The outing began with a discussion on fusion energy, followed by a tour of the National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX-U). NSTX-U will attempt to contain a plasma of hydrogen using strong magnetic fields, eventually heating the plasma to temperatures sufficient to begin fusion reactions. This is the latest in a sequence of experiments at the PPPL to explore the potential of magnetically confined plasmas as a source of fusion energy. (See .)

A special thanks to Dr. Zwicker and Britt Albucker for hosting us at PPPL.

The next partial solar eclipses viewable from New Jersey will be on August 12, 2026 and August 12, 20245. On May 1, 2079, New Jersey will experience its next total solar eclipse. See you then!

For more photos of the eclipse event at ����vlog, check out (courtesy of John LaRosa, University Photographer) and the University’s news story on this event.

This fourth observing run, known as O4, promises to take gravitational-wave astronomy to the next level. It follows three prior observing runs, the first beginning in September 2015. Those runs have detected more than 80 black hole mergers, two probable neutron star mergers, and a few events that were most likely black holes merging with neutron stars.

O4 will begin on May 24th and last 20 months, including up to two months of commissioning breaks where the detectors will be further improved. It will be the most sensitive search yet for gravitational waves. LIGO will resume operations on May 24th, while the Virgo detector (near Pisa, Italy) will join later in the year. KAGRA—the newest detector and located under a mountain in Japan—will join for one month, beginning May 24th, rejoining later in the observing run after some upgrades. During O4, researchers expect to observe even more energetic cosmic events and gain new insights into the nature of the universe.

“We are in for a flood of gravitational wave events that will dwarf all the previous observing runs,” said Shaon Ghosh, an Assistant Professor in the Physics and Astronomy Department. “Much of the development work over the past few years has been addressing this anticipated high volume of detections, and now we are ready for the show.”

With the detectors’ increased sensitivity, O4 will observe a larger fraction of the universe than previous observing runs. The LIGO detectors will begin O4 approximately 30% more sensitive than before. This increased sensitivity will result in a higher rate of observed gravitational-wave signals, resulting in a detection of a merger every 2 or 3 days. Additionally, the increased sensitivity will allow us to extract more physical information (including unique astrophysical and cosmological information) from the data. It will also improve scientists’ ability to test Einstein’s theory of general relativity and infer the true population of dead stars in the local Universe.

As co-leader of a working group within the LSC, Prof. Ghosh helped spearhead the effort to send automated alerts on detected gravitational-wave signals. These software generated alerts are produced within 60 seconds of a signal detection, and are sent out to astronomers and telescope facilities around the world and orbiting in space. The alerts contain information about the possible sky position of a gravitational-wave event, allowing telescopes or space-based detectors to look for an electromagnetic signal from collisions involving neutron stars. These alerts also inform astronomers if neutron stars are involved in the coalescence and if the star’s structure is disrupted; these are crucial requirements for the emission of light following the stellar merger.

Along with undergraduate student Michael Camilo, Prof. Ghosh is also investigating how multiple detections of neutron star collisions can help constrain the interior properties of those extremely dense stars.  The properties of nuclear matter at these high densities are uncertain and impossible to replicate in Earth-based laboratories; they can only be probed using neutron stars. “Our work will pave the way to systematically combine information from multiple detections and contribute to a state-of-the-art understanding of neutron star matter,” says Ghosh.

The LIGO detectors themselves underwent several upgrades since the previous observing period. Among those upgrades were improvements to various optical components that enter the LIGO detectors.  Rodica Martin, an Associate Professor in the Physics & Astronomy Department, contributed to those improvements by increasing the performance of devices called Faraday isolators. These devices use magnetic fields to control the polarization of light and help constrain the path of LIGO’s powerful laser.

“The first three observing periods hinted at the enormous potential for gravitational-wave observations to probe astrophysical processes in our Universe,” says Prof. Favata, PI of the Montclair State LIGO group and chairperson of the Physics & Astronomy Department. “The significant expected increase in detected events in O4 and future observing runs will help us realize that potential.”

Gravitational-wave observatories

LIGO is funded by the NSF, and operated by Caltech and MIT, which conceived and built the project. Financial support for the Advanced LIGO project was led by NSF with Germany (Max Planck Society), the U.K. (Science and Technology Facilities Council) and Australia (Australian Research Council) making significant commitments and contributions to the project. More than 1,500 scientists from around the world participate in the effort through the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, which includes the GEO Collaboration. Additional partners are listed at http://ligo.org/partners.php .

