Rainer Weiss
Rainer "Rai" Weiss (/waɪs/; German: [vaɪs]; September 29, 1932 – August 25, 2025) was a German-born American physicist of partly Jewish descent (his father was Jewish).[1] He was known for his works in gravitational physics and astrophysics.
Rainer Weiss | |
|---|---|
 Weiss in December 2006 | |
| Born | September 29, 1932 |
| Died | August 25, 2025 (aged 92) |
| Education | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS, MS, PhD) |
| Known for | Pioneering laser interferometric gravitational wave observation |
| Awards | Einstein Prize (2007) Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2016) Gruber Prize in Cosmology (2016) Shaw Prize (2016) Kavli Prize (2016) Harvey Prize (2016) Princess of Asturias Award (2017) Nobel Prize in Physics (2017) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics Laser physics Experimental gravitation Cosmic background measurements |
| Institutions | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Thesis | Stark Effect and Hyperfine Structure of Hydrogen Fluoride (1962) |
| Doctoral students | Dirk Muehlner, David Owens, Patricia Downey , Daniel Dewey, Jeffrey Livas, Nelson Christensen, Peter Fritschel, Michelle Stephens, Joseph Kovalik, Joseph Giaime, Partha Saha, Nergis Mavalvala, Brett Bochner, Brian Lantz, Julien Sylvestre, Ryan Lawrence, Rana Adhikari |
| Other notable students | Bruce Allen |
Works
He was a professor of physics emeritus at MIT. He was best known for inventing the laser interferometric technique, which is the basic operation of LIGO.[2]
Weiss was Chair of the COBE Science Working Group.[3][4][5]
In 2017, Weiss was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, along with Kip Thorne and Barry Barish, "for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves".[6][7][8][9]
Death
Weiss died at a hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on August 25, 2025, at the age of 92.[2]
References
- ↑ Emvogil-3.mit.edu. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 McCain, Dylan Loeb (August 26, 2025). "Rainer Weiss, Who Gave a Nod to Einstein and the Big Bang, Dies at 92". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/science/rainer-weiss-dead.html. Retrieved August 26, 2025.
- ↑ Lars Brink. Nobel Lectures in Physics (2006 – 2010) (2 June 2014)World Scientific. p. 25–. ISBN 978-981-4612-70-8.
- ↑ NASA and COBE Scientists Win Top Cosmology Prize (2006)NASA. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
- ↑ Weiss, Rainer. Measurements of the Cosmic Background Radiation. Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 18 (1980). p. 489–535. doi:10.1146/annurev.aa.18.090180.002421.
- ↑ The Nobel Prize in Physics 2017 (3 October 2017)The Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
- ↑ Rincon, Paul; Amos, Jonathan (3 October 2017). "Einstein's waves win Nobel Prize". BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-41476648. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
- ↑ Overbye, Dennis (3 October 2017). "2017 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to LIGO Black Hole Researchers". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/03/science/nobel-prize-physics.html. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
- ↑ Kaiser, David (3 October 2017). "Learning from Gravitational Waves". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/03/opinion/gravitational-waves-ligo-funding.html. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
Other websites
Media related to Rainer Weiss at Wikimedia Commons- Rainer Weiss on IMDb
- Rainer Weiss's website at MIT
- LIGO Group at the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
This short article about a person from the United States can be made longer. You can help Wikipedia by adding to it.