting gravitational waves via their effect on binary systems.

I was previously a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Cosmoparticle Initiative at University College London (2021-2024). I did my PhD in Theoretical Physics at King's College London (2017-2021), and my MA and MSci in Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge (2013-2017).

Publications

First joint observation by the underground gravitational-wave detector, KAGRA, with GEO600
The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, the Virgo Collaboration, the KAGRA Collaboration, R Abbott, H Abe, F Acernese, K Ackley, N Adhikari, RX Adhikari, VK Adkins, VB Adya, C Affeldt, D Agarwal, M Agathos, K Agatsuma, N Aggarwal, OD Aguiar, L Aiello, A Ain, P Ajith, T Akutsu, S Albanesi, RA Alfaidi, A Allocca, PA Altin et al.
(2022)
(doi: 10.48550/arxiv.2203.01270)
Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Backgrounds: Current Detection Efforts and Future Prospects
AI Renzini, B Goncharov, AC Jenkins, PM Meyers
– Galaxies
(2022)
10,
34
(doi: 10.3390/galaxies10010034)
Cosmology and Fundamental Physics in the Era of Gravitational-Wave Astronomy
AC Jenkins
(2022)
(link to publication)
Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Backgrounds: Current Detection Efforts and Future Prospects
AI Renzini, B Goncharov, AC Jenkins, PM Meyers
(2022)
(doi: 10.48550/arxiv.2202.00178)
Search for gravitational waves from Scorpius X-1 with a hidden Markov model in O3 LIGO data
TLIGOS Collaboration, TV Collaboration, TKAGRA Collaboration, R Abbott, H Abe, F Acernese, K Ackley, N Adhikari, RX Adhikari, VK Adkins, VB Adya, C Affeldt, D Agarwal, M Agathos, K Agatsuma, N Aggarwal, OD Aguiar, L Aiello, A Ain, P Ajith, T Akutsu, S Albanesi, RA Alfaidi, A Allocca, PA Altin et al.
(2022)
(doi: 10.48550/arxiv.2201.10104)
Probing Anisotropies of the Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background with LISA
N Bartolo, D Bertacca, R Caldwell, CR Contaldi, G Cusin, VD Luca, E Dimastrogiovanni, M Fasiello, DG Figueroa, G Franciolini, AC Jenkins, M Peloso, M Pieroni, A Renzini, A Ricciardone, A Riotto, M Sakellariadou, L Sorbo, G Tasinato, J Torrado, S Clesse, S Kuroyanagi
(2022)
(doi: 10.48550/arxiv.2201.08782)
Search for continuous gravitational waves from 20 accreting millisecond x-ray pulsars in O3 LIGO data
R Abbott, TD Abbott, F Acernese, K Ackley, C Adams, N Adhikari, RX Adhikari, VB Adya, C Affeldt, D Agarwal, M Agathos, K Agatsuma, N Aggarwal, OD Aguiar, L Aiello, A Ain, T Akutsu, S Albanesi, A Allocca, PA Altin, A Amato, C Anand, S Anand, A Ananyeva, SB Anderson et al.
– Physical Review D
(2022)
105,
022002
(doi: 10.1103/PhysRevD.105.022002)
Ability of LISA to detect a gravitational-wave background of cosmological origin: The cosmic string case
G Boileau, AC Jenkins, M Sakellariadou, R Meyer, N Christensen
– Physical Review D
(2022)
105,
023510
(doi: 10.1103/physrevd.105.023510)
All-sky search for continuous gravitational waves from isolated neutron stars using Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo O3 data
TLIGOS Collaboration, TV Collaboration, TKAGRA Collaboration, R Abbott, H Abe, F Acernese, K Ackley, N Adhikari, RX Adhikari, VK Adkins, VB Adya, C Affeldt, D Agarwal, M Agathos, K Agatsuma, N Aggarwal, OD Aguiar, L Aiello, A Ain, P Ajith, T Akutsu, S Albanesi, RA Alfaidi, A Allocca, PA Altin et al.
(2022)
(doi: 10.48550/arxiv.2201.00697)
All-sky search for short gravitational-wave bursts in the third Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo run
R Abbott, TD Abbott, F Acernese, K Ackley, C Adams, N Adhikari, RX Adhikari, VB Adya, C Affeldt, D Agarwal, M Agathos, K Agatsuma, N Aggarwal, OD Aguiar, L Aiello, A Ain, P Ajith, T Akutsu, S Albanesi, A Allocca, PA Altin, A Amato, C Anand, S Anand, A Ananyeva et al.
– Physical Review D
(2021)
104,
122004
(doi: 10.1103/PhysRevD.104.122004)
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Relativity and Gravitation

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BL.33

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01223 765317

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