The Virgo Collaboration is currently composed of approximately 850 members from 143 institutions in 15 different (mainly European) countries. The European Gravitational Observatory (EGO) hosts the Virgo detector near Pisa in Italy, and is funded by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France, the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) in Italy, and the National Institute for Subatomic Physics (Nikhef) in the Netherlands. A list of the Virgo Collaboration groups can be found at http://public.virgo-gw.eu/the-virgo-collaboration/. More information is available on the Virgo website at https://www.virgo-gw.eu.

KAGRA is the laser interferometer with 3 km arm-length in Kamioka, Gifu, Japan. The host institute is Institute for Cosmic Ray Research (ICRR), the University of Tokyo, and the project is co-hosted by National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK). KAGRA collaboration is composed of over 480 members from 115 institutes in 17 countries/regions. KAGRA’s information for general is at the website https://gwcenter.icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/. Resources for researchers are accessible from http://gwwiki.icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp/JGWwiki/KAGRA.

[This article is based on the .]

This April 28th, the Physics & Astronomy Department at ����vlog is hosting the annual spring meeting of the NJSGC. The meeting features a poster session where NJSGC student fellows from the past year can present their research. There will also be a 30-minute research talk by MSU physics professor Dr. Shaon Ghosh on his work related to neutron stars.

In addition to supporting a variety of educational service projects, NASA’s Space Grant Program funds fellowships and scholarships for students pursuing STEM careers. The NJSGC and its 22 affiliate institutions are one of 52 Space Grant consortia nationwide. The NJSGC is directed by Prof. Haim Baruh of Rutgers University. More information about the NJSGC can be found .

Schedule of events for Annual Spring Meeting of the NJSGC

• Poster session, Friday, April 28th, 1pm – 4pm, CELS Atrium
• Research talk, Friday, April 28th, 2pm – 2:40pm, CELS 120,
  Title: Understanding neutron star structure using gravitational-waves and x-rays
  Speaker: Prof. Shaon Ghosh, ����vlog.

See photos from the and from the .

In his Space Talk “Cosmic Clues from Gravitational Waves” on March 2, Favata explained how he and other scientists “listen” to the ripples of gravity to learn more about colliding black holes and neutron stars.

 is billed as a “cosmic conversation” that shines a light on new areas of astronomy. The giant dome of the planetarium is described by the Liberty Science Center as being “the ideal venue for today’s working astronomers to share their pursuit of answers to the Big Unanswered Questions of the universe, from the secrets of black holes, to life on other planets, to the mysteries of dark matter, and beyond.”

In the last year alone, Space Talks have been given by astronomers from Princeton, MIT,  Columbia, Rutgers and CUNY as well as a member of the James Webb telescope team.

While the Hubble and James Webb telescopes produce amazing images of our cosmos, Favata’s “Cosmic Clues from Gravitational Waves” talk explored the way scientists listen to the ripples of gravity to observe the mysteries of space and time. Using both images and sound, he explained that the gravitational waves – which evoke the image of a pebble being dropped into a pool of water, sending out gentle ripples through the universe – provide a kind of drumbeat that reveals more about colliding black holes and neutron stars than conventional telescopes.

“Gravitational waves are cool,” Favata says, “and we can use them to explore the universe in a different way than we have before, in a way that’s more like listening than watching. I’ll be talking about why they’re exciting, and what we can do with these new observations.”

Favata contributes to this research as a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. In 2015 the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) made the first-ever detection of gravitational waves produced by the merger of two black holes.

“I want to help focus the public’s attention on that discovery,” he says. “It’s a huge project with lots of people, including myself and two other Montclair faculty members who each contribute a small piece to the bigger puzzle.”

The research conducted by Favata, who is also chair of the Physics and Astronomy department, focuses on modeling gravitational-waves from colliding neutron stars and black holes, and using those waves to explore the properties of stellar collisions and test Einstein’s theory of relativity.

Favata worked with the Planetarium team to bring his research to life with images from the Webb and Hubble telescopes on the giant dome, which is 89 feet in diameter and fully digital.

“Dr. Favata even used sound during the talk as a means of exploring the nature of gravitational waves and the massive, distant events (collisions of distant black holes and of neutron stars) that cause them,” Planetarium Director Mike Shanahan said after the Space Talk. “The visuals on the dome helped to bring to life the collisions of these distant objects vividly, and the sounds provided a down-to-earth means of helping the audience grasp these deep-space ideas.”

“It was great fun giving a talk in the Liberty Science Center’s planetarium,” Favata said afterward. “It’s a very impressive space. The staff there were very helpful in customizing my presentation to make full use of the dome. It was a great evening, and we had lots of questions afterwards in the Weston Family Lab for Earth and Space Exploration [funded by Montclair benefactor Josh Weston��.”

