Vassiliki (Vicky) Kalogera

Kalogera’s research interests lie in the astrophysics of compact objects across the electromagnetic spectrum and in gravitational waves. In binary systems, where two stars orbit each other, the interactions of compact objects are especially interesting. They can include a wide variety of violent phenomena such as powerful X-ray emissions, supernova explosions, black hole formation, and mergers. Her research is focused mainly on how such systems are born, how they evolve, and how they end their lives. She is also interested in how the properties of such systems are affected by their galactic environments.

Kalogera is a leading astrophysicist in the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) and a member of this collaboration for more than 25 years. LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory) is the special kind of ‘telescope’ that first detected gravitational waves in 2015, 100 years after Einstein predicted them to exist. That first detection opened a new window onto the universe uniquely revealing powerful mergers of black holes. Later detections enabled coupled gravitational-wave and electromagnetic-wave, multi-messenger, observations revealing the sites of gold and other heavy metals production. Kalogera is at the forefront of this emergent field of gravitational-wave astronomy and uses data analysis and astrophysical modeling to understand the universe’s population of black holes and neutron stars. Over the past decade she has co-led innovative research employing advanced data-science and artificial intelligence methods in computational astrophysics challenges.