Dr. Rana Adhikari
Professor of Physics, California Institute of Technology - Photo Credit: Lance Hayashida, Caltech Communications
An experimental physicist with interests in fundamental physics and tests of gravity and quantum mechanics, Dr. Rana Adhikari is recognized as one of the world’s top scientists in Life Sciences and fundamental Physics.
A graduate from the University of Florida, he went on to earn his Ph.D from MIT in 2004. One of the key member of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) team, they made the first-ever direct observation of gravitational waves in 2015. His group focuses on further improving LIGO's measurements of black holes by exploring the limits of quantum measurements, and using those black holes to measure the shape of the universe.
Dr. Adhikari (along with Lisa Barsotti and Matthew Evans from MIT) was one of the six recipients of the New Horizons in Physics Prize, 2019. The New Horizons in Physics Prizes honors early-career achievements in physics and math.