The Space Talk series is held on the first Thursday of each month and coincides with the  events for patrons 21 and older, that include food, alcohol, dancing and exploration of the exhibits at night.

Story by Editorial Director Laura Griffin. Photos by University Photographer John LaRosa. Adapted from University News posting.

In a new study published June 29 in , scientists have announced the detection of gravitational waves from two rare events, each involving the collision of a black hole and a neutron star.

The gravitational waves were detected by the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in the United States and by the Virgo detector in Italy. An additional detector in Japan called KAGRA joined the LIGO-Virgo network in 2020, but was not online during these detections.

����vlog faculty members Marc Favata, Shaon Ghosh and Rodica Martin are part of the international LIGO team that made the discovery. Approximately 1,400 scientists from around the world participate in the effort to operate the detector and analyze the data through the LIGO Scientific Collaboration.

“From its inception, LIGO and its partners expected to detect three classes of compact stellar binaries: pairs of two black holes, pairs of two neutron stars, and mixed pairs – a black hole and a neutron star orbiting each other,” says Favata, who is chairperson of Montclair State’s Department of Physics and Astronomy and PI of the University’s LIGO group. “Since 2015, we’ve found 48 black hole pairs and two neutron star pairs. Now, we’ve finally found this third type of compact binary and can estimate the rate at which these events happen – it took gravitational-wave detectors to make this possible.”

Gravitational waves are disturbances in the curvature of space-time created by massive objects in motion. The waves were first measured in 2015, a finding that led to the. They are primarily produced by merging pairs of black holes or neutron stars. Both black holes and neutron stars are the corpses of massive stars, with black holes being even more massive than neutron stars.

The extreme events announced today, which occurred 10 days apart in January 2020, made splashes in space that sent gravitational waves rippling across at least 900 million light-years to reach Earth.

The first merger, detected on January 5, involved a black hole about nine times the mass of our sun and a 1.9-solar-mass neutron star. The second merger involved a 6-solar-mass black hole and a 1.5-solar-mass neutron star. In each case, the neutron star was likely swallowed whole by its black hole partner.

The first of the two events, GW200105, was observed by the LIGO Livingston and Virgo detectors. It produced a strong signal in the LIGO detector but had a weak signal in the Virgo detector. The other LIGO detector, located in Hanford, Washington, was temporarily offline. Given the nature of the gravitational waves, the team inferred that the signal was caused by a black hole colliding with a 1.9-solar-mass compact object, later identified as a neutron star. This merger took place 900 million light-years away.

The second event, GW200115, was detected by both LIGO detectors and the Virgo detector. GW200115 comes from the merger of a black hole with a 1.5-solar-mass neutron star that took place roughly 1 billion light-years from Earth.

“A binary system consisting of a black hole and a neutron star is of great interest to the astrophysics community,” says Ghosh. “Having both neutron stars and black holes, these systems bring the `best of both worlds.’ They are louder gravitational-wave sources than binary pairs with only neutron stars, and can be seen farther out in the universe. Unlike pairs with only black holes, they can possibly emit electromagnetic waves along with the gravitational waves they produce.”

Ghosh served as part of the team that drafted the paper reporting this discovery. An analysis code he helped develop led to a rapid determination that these systems contained a neutron star and black hole pair, and also that there would be only a small chance for these collisions to produce an electromagnetic signal. For the two events, the black holes were large enough to swallow the neutron stars whole, without giving off a light show. Additionally, these mergers were far enough away that any light coming from them would be dim and hard to detect with even the most powerful telescopes.

Due in part to the computational infrastructure developed by Ghosh and his collaborators, astronomers were alerted to both events soon after they were detected in gravitational waves and subsequently searched the skies for associated flashes of light. As predicted, no electromagnetic signals were found.

Having now confidently observed two examples of gravitational waves from black holes merging with neutron stars, researchers estimate that, within 1 billion light-years of Earth, roughly one such merger happens per month.

“With every step that increases the detectors’ sensitivity, we observe new signals and more confidently confirm the origins of gravitational waves, adding to our understanding of the universe,” says Martin, who was a member of the team that helped design and install the upgrade to LIGO that enabled the first-ever detections of gravitational waves in 2015. “The next generation of gravitational-wave detectors will have the sensitivity to detect black hole and neutron star collisions from much earlier in the universe’s history.” Martin works with a large team of Montclair State undergraduates, designing optical components that will be used in a future improvement to the LIGO detectors.

