Skip to main content
Collaboration

The LIGO Scientific Collaboration

The LIGO Scientific Collaboration

The LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) is a group of scientists focused on the direct detection of gravitational waves, using them to explore the fundamental physics of gravity, and developing the emerging field of gravitational wave science as a tool of astronomical discovery. The LSC works toward this goal through research on, and development of techniques for, gravitational wave detection; and the development, commissioning and exploitation of gravitational wave detectors. The LSC carries out the science of the LIGO Observatories, located in Hanford, Washington and Livingston, Louisiana as well as that of the GEO600 detector in Hannover, Germany. Our collaboration is organized around three general areas of research: analysis of LIGO and GEO data searching for gravitational waves from astrophysical sources, detector operations and characterization, and development of future large scale gravitational wave detectors. Founded in 1997, the LSC is currently made up of more than 1000 scientists from over 100 institutions and 18 countries worldwide. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) consists of two widely separated installations within the United States -- one in Hanford Washington and the other in Livingston, Louisiana -- operated in unison as a single observatory. LIGO is operated by the LIGO Laboratory, a consortium of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Funded by the National Science Foundation, LIGO is an international resource for both physics and astrophysics. [ Taken from www.ligo.org ]:

Visit the collaboration website

Name Role Affiliations Email Phone Office Centers Research topics
Shomik Adhicary Shomik Adhicary Graduate Student Physics sva5823@psu.edu +1 814 865 7533 334 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Black Holes, Dark Matter, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Koustav Chandra Koustav Chandra Postdoc Astronomy, Physics kbc5795@psu.edu 307 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Black Holes, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Viviana Cáceres Viviana Cáceres Graduate Student Physics vac5288@psu.edu 7872344444 317 Whitmore Laboratory CMA Gravitational Waves
Yixuan Dang Yixuan Dang Graduate Student Physics ykd5167@psu.edu 8142802592 114 Osmond Laboratory IGC Gravitational Waves
Arnab Dhani Arnab Dhani Graduate Student Physics aud371@psu.edu +1 814 865 7533 317 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Black Holes, Gravitational Waves
Joshua Gonsalves Joshua Gonsalves Undergraduate Student ICDS, Physics jpg6184@psu.edu 4847877738 334 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Gravitational Waves
Ish Gupta Ish Gupta Graduate Student Physics ishgupta@psu.edu +1 814 865 7533 317 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Black Holes, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Chad Hanna Chad Hanna Faculty Astronomy, ICDS, Physics crh184@psu.edu +1 814 865 2924 303 Whitmore Laboratory CMA Black Holes, Dark Matter, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Yun-Jing Huang Yun-Jing Huang Graduate Student Physics yzh5436@psu.edu 334 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Gravitational Waves
Prathamesh Joshi Prathamesh Joshi Graduate Student ICDS, Physics ppj5075@psu.edu 301D Whitmore Laboratory IGC Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
James Kennington James Kennington Graduate Student Physics jwkennington@psu.edu +1 814 865 7533 Box 66 Whitmore Laboratory CFT Black Holes, Dark Matter, Gravitational Waves, Mathematical Structures
Sanika Khadkikar Sanika Khadkikar Graduate Student ICDS, Physics sbk6031@psu.edu 317 Whitmore Laboratory CMA Multimessenger Astrophysics
Peter Mészáros Peter Mészáros Faculty Astronomy, Physics nnp@psu.edu 814-863-4167 504 Davey Laboratory CMA Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Neutrinos
Pranav Narayanan Pranav Narayanan Undergraduate Student Astronomy psn5080@psu.edu 9432384214 IGC Black Holes, Gravitational Waves, Dynamic Universe
Sayan Neogi Sayan Neogi Graduate Student Physics sqn5477@psu.edu 9999999 9999999999 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Gravitational Waves
Victoria Niu Victoria Niu Graduate Student Physics wmn5062@psu.edu +1 814 865 7533 334 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Black Holes, Dark Matter, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Alexander Pace Alexander Pace Staff Physics aep14@psu.edu +1 814 865 6995 334B Whitmore Laboratory IGC Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Shiksha Pandey Shiksha Pandey Graduate Student Physics spp5950@psu.edu 312 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Dark Matter, Gravitational Waves
