Gravitational Waves and Fundamental Physics
The recent discoveries of gravitational waves by LIGO/Virgo interferometers and of Higgs boson by LHC taught us about the internal workings of the universe more than any other scientific discovery in the preceding decades. Yet more questions arose than we got answers to. Research at GWFP is targeted at finding answers to those fundamental questions.
Fast facts
- Established in 2019
- Focus on gravitational-wave (GW) interferometry and particle physics research
- Part of GW astronomy collaborations: LIGO, Virgo and Einstein Telescope
- Part of the LHCb collaboration (CERN)
- Home to ETpathfinder, the unique cryogenic test facility for Einstein Telescope
We develop new technologies for the next generation European gravitational-wave detector Einstein Telescope, designed to observe the whole Universe in GW spectrum. Gravitational waves are ripples on the fabric of space-time born in catastrophic collisions of the most massive and densest objects in the universe, the black holes and neutron stars.
To detect these tiny ripples, Einstein Telescope, the Europe’s next generation GW observatory will be built, and our group is working on a range of advanced technologies to make this reality. Maastricht University is a home for the unique experimental facility, the ET Pathfinder that will become a testbed for a range of groundbreaking cryogenic and quantum technologies to be used in the ET.
We try to understand the workings of the universe on a particle level. The LHCb experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN aims to study the forces of nature - electromagnetic, strong and weak - at the smallest scales and highest energies. Especially in the early universe, right after the big bang, new particles and forces could have had a dramatic impact on the way the universe looks and behaves today. At LHCb, we specialize in measuring the matter-antimatter differences in heavy particles, called CP-violation, and making precision studies of the effects that potential new particles or forces have in very rare particle decays, through so-called quantum loops.
In Maastricht we contribute to the physics analyses, the operation of the detector at the LHC, and to the algorithms used to reconstruct physics from our data. To face the future challenges of the large amounts of data produced by the particle collisions, we study the applications of machine learning, the use of graphics processing units in high-performance computing, and explore the potential that quantum computing can offer.
News
Quantum Computing Research @ UM
"Just do the calculations" is a common saying in the field of quantum computing, the development of software for quantum computers. Everything in this field is new; simply doing the math is often the best way to proceed. At Maastricht University, an interdisciplinary group of scientists works in...
What is Quantum Computing?
Programming quantum computers, like the quantum computer itself, is still in its early stages. Quantum computing researchers tend to be physicists, mathematicians, or computer scientists who have a special interest in the mathematical framework of quantum mechanics.
What is Quantum?
Atoms and smaller elementary particles behave in unusual, sometimes unpredictable ways. It sounds strange, but it is this unpredictability that gives a quantum computer its power. Executing precise calculations with previously unheard-of possibilities in a way that physicists still do not completely...
Alessandro Bertolini, the scientist who studies and loves quietness
Alessandro Bertolini, an experimental physicist, will be appointed endowed professor of Gravitational Wave Detection Technologies at Maastricht University on September 1. Bertolini is a world-renowned expert in vibration isolation research. His task will be to keep the mirrors of the Einstein...
NWO Vidi grant for physicist Keri Vos
Keri Vos (Maastricht University/Nikhef) has received an NWO Vidi grant for her work on precision studies of heavy ‘beauty’ particles, NWO announced on Thursday. These studies can help solve the mystery of the missing antimatter in the universe.