����vlog joined the LIGO Scientific Collaboration in 2013 and is one of 127 institutions in the 1,400+ member collaboration. Current Montclair State students involved in gravitational-wave research include Claudia Barone, Michael Camilo, Ariella Hernandez, Kevin Johansmeyer, Mariam Mchedlidze, John Notte, Jonathan Reyes, Jacob Santos, and Ricky Wilde.

“The detector groups at LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA are improving their detectors in preparation for the next observing run scheduled to begin in summer 2022,” says Patrick Brady, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and spokesperson for the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. “With the improved sensitivity, we hope to detect merger waves up to once per day and to better measure the properties of black holes and super-dense matter that makes up neutron stars.”

More information about this discovery can be found at .

To learn more about ����vlog’s Physics and Astronomy department, visit montclair.edu/physics-astronomy.

Here are the different dual-degree pathways:

• BS Physics + Master of Engineering (ME) in Mechanical Engineering: This 4 + 1 program is great preparation for a physics student who plans to pursue an industry job in engineering. Students complete their Physics BS coursework in 3 years at Montclair State. In year 4 they begin their Mechanical Engineering coursework at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. The BS from Montclair State is awarded at the end of year 4, and the Master’s degree is awarded after completion of year 5. The combination of physics and mechanical engineering degrees provides an exceptionally strong skill set to the graduate.
• BS Physics + Master of Science in Applied Mathematics: This 4 + 1 program provides a good option for students who want additional preparation and exploration in a field close to Physics. While completing their Physics BS, students can begin taking courses in Applied Mathematics. This includes a course in General Relativity, and students have the option to do a research or thesis project with a physics faculty member. This pathway is an excellent option for a student who wants to pursue a PhD in Physics or Applied Mathematics, or apply for an industry job that requires strong mathematical, computational, and problem-solving skills. See to learn more.
• BS Physics + Master of Business Administration (MBA): Many physicists become successful entrepreneurs and business people, or work in finance, accounting, and management consulting. A physics BS and a MBA provide a great degree pair as many companies are looking for candidates with strong analytical ability as well as knowledge of business, economics, and related fields. Students in this pathway begin their MBA coursework in their senior year, graduate with their Physics BS degree, then wrap up their MBA in year 5. See for more information.
• MS Physics + Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT): Montclair State has a long history of training physics teachers and our graduates routinely land coveted positions in academically strong high schools. This 4 + 1 pathway provides the same rigorous training as our Physics major and certifies the graduate to teach high school Physics or Physical Science (physics + chemistry). In addition to the Master’s degree (which affords most new teachers a higher starting salary), this program provides additional training that leads to a certification in teaching students with disabilities. These are especially good options for transfer students interested in physics teaching. In addition to the 4+1 BS/MAT options, the stand-alone MAT degree in Physics or Physical Science is also available for students who have already completed their undergraduate degree in a field close to Physics. See our degree programs page for more information about our options for becoming a physics teacher.

For more information about these degree programs, please see our degree programs website or contact our department chairperson.

Ghosh, an Assistant Professor in the since January 2020, will use the computing time to train students in his introductory physics course in numerical problem-solving techniques. The grant provides access to 100,000 CPU hours of computational time on the JetStream architecture, with an estimated value of $2000.

“Learning to code a computer to solve scientific problems is an indispensable part of physics education,” says Ghosh. “But often students do not get an opportunity to learn this skill until their higher-level undergraduate classes. There is a very steep learning curve by that time that can be discouraging to some students. This course will give the students an opportunity to get acquainted with scientific programming at the earliest possible stage of their physics curriculum.”
Students in Ghosh’s course will remotely run codes in the Python programming language, using a JupyterHub computational environment. They will learn techniques such as root finding, numerical integration, and solving differential equations.

“Professor Ghosh’s expertise is in gravitational-wave data analysis, and he brings a depth of knowledge about high-performance computing to our department,” says Marc Favata, chairperson of the Physics and Astronomy Department. “Getting introductory physics students deeply involved with computational thinking is an ambitious but important goal. I’m very glad to see that he is already finding ways to use his expertise to improve the training of our students.”

The detected signal, labeled GW190521, was generated by two black holes that collided roughly 17 billion light-years away, making it one of the most distant gravitational-wave sources detected so far. This newest merger appears to be the most massive yet, involving two inspiraling black holes with masses about 85 and 66 times the mass of the sun. The merger created an even more massive black hole, of about 142 solar masses, and released an enormous amount of energy, equivalent to around 8 solar masses.

“This discovery is especially significant because it provides the best evidence yet for black holes in the so-called ‘intermediate-mass’ range—-those larger than 100 solar masses but smaller than 100,000 solar masses,” says Marc Favata, chairperson of the Physics and Astronomy Department and member of the LIGO team.

