A collage of visualizations of various cosmic events
Visualizations of merging neutron stars; core-collapse supernova simulation; merging black holes; source sky map. (Images l-r: Price & Rosswog; C. Ott; black-holes.org; L. Singer)

A collage of LIGO Hanford, LIGO Livinsgton, and Virgo detector aerials
LIGO Livingston Observatory, LIGO Hanford Observatory, Virgo Observatory (Images: Caltech/MIT/LIGO Lab; Virgo)

Welcome to the home of the Caltech LIGO Laboratory Astrophysics group. We can be found on the 2nd and 3rd floors of West Bridge Laboratory on the Caltech campus.

Our goal is to detect gravitational-wave signals from distant astrophysical sources with Advanced LIGO and its sister observatories, and study the properties of the waves (testing General Relativity) and of their astrophysical sources (neutron stars, black holes, core-collapse supernovae, the Big Bang).

All of our astrophysical data analysis is done in close coordination with the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration.

We have a large Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (LIGO SURF) program, open to students from Caltech and elsewhere. We welcome Caltech graduate students interested in research in gravitational wave physics and astrophysics. We sometimes have open positions for postdoctoral scholars and scientific staff. We enjoy outreach activities with schools, science clubs, etc.

Inquiries about our science and our group, including opportunities and outreach, can be sent to Professor Alan Weinstein, Group Leader.