Rainer Weiss Biography and Timeline

Shot-Noise-Limited Interferometer

Weiss demonstrates a laser interferometer whose sensitivity is limited by photon shot noise, establishing an experimental foundation for precision interferometric gravitational-wave detection.

Kilometre-Scale Interferometer Design

Weiss documents a kilometre-scale interferometric detector, identifies fundamental noise sources and describes methods capable in principle of reaching astrophysically useful gravitational-wave sensitivity.

Cosmic Microwave Background

Weiss helps propose a satellite mission concept to measure the cosmic microwave background precisely

NSF Interferometer Research

National Science Foundation support expands Weiss's interferometer research at MIT, helping move gravitational-wave detection from laboratory prototypes toward plans for much longer instruments.

Long-Baseline Detector Study

Weiss leads a technical and cost study for a several-kilometre gravitational-wave interferometer, showing that a long-baseline observatory is technically feasible.

LIGO NSF Proposal

Weiss, Drever, Thorne, Fred Raab and Vogt submit a major LIGO proposal to the National Science Foundation, setting out the design for two long-baseline observatories.

LIGO

Weiss helps shape the laser interferometer design that becomes central to LIGO

Gravitational Waves

Weiss sees the interferometer concept vindicated when LIGO detects gravitational waves from merging black holes

GW170817 Multimessenger Event

LIGO observes the neutron-star merger GW170817, enabling the first gravitational-wave event with extensive electromagnetic follow-up.

Nobel Prize for LIGO

Shares the Nobel Prize in Physics for decisive contributions to LIGO and the observation of gravitational waves, first detected from a binary black hole merger.

Nobel Prize

Weiss receives the Nobel Prize for decisive contributions to LIGO and gravitational wave observation

LIGO Observation Run

LIGO and Virgo begin the O3 observing run for gravitational waves.

Role range: 1932-