Rainer Weiss
Encyclopedia
Rainer Weiss is professor of physics emeritus at MIT
.
in 1960–62, was a postdoctoral scholar at Princeton University
from 1962–64, and then joined the faculty at MIT in 1964.
He made pioneering measurements of the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation, and then was co-founder and an intellectual leader of the NASA
COBE
(microwave background) satellite.
Weiss also invented the interferometric gravitational wave
detector, and co-founded the NSF
LIGO
(gravitational-wave detection) Project. Both of these efforts couple remarkable challenges in instrument science with physics of the deepest importance for our understanding of the Universe.
Weiss contributed to LIGO through:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
.
Early life and education
Weiss was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1932. Fleeing political unrest, his family moved first to Prague, in late 1932, and then to the United States, in 1938; his youth was spent in New York City, where he attended Columbia Grammar School. He studied at MIT, receiving his B.S. in 1955 and Ph.D. in 1962 from Jerrold Zacharias. He taught at Tufts UniversityTufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
in 1960–62, was a postdoctoral scholar at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
from 1962–64, and then joined the faculty at MIT in 1964.
Achievements
Weiss has brought two fields of fundamental physics research from birth to maturity: characterization of the cosmic background radiation, and interferometric gravitational wave observation.He made pioneering measurements of the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation, and then was co-founder and an intellectual leader of the NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
COBE
COBE
The COsmic Background Explorer , also referred to as Explorer 66, was a satellite dedicated to cosmology. Its goals were to investigate the cosmic microwave background radiation of the universe and provide measurements that would help shape our understanding of the cosmos.This work provided...
(microwave background) satellite.
Weiss also invented the interferometric gravitational wave
Gravitational wave
In physics, gravitational waves are theoretical ripples in the curvature of spacetime which propagates as a wave, traveling outward from the source. Predicted to exist by Albert Einstein in 1916 on the basis of his theory of general relativity, gravitational waves theoretically transport energy as...
detector, and co-founded the NSF
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
LIGO
LIGO
LIGO, which stands for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, is a large-scale physics experiment aiming to directly detect gravitational waves. Cofounded in 1992 by Kip Thorne and Ronald Drever of Caltech and Rainer Weiss of MIT, LIGO is a joint project between scientists at MIT,...
(gravitational-wave detection) Project. Both of these efforts couple remarkable challenges in instrument science with physics of the deepest importance for our understanding of the Universe.
Weiss contributed to LIGO through:
- his inception of the measurement technique
- recognition and delineation of the experimental challenges
- building of early prototype instruments
- leadership of the effort to propose full-scale observatories
- engineering of the world's largest ultra-high vacuum system to house the instruments
- commissioning of the initial detectors
- forming and first leadership of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration
- mentorship of many of the physicists leading the field.