Cort Posnansky Cort Posnansky Graduate Student Physics clp5773@psu.edu +1 814 863 9605 334 Whitmore Laboratory CMA Black Holes, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Monica Rincon Ramirez Monica Rincon Ramirez Staff Physics mxr463@psu.edu 307 Whitmore Laboratory CFT, CTOC Black Holes, Loop Quantum Gravity, Physical Mathematics, Quantum Universe
Shio Sakon Shio Sakon Graduate Student ICDS, Physics sks6461@psu.edu 321 F Whitmore Laboratory IGC Black Holes, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
B.S. Sathyaprakash B.S. Sathyaprakash Faculty Astronomy, Physics bss25@psu.edu 312 Whitmore Laboratory CMA, CTOC Black Holes, Dark Matter, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Ron Tapia Ron Tapia Staff Physics rdt12@psu.edu +1 814 867 6091 334C Whitmore Laboratory CMA
Name Role Affiliations Email Phone Office Centers Research topics
Sydney Chamberlin Sydney Chamberlin Postdoc Physics smc6287@psu.edu CMA Black Holes, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Bryce Cousins Bryce Cousins Staff ICDS, Physics bfc5288@psu.edu +1 814 863 9605 301 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Becca Ewing Becca Ewing Faculty Physics ree55@psu.edu 301 Whitmore Laboratory CMA, IGC Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Daniel George Daniel George Undergraduate Student Physics dyg5236@psu.edu CMA Black Holes, Gravitational Waves
Patrick Godwin Patrick Godwin Staff Physics patrick.godwin@ligo.org CMA Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Anuradha Gupta Anuradha Gupta Postdoc Physics axg645@psu.edu CMA Black Holes, Gravitational Waves
Collin Heckman Collin Heckman Graduate Student Astronomy cmh424@psu.edu CMA Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Rachael Huxford Rachael Huxford Faculty Physics reh255@psu.edu 317 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Rahul Kashyap Rahul Kashyap Postdoc Physics rkk5314@psu.edu 307 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Ryan Magee Ryan Magee Graduate Student Physics rzm50@psu.edu CMA Black Holes, Dark Matter, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Phoebe McClincy Phoebe McClincy Graduate Student Astronomy pkm5220@psu.edu CMA Dark Matter, Gravitational Waves
Cody Messick Cody Messick Graduate Student Physics ccm188@psu.edu CMA Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Debnandini Mukherjee Debnandini Mukherjee Postdoc Physics Debnandini.Mukherjee@ligo.org CMA Black Holes, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Vaishak Prasad Vaishak Prasad Postdoc Astronomy, Physics vaishakprasad@psu.edu +1 (814) 280 1977 307 McAllister IGC Black Holes, Gravitational Waves
Samuele Ronchini Samuele Ronchini Postdoc Astronomy sjs8171@psu.edu 8148657705 IV Building CMA, IGC Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Surabhi Sachdev Surabhi Sachdev Postdoc Physics szs1416@psu.edu CMA Black Holes, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Divya Singh Divya Singh Faculty Physics dus960@psu.edu 301 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Black Holes, Dark Matter, Gravitational Waves
Mukesh Singh Mukesh Singh Graduate Student Astronomy mks7196@psu.edu 8142808735 317 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Javed Rana Sk Javed Rana Sk Postdoc Physics javed.sk@ligo.org CMA Multimessenger Astrophysics
Leo Tsukada Leo Tsukada Faculty Physics lqt5311@psu.edu +1 814 863 9605 301A Whitmore Laboratory IGC Gravitational Waves
About our wordmark
Monica Rincon Ramirez

The IGC wordmark was created by Monica Rincon Ramirez while she was a graduate student at the Institute. Monica enjoys drawing new connections between fundamental theory and observations. Her graduate work included general relativity, loop quantum gravity, and quantum fields in cosmological backgrounds; her thesis focused on effective quantum corrections to gravitational phenomena from spinfoams and applications to cosmology. She received her PhD in 2024.

The wordmark symbolizes the scope of research at the IGC. The base represents quantum gravity, evoking the quantum geometrical picture from spinfoams and loop quantum gravity — approaches studied at the Center for Fundamental Theory. The middle shows galaxies embedded in a smooth surface characteristic of spacetime in general relativity and the larger physical scales studied at the Center for Theoretical and Observational Cosmology. The top curves to an extreme representing a supermassive black hole accompanied by an energetic jet, with a binary black hole pair nearby — the high-energy phenomena studied at the Center for Multimessenger Astrophysics.