Research in Multi-Messenger Astrophysics
The research conducted by members of the UMCMA spans the full range of multimessenger astrophysics.
- The Gravity group "listens" to the gravitational waves produced by black hole and neutron star mergers.
- The High Energy Physics cohort detects interactions of particles to reveal supernova dynamics, spacetime structure, and the presence of dark matter.
- The Electromagnetic Radiation investigators watch light streaming from extragalactic jets. Together, we use information from all these messengers to learn how the universe works.
External Funding
A key motivation for creating the UMCMA was to increase the success rate and funding levels of external grant proposals. Several of the UMCMA personnel have served on grant review panels and seen firsthand the advantage afforded by the infrastructure and intellectual support provided by established research centers.
Being part of the UMCMA enhances the competitiveness of PI grant proposals in several ways.
- Dedicated center administrative staff can increase the efficiency and quality of proposal preparation
- Membership in the UMCMA validates that a strong collaborative local academic team supports the PI
- Availability of some Center resources to augment grant funds enhances confidence of project success
All these benefits give an edge to CMA-aligned grant proposals, resulting in a higher success rate securing external funding. As a result, in the first five years of operation, UMCMA-related external funding has increased 5-fold, including NSF CAREER and EPSCoR awards and a Sloan Fellowship.
High Energy Physics
Dr. Breese Quinn
Dr. Quinn's work on the Fermilab Muon g-2 experiment somewhat stretches the idea of multimessenger astrophysics. He uses muons in a storage ring as a sensitive probe of the spacetime structure of the universe, searching for violations of spacetime symmetries and evidence of dark matter. The High Energy Physics postdocs and graduate students have also won several fellowships to support their work in residence at Fermilab.
Gravity Physics
Dr. Anuradha Gupta
Dr. Anuradha Gupta, an Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, is a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and LISA Consortium. She works towards the detection and parameter estimation of gravitational wave signals coming mostly from binary systems composed of neutron stars and black holes.
Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow
Dr. Leo Stein, Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy, was selected as an emerging leader in STEM innovation as a 2023 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow. A renowned researcher of astronomy and black holes, Stein has coauthored articles in the peer-reviewed journal Physical Review Letters and received a Faculty Early Career Development Program Award from the National Science Foundation.
Leo Chaim Stein
Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy
Research on Location
America's high energy physics laboratory, host to thousands of researchers from around the world. [Photo credit: Reidar Hahn, Fermilab]
NuMI Off-axis νe Appearance experiment is shedding light on one of nature’s most elusive particles: neutrinos. It consists of a near detector at Fermilab and a far detector at Ash River, Minnesota. [Photo credit: Reidar Hahn, Fermilab]
The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is the next generation leading-edge, international experiment for neutrino science. It will consist of a near detector suite at Fermilab and far detectors at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota. [Illustration credit: DUNE Collaboration]
The EMPHATIC (Experiment to Measure the Production of Hadrons At a Testbeam In Chicagoland) experiment is based at the Fermilab Test Beam Facility (FTBF). It is a table-top-sized experiment that measures hadron production for improved neutrino flux predictions. [Illustration Credit: EMPHATIC Collaboration]
Muon g-2 is an experiment at Fermilab to measure the precession of muons in a magnetic field to a precision of 140 parts per billion. [Photo credit: Reidar Hahn, Fermilab]
Located in Livingston, LA, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory measures the distortions in space-time occurring between stationary, hanging masses (mirrors) caused by passing gravitational waves.
LISA, Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, consists of three spacecraft that form an equilateral triangle in space where the sides of the triangle extend about a million miles. They relay laser beams back and forth and the signals are combined to search for gravitational wave signatures that come from distortions of spacetime.
Radio Telescope Effelsberg, with a diameter of 100 meters, is a radio telescope in the Ahr Hills (part of the Eifel) in Bad Münstereifel, Germany. It is one of the most advanced modern telescopes in the word and is managed by the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy.