AboutFacultyNergis Mavalvala

Nergis Mavalvala ’90
Curtis and Kathleen Marble Professor of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
SCIENCE & TECH

Nergis Mavalvala
Nergis Mavalvala is the Curtis and Kathleen Marble Professor of Astrophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the associate head of the Department of Physics.

She is a physicist whose research focuses on the detection of gravitational waves from violent events in the cosmos that warp and ripple the fabric of spacetime. She is part of the scientific team that in early 2016 announced the first direct detection of gravitational waves from colliding black holes using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors. This breakthrough ushers in a new era of astrophysics, allowing observations of the violent and warped universe not visible with light. 

In addition to her work on developing technologies for gravitational wave detectors since her graduate student years in the 1990s, Mavalvala has also conducted pioneering experiments to generate exotic quantum states of light and to optically cool and trap mirrors to enable observation of quantum effects in human-scale objects.

She is the recipient of a 2010 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. Mavalvala earned a BA in physics and astronomy from Wellesley College and a PhD in physics from MIT.

Events

Wintersession 2017
SCIENCE & TECH
The 100 Year Quest to Detect Gravitational Waves: The Long Arc of Scientific Discovery
Nergis Mavalvala '90, Curtis and Kathleen Marble Professor of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, discussed the history and significance of the search for gravitational waves and her own role on the LIGO project -- an international project to detect these waves.