Yanbei Chen, professor of physics at Caltech, has been named a 2018 Simons Investigator.These appointments are given annually to "support outstanding scientists in their most productive years, when they are establishing creative new research directions," according to the Simons Foundation, which grants the awards. Investigators receive $100,000 annually for five years.
Chen has made major contributions to understanding the quantum noise of laser interferometer gravitational-wave detectors, including the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO), which arises from quantum fluctuations of light and matter. He has also made important contributions to gravitational-wave data-analysis strategies, and uses gravitational-wave observations to test the predictions of general relativity in strong gravity and to study the structures of black holes.
More information about the 2018 Simons Investigators is here.
Written by Whitney Clavin