The signal, resembling about four short wiggles, is extremely brief in duration, lasting less than one-tenth of a second. The LIGO-Virgo team has also measured each black hole’s spin and discovered that as the black holes were circling ever closer together, they could have been spinning about their own axes, at angles that were out of alignment with the axis of their orbit. The black holes’ misaligned spins likely caused their orbits to wobble, or “precess,” as they spiraled toward each other.

“The heavier of the two black holes that coalesced is an exciting object in its own right,” says Shaon Ghosh, also a LIGO team member and the latest Assistant Professor to join the Physics & Astronomy Department.  “The analysis confidently reveals that this object is heavier than 65 solar masses. Theoretical models predict that black holes between about 65 and 120 solar mass cannot be created from the collapse of massive stars. This is the first black hole found with a mass in this regime, and its origin is a bit of a mystery.” Prof. Ghosh currently co-leads the team responsible for the rapid release of data on gravitational-wave detections, allowing astronomers to scan the same sky regions with telescopes looking for electromagnetic emission from the gravitational-wave event.

“The universe continues to amaze us with gravitational-wave signals from surprising sources, making us refine our understanding and theoretical predictions for the existence of these objects,” says Rodica Martin, Assistant Professor of Physics and one the LIGO team members who helped construct the LIGO optical systems. Building even more sensitive detectors will open up the window of exploration to events that we didn’t consider or predict.” Prof. Martin and her students Claudia Barone, John Notte, and Jonathan Reyes are currently working on designing and testing optical components that will be used in future upgrades to the LIGO detectors.

The international team of scientists, who make up the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) and the Virgo Collaboration, have reported their findings in two papers published on Wednesday, September 2, 2020. One, appearing in Physical Review Letters, details the discovery, and the other, in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, discusses the signal’s physical properties and astrophysical implications.

This research was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Additional information about the gravitational-wave observatories

LIGO is funded by the NSF and operated by Caltech and MIT, which conceived of LIGO and lead the project. Financial support for the Advanced LIGO project was led by the NSF with Germany (Max Planck Society), the U.K. (Science and Technology Facilities Council) and Australia (Australian Research Council-OzGrav) making significant commitments and contributions to the project. Approximately 1,300 scientists from around the world participate in the effort through the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, which includes the GEO Collaboration. A list of additional partners is available through the .

The Virgo Collaboration is currently composed of approximately 520 members from 99 institutes in 11 different countries including Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain. The European Gravitational Observatory (EGO) hosts the Virgo detector near Pisa in Italy, and is funded by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France, the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) in Italy, and Nikhef in the Netherlands. View a list of the , and more information is available on the website.

For more information:

• (discovery paper). Published in Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 101102 (2020)
• . Published in Astrophys. J. Lett. 900, L13 (2020)

Gravitational-wave detectors can measure miniscule ripples in the fabric of spacetime; they are produced by colliding black holes, merging neutron stars, and other exotic cosmic phenomena. In 2015 the first gravitational-wave detection from colliding black holes was made by LIGO—the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory. Since then four more black hole collisions have been announced, along with one binary neutron star merger. These discoveries were recognized by the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics. Prof. Martin was involved in the design and installation of the upgrade to LIGO that helped make these detections possible. LIGO is expected to reach its most sensitive configuration in the early 2020s, resulting in a much higher rate of detections.

However, scientists are already thinking about the next generation of detectors, which will be a factor of 10 more sensitive than LIGO. Such detectors (expected in the 2030s) will be able to observe nearly all the stellar-mass black hole mergers in the universe and will allow more precise tests of Einstein’s general relativity. Prof. Martin’s research will focus on a key component of the optical system of these detectors called Faraday Isolators.

According to Martin, “Faraday isolators are critical devices in large-scale gravitational-wave detectors; they protect the interferometer by diverting undesirable back reflections and preventing these reflections from altering its sensitivity.”

Martin’s research involves table-top optics experiments, designed to measure the properties of materials used in these Faraday isolators. A range of materials will be tested, including their behavior at cryogenic temperatures.

“I am so excited about this opportunity”, says Martin.  “This award will allow students at Montclair State to be involved with cutting-edge research that has direct impact to the development of future gravitational-wave detectors.

The research in Martin’s lab will involving training students to develop hands-on skills in areas like optics, lasers, spectroscopy, vacuum systems, and cryogenics. Her work also involves education and outreach activities on behalf of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. This includes public lectures and exhibits at science festivals, and the development of interferometry experiments that can be incorporated into college or high school science courses.