Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship

My investigation finds its natural place in the nascent field of Multi-Messenger Time-Domain Astronomy with Gravitational Waves (GWs), which is the new frontier of discovery in Astrophysics. I played a key role in the recent landmark discovery and characterization of light from a GW event. With our first ever joint detection of GWs and light from the outer space, on August 17th 2017 we entered a new era of exploration of our Universe: the era of Multi-Messenger Astrophysics. Information carried by light can now be supplemented and complemented by information carried by gravitational waves, now detectable thanks to the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, LIGO/Virgo. The promise of this multi-messenger endeavor is unprecedented insight into a wide range of extreme physical processes that involve the densest and most compact objects known in our Universe: black holes and neutron stars.