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Dr Alexander Jenkins

I'm a theoretical physicist, working at the interface between cosmology, high-energy physics, and quantum matter. My research looks at new ways of probing the fundamental laws of Nature, whether that's using gravitational waves as cosmic messengers, or using 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 an EPSRC 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 am now part of an international team of 40+ scientists developing the GUEST mission concept (Gravitational Universe Exploration with Satellite Tracking), which will use these ideas to search for microhertz gravitational waves, ultralight dark matter, and deviations from general relativity.

I'm a core organiser of CamGW, an interdepartmental network for gravitational-wave researchers in Cambridge. I'm also a co-organiser of GW:UK, which plays a similar role on a national scale, connecting gravitational-wave researchers across the UK.

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

Search for Subsolar-Mass Binaries in the First Half of Advanced LIGO’s and Advanced Virgo’s Third Observing 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, S Albanesi, A Allocca, PA Altin, A Amato, C Anand, S Anand, A Ananyeva, SB Anderson et al.
– Physical review letters
(2022)
129,
061104
(doi: 10.1103/physrevlett.129.061104)
Projection effects on the observed angular spectrum of the astrophysical stochastic gravitational wave background
D Bertacca, A Ricciardone, N Bellomo, AC Jenkins, S Matarrese, A Raccanelli, T Regimbau, M Sakellariadou
(2022)
(doi: 10.48550/arxiv.1909.11627)
Searches for Gravitational Waves from Known Pulsars at Two Harmonics in the Second and Third LIGO-Virgo Observing Runs
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.2111.13106)
New horizons for fundamental physics with LISA
KG Arun, E Belgacem, R Benkel, L Bernard, E Berti, G Bertone, M Besancon, D Blas, CG Böhmer, R Brito, G Calcagni, A Cardenas-Avendaño, K Clough, M Crisostomi, V De Luca, D Doneva, S Escoffier, JM Ezquiaga, PG Ferreira, P Fleury, S Foffa, G Franciolini, N Frusciante, J García-Bellido, C Herdeiro et al.
– Living Reviews in Relativity
(2022)
25,
4
(doi: 10.1007/s41114-022-00036-9)
CLASS_GWB: robust modeling of the astrophysical gravitational wave background anisotropies
N Bellomo, D Bertacca, AC Jenkins, S Matarrese, A Raccanelli, T Regimbau, A Ricciardone, M Sakellariadou
– Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
(2022)
2022,
030
(doi: 10.1088/1475-7516/2022/06/030)
Narrowband searches for continuous and long-duration transient gravitational waves from known pulsars in the LIGO-Virgo third observing run
The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, the Virgo Collaboration, the KAGRA Collaboration, 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 et al.
(2022)
(doi: 10.48550/arxiv.2112.10990)
Narrowband Searches for Continuous and Long-duration Transient Gravitational Waves from Known Pulsars in the LIGO-Virgo Third Observing 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.
– The Astrophysical Journal
(2022)
932,
133
(doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac6ad0)
All-sky, all-frequency directional search for persistent gravitational waves from Advanced LIGO’s and Advanced Virgo’s first three observing runs
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
(2022)
105,
122001
(doi: 10.1103/PhysRevD.105.122001)
All-sky search for gravitational wave emission from scalar boson clouds around spinning black holes in LIGO O3 data
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, A Amato, C Anand, S Anand et al.
– Physical Review D
(2022)
105,
102001
(doi: 10.1103/physrevd.105.102001)
All-sky search for gravitational wave emission from scalar boson clouds around spinning black holes in LIGO O3 data
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.2111.15507)
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