Matthew Evans
· Mathworks Professor of PhysicsMassachusetts Institute of Technology · Physics
Active 1994–2024
About
Matthew Evans is the Mathworks Professor of Physics at MIT, working on providing the designs and foundations for the next generation of gravitational wave detectors. His research focuses on improving the current generation of gravitational-wave detectors and paving the way for future observatories. His lab-scale projects aim to develop low thermal noise coatings and enhance control of the quantum-optical state of gravitational-wave interferometers, such as through the use of frequency dependent squeezing. Prof. Evans received a B.S. in Physics from Harvey Mudd College in 1996 and a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 2002. He worked on LIGO and Virgo until 2007, then joined MIT as a research scientist working on the Advanced LIGO design. In January 2013, he moved to his current position at MIT, where his research group began work on new technologies to improve Advanced LIGO sensitivity. He currently leads the US effort to develop the Cosmic Explorer, a next-generation gravitational-wave detector. His contributions include critical advancements in detector sensitivity, techniques for quantum noise reduction, and leadership in community efforts to design future large-scale detectors. His work has been recognized with awards such as the New Horizons in Physics Prize, the Appointed MathWorks Professor of Physics, and fellowships from the American Physical Society.
Research topics
- Physics
- Astrophysics
- Computer Science
- Mathematics
- Quantum mechanics
- Theoretical physics
- Mathematical analysis
- Optics
- Astronomy
- Computational physics
Selected publications
Physical review. D/Physical review. D. · 2021 · 425 citations
- Physics
- Astrophysics
- Computational physics
We report results of a search for an isotropic gravitational-wave background (GWB) using data from Advanced LIGO's and Advanced Virgo's third observing run (O3) combined with upper limits from the earlier O1 and O2 runs. Unlike in previous observing runs in the advanced detector era, we include Virgo in the search for the GWB. The results of the search are consistent with uncorrelated noise, and therefore we place upper limits on the strength of the GWB. We find that the dimensionless energy density GW 5.8 10 -9 at the 95% credible level for a flat (frequency-independent) GWB, using a prior which is uniform in the log of the strength of the GWB, with 99% of the sensitivity coming from the band 20-76.6 Hz; GW f 3.4 10 -9 at 25 Hz for a power-law GWB with a spectral index of 2=3 (consistent with expectations for compact binary coalescences), in the band 20-90.6 Hz; and GW f 3.9 10 -10 at 25 Hz for a spectral index of 3, in the band 20-291.6 Hz. These upper limits improve over our previous results by a factor of 6.0 for a flat GWB, 8.8 for a spectral index of 2=3, and 13.1 for a spectral index of 3. We also search for a GWB arising from scalar and vector modes, which are predicted by alternative theories of gravity; we do not find evidence of these, and place upper limits on the strength of GWBs with these polarizations. We demonstrate that there is no evidence of correlated noise of magnetic origin by performing a Bayesian analysis that allows for the presence of both a GWB and an effective magnetic background arising from geophysical Schumann resonances. We compare our upper limits to a fiducial model for the GWB from the merger of compact binaries, updating the model to use the most recent datadriven population inference from the systems detected during O3a. Finally, we combine our results with observations of individual mergers and show that, at design sensitivity, this joint approach may yield stronger constraints on the merger rate of binary black holes at z 2 than can be achieved with individually resolved mergers alone.
Gravitational-wave physics and astronomy in the 2020s and 2030s
Nature Reviews Physics · 2021 · 268 citations
- Physics
- Astronomy
- Astrophysics
The 100 years since the publication of Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity saw significant development of the understanding of the theory, the identification of potential astrophysical sources of sufficiently strong gravitational waves and development of key technologies for gravitational-wave detectors. In 2015, the first gravitational-wave signals were detected by the two US Advanced LIGO instruments. In 2017, Advanced LIGO and the European Advanced Virgo detectors pinpointed a binary neutron star coalescence that was also seen across the electromagnetic spectrum. The field of gravitational-wave astronomy is just starting, and this Roadmap of future developments surveys the potential for growth in bandwidth and sensitivity of future gravitational-wave detectors, and discusses the science results anticipated to come from upcoming instruments. In the past few years, gravitational-wave observations provided stunning insights into some of the most cataclysmic events in the Universe, heralding a bright future for gravitational-wave physics and astronomy. This is a Roadmap for the field in the coming two decades.
Physical Review Letters · 2020 · 1301 citations
- Computer Science
- Physics
- Astrophysics
On May 21, 2019 at 03:02:29 UTC Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo observed a short duration gravitational-wave signal, GW190521, with a three-detector network signal-to-noise ratio of 14.7, and an estimated false-alarm rate of 1 in 4900 yr using a search sensitive to generic transients. If GW190521 is from a quasicircular binary inspiral, then the detected signal is consistent with the merger of two black holes with masses of 85_{-14}^{+21} M_{⊙} and 66_{-18}^{+17} M_{⊙} (90% credible intervals). We infer that the primary black hole mass lies within the gap produced by (pulsational) pair-instability supernova processes, with only a 0.32% probability of being below 65 M_{⊙}. We calculate the mass of the remnant to be 142_{-16}^{+28} M_{⊙}, which can be considered an intermediate mass black hole (IMBH). The luminosity distance of the source is 5.3_{-2.6}^{+2.4} Gpc, corresponding to a redshift of 0.82_{-0.34}^{+0.28}. The inferred rate of mergers similar to GW190521 is 0.13_{-0.11}^{+0.30} Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1}.
Recent grants
Frequent coauthors
- 443 shared
J. van den Brand
- 339 shared
E. Chassande–Mottin
Laboratoire AstroParticule et Cosmologie
- 294 shared
A. Heidmann
- 293 shared
C. Buy
Université de Toulouse
- 274 shared
I. W. Harry
University of Portsmouth
- 269 shared
B. Willke
Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics
- 269 shared
J. D. E. Creighton
- 267 shared
R. L. Ward
University of Glasgow
Awards & honors
- 2019 // New Horizons in Physics Prize (with Dr. Lisa Barsott…
- 2019 // Appointed MathWorks Professor of Physics
- 2019 // American Physical Society Fellow
- 2016 // Special Breakthrough Prize (awarded to LIGO Scientif…
- 2016 // Gruber Cosmology Prize (awarded to The LIGO Discover…
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