Division of Gravitational Physics

Division of Gravitational Physics
Name	Division of Gravitational Physics
Abbreviation	DGP
Formation	1995
Type	Professional society subdivision
Headquarters	American Physical Society Headquarters, College Park, Maryland
Leader title	Chair
Leader name	Kip Thorne
Parent organization	American Physical Society

Division of Gravitational Physics is a unit of the American Physical Society dedicated to advancing research in gravitational physics, promoting interaction among researchers, and recognizing achievements in fields related to relativity and gravitation. It serves as a focal point connecting scientists across institutions such as Caltech, MIT, Princeton University, Stanford University, and University of Cambridge, and interfaces with laboratories including LIGO Laboratory, CERN, and Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics. The Division organizes meetings, administers awards, and supports collaborations among theorists and experimentalists from groups like Nobel Prize laureates, members of National Academy of Sciences, and investigators affiliated with centers such as Perimeter Institute, IPMU, and Yukawa Institute.

History

The Division traces its origins to interest groups within the American Physical Society that coalesced during the late 20th century as milestones such as the development of the Hulse–Taylor binary, the founding of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory project at Caltech and MIT, and the awarding of prizes like the Gravitation Research Award to pioneers including Joseph Weber and Richard Feynman. Founding figures associated with the Division include scientists from Princeton University and Cornell University who organized workshops following events like the Soviet–American Conferences and symposia at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics. The Division expanded during eras marked by discoveries from projects led by Kip Thorne, Rainer Weiss, and Barry Barish, and by theoretical advances from researchers such as Roger Penrose, Stephen Hawking, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, and John Wheeler.

Mission and Activities

The Division’s mission emphasizes support for research in areas represented by awardees of prizes like the Albert Einstein Medal, the Wolf Prize, and the Breakthrough Prize, and by collaborations with observatories including VIRGO, KAGRA, and GEO600. Activities include organizing topical sessions at annual meetings such as those co-sponsored with the APS April Meeting, coordinating outreach with institutions like the American Institute of Physics, and advising policy bodies including the National Science Foundation and panels of the National Academies. The Division publishes topical programs, endorses white papers to agencies such as NASA, and partners with archives like the arXiv community.

Membership and Governance

Membership comprises faculty, postdoctoral researchers, students, and observers from universities and laboratories including Harvard University, Yale University, University of Chicago, Columbia University, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Santa Barbara, University of Texas at Austin, University of Maryland, and international members from University of Tokyo, University of Oxford, École Normale Supérieure, and Australian National University. Governance follows bylaws of the American Physical Society with an elected Executive Committee, chairs, vice-chairs, and appointed liaisons to organizations such as the International Astronomical Union and European Research Council. Notable past officers have included researchers affiliated with Max Planck Society, Institute for Advanced Study, and national labs like Los Alamos National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Conferences and Meetings

The Division sponsors sessions at the APS March Meeting, the APS April Meeting, and organizes standalone gatherings such as the GR (General Relativity) series and workshops modeled on conferences like Strings, Amaldi Conferences, and topical meetings at the Perimeter Institute and Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics. Collaborations with experimental consortia lead to joint meetings with LIGO Scientific Collaboration, European Gravitational Observatory, and mission teams for projects such as LISA and Einstein Telescope. The Division also coordinates special sessions timed with events like announcements from the Nobel Committee and major results from observatories like Event Horizon Telescope.

Awards and Honors

The Division administers or nominates candidates for honors connected to achievements recognized by the Nobel Prize in Physics, the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, the Dirac Medal, the Gruber Cosmology Prize, and APS awards including the John Wheeler Award and APS Fellowship. It grants Division-specific prizes and organizes citation committees drawing from laureates such as Rainer Weiss, Kip Thorne, Barry Barish, Roger Penrose, and Stephen Hawking to highlight landmark contributions in areas exemplified by detections reported by LIGO Scientific Collaboration and theoretical milestones like the Hawking radiation prediction.

Education and Outreach

Outreach efforts include public lectures featuring speakers from institutions like Caltech, MIT, Princeton University, and University of Cambridge, coordination with museums such as the Smithsonian Institution and American Museum of Natural History, and educational partnerships with programs like REU and summer schools hosted by Perimeter Institute and ICTP. The Division supports curriculum development at universities including University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University, mentoring programs linked to the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and cross-disciplinary initiatives with the Space Telescope Science Institute.

Research Areas and Collaborations

Research spans experimental and theoretical topics such as gravitational-wave astronomy driven by collaborations like LIGO Scientific Collaboration, relativistic astrophysics connected to observations from the Event Horizon Telescope and VLBI networks, quantum gravity investigations involving groups at Perimeter Institute, CERN, and Institute for Advanced Study, and numerical relativity efforts rooted in centers at Caltech, Cornell University, and Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics. The Division fosters ties with space missions including LISA Pathfinder, LISA, and observational programs at facilities like Square Kilometre Array and European Southern Observatory, and engages with theoretical frameworks advanced by researchers associated with String Theory conferences and mathematical collaborations at institutes such as IHES.

Category:Physics organizations Category:American Physical Society