Ronald Drever

Ronald Drever
Born 1931
UK
Fields Physics, Laser physics, Experimental Gravitation
Institutions California Institute of Technology, Glasgow University
Alma mater Glasgow University
Known for Pioneering laser interferometric gravitational wave observation.
Notable awards Einstein Prize (2007) by American Physical Society
Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2016)
Gruber Prize in Cosmology (2016)

Ronald W.P. Drever (born 1931) is a Scottish experimental physicist. He was a Professor Emeritus at the California Institute of Technology, co-founded the LIGO project, and was a co-inventor of the Pound-Drever-Hall technique for laser stabilisation. This work was instrumental in the first detection of gravitational waves in September 2015.[1][2][3][4][5]

Drever began his career at Glasgow University, before being recruited to form a gravitational wave program at Caltech.[6] He was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2002[7] and shared the 2007 Einstein Prize with Rainer Weiss.

His creative contribution to the LIGO project was described as crucial to the project by Kip Thorne.[1]

Drever's most recent work involved the development of levitated optical tables for seismic isolation of experimental apparatus. He is now retired to a care home in Scotland and suffers from dementia.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Knapton, Sarah (12 February 2016). "British scientist who played key role in gravitational waves research is suffering from dementia". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  2. ↑ Twilley, Nicola. "Gravitational Waves Exist: The Inside Story of How Scientists Finally Found Them". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
  3. ↑ Abbott, B.P.; et al. (2016). "Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger". Phys. Rev. Lett. 116: 061102. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102.
  4. ↑ Naeye, Robert (11 February 2016). "Gravitational Wave Detection Heralds New Era of Science". Sky and Telescope. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  5. ↑ Castelvecchi, Davide; Witze, Alexandra (11 February 2016). "Einstein's gravitational waves found at last". Nature News. doi:10.1038/nature.2016.19361. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  6. ↑ OVERBYE, DENNIS , CORUM, JONATHAN and DRAKEFORD, JASON (11 February 2016). "Gravitational Waves Detected, Confirming Einstein’s Theory". New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  7. ↑ Five Caltech Faculty Members Elected to Membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

External links


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