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ELTE Fizika Intezet


                             ORTVAY KOLLOKVIUM

                  2009. szeptember 24. , csutortok, 15 orakor
  Az ELTE Pazmany Peter s. 1/A alatti epuleteben a foldszinti 0.83 eloadoban

                                 Rainer Weiss 
                            (Prof. Emeritus, MIT): 
                "Interferometric gravitational wave detection" 

Kivonatos ismertetes:

OUTLINE: 
Basic ideas about gravitational waves 
How interferometers detect gravitational waves 
Noise sources and sensitivity limits 
Current performance of the instruments 
Types of gravitational wave sources 
Some interesting upper limits 
Hopes for the future 

Rainer (Rai) Weiss is professor of physics emeritus at MIT. 

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION 
Weiss was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1932. Fleeing political unrest, his 
family moved first to Prague, in late 1932, and then to the United States, in 
1938; his youth was spent in New York City, where he attended Columbia 
Grammar 
School. He studied at MIT, receiving his B.S. in 1955 and Ph.D. in 1962 from 
Jerrold Zacharias. He taught at Tufts University in 1960-62, was a 
postdoctoral 
scholar at Princeton University from 1962-64, and then joined the faculty at 
MIT in 1964. 

ACHIEVEMENTS 
Weiss has brought two fields of fundamental physics research from birth to 
maturity: characterization of the cosmic background radiation, and 
interferometric gravitational wave observation. 
He made pioneering measurements of the spectrum of the cosmic microwave 
backgroundradiation, and then was co-founder and an intellectual leader of 
the 
NASA COBE(microwave background) satellite. 
Weiss also invented the interferometric gravitational wave detector, and 
co-founded theNSF LIGO (gravitational-wave detection) Project. Both of these 
efforts couple remarkable challenges in instrument science with physics of 
the 
deepest importance for our understanding of the Universe. 
Weiss contributed to LIGO through: 
* his inception of the measurement technique 
* recognition and delineation of the experimental challenges 
* building of early prototype instruments 
* leadership of the effort to propose full-scale observatories 
* engineering of the world's largest ultra-high vacuum system to house the 
instruments 
* commissioning of the initial detectors 
* forming and first leadership of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration 
* mentorship of many of the physicists leading the field. 

CV: 
1967-1973 Associate Professor of Physics, M.I.T. 
1973-2001 Professor of Physics, M.I.T. 
2001- Adjunct Professor of Physics, L.S.U 
2001- Professor of Physics,Emeritus, M.I.T. 

Research: 
Experimental Atomic Physics, Atomic Clocks, Laser Physics, 
Experimental Gravitation, Millimeter and Sub - millimeter Astronomy, Cosmic 
Background Measurements, 
Major Projects: 
Atomic Clock development, 
Balloon program to measure Cosmic Background Radiation, 
Science Working Group Chairman, COBE satellite program, 
Laser Interferometer Gravitational - Wave Observatory (LIGO) 

Professional Societies: 
American Association for the Advancement of Science (Fellow) 
American Physical Society (Fellow) 
American Astronomical Society 
New York Academy of Sciences 
American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Fellow) 
National Academy of Sciences (Member) 
Sigma Xi 

Honors: 
MIT, Baker Award for Excellence in Teaching (1968) 
NASA, Achievement Award (Monolithic Bolometers) (1983) 
NASA/GSFC, Group Achievement Award (COBE) (1990) 
NASA, Exceptional Scienti?c Achievement Medal (COBE) (1991) 
NASA, Group Achievement Medal (COBE) (1991) 
National Space Club, Science Award (COBE Team) (1994) 
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (2000) 
Medaille de l'ADION Observatoire de Nice (2003) 
Gruber Cosmology Prize as part of COBE Team (2006) 
Einstein Prize of the American Physical Society (2007) 

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