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Nicolas Yunes

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Nicolás Yunes
Yunes speaks on the Physics-Poetry Duality at PechaKucha Bozeman, Montana, in 2014
Born1980 (age 43–44)
Alma materPennsylvania State University
Washington University in St. Louis
Scientific career
InstitutionsMontana State University
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Princeton University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
ThesisAt the interface : gravitational waves as tools to test quantum gravity and probe the astrophysical universe (2008)

Nicolás Yunes (born July 17, 1980) is an Argentinian theoretical physicist who is a professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the founding director of the Illinois Center for Advanced Studies of the Universe (ICASU). He is particularly interested in extreme gravity, gravitational waves, and compact binaries.

Early life and education

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Yunes was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was an undergraduate student at Washington University in St. Louis, where he studied physics and graduated in 2003. Yunes moved to Pennsylvania State University for graduate studies, where he proposed gravitational waves a way to test for quantum gravity inspired features in the gravitational waves emitted by compact binaries.[1] During his doctoral research he worked as a science monitor at the LIGO Hanford Observatory. From 2008 to 2010, he worked as a research associate at Princeton University. In 2010, Yunes joined Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an Einstein Fellow. [2]

Research and career

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In 2011, Yunes joined the faculty at Montana State University as an assistant professor. After being promoted to an associate professor in 2016 he stayed at Montana State University until 2019 and co-founded the eXtreme Gravity Institute, XGI, at Montana State University. He was made a professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2019. Yunes studies general relativity and gravitation. He was one of the creators of the parametrized post-Einsteinian framework, a proposed formalism to test Einstein's theory of general relativity with gravitational waves.[3]

Yunes extracted astrophysical information from the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER), a NASA payload that was installed in the International Space Station, in 2017. The instrument can perform high precision measurements of neutron stars. By combining the X-ray data from NICER with gravitational wave information from advanced LIGO, Yunes is able to test nuclear physics and general relativity.[4]

Yunes worked on the European Space Agency Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). He is particularly interested in how effectively LISA can test general relativity with gravitational waves emitted by compact binaries. One such system is extreme mass ratio inspirals (EMRIs), in which a small black hole orbits around a much heavier one, and gradually spirals in due to the emission of gravitational waves.[5] These investigations can test whether Einstein was correct about the behaviour of gravity in extreme environments.[5]

In 2020, Yunes and Clifford M. Will wrote a popular science book about gravitational waves and testing Einstein's theories of gravity.[6] In 2022, Yunes and M. Coleman Miller wrote a physics textbook on gravitational waves with applications to nuclear physics, cosmology, astrophysics, and tests of general relativity.[7]

Awards and honors

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Selected publications

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  • Alexander S.; Yunes N. (2009). "Chern-Simons modified general relativity". Physics Reports. 480: 1–55. arXiv:0907.2562. Bibcode:2009PhR...480....1A. doi:10.1016/J.PHYSREP.2009.07.002. ISSN 0370-1573. Wikidata Q68402803.
  • Kent Yagi; Nicolas Yunes (1 July 2013). "I-Love-Q: unexpected universal relations for neutron stars and quark stars". Science. 341 (6144): 365–368. arXiv:1302.4499. doi:10.1126/SCIENCE.1236462. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 23888033. Wikidata Q87150580.

Personal life

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Yunes was married in 2008[citation needed] and has one daughter, born in 2014 . Yunes is the son of Zoila Lorenzo and Dr. Roberto A. Yunes, the former director of the Hospital Tobar García.

References

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  1. ^ Yunes, Nicolas (2008). At the interface: gravitational waves as tools to test quantum gravity and probe the astrophysical universe. OCLC 435913327.
  2. ^ "Einstein, Chandra, and Fermi Fellows Complete List". Einstein Fellowship. Retrieved 2022-04-01.
  3. ^ Communications, Grainger Engineering Office of Marketing and. "Nicolas Yunes". physics.illinois.edu. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  4. ^ a b "MSU gravitational physicist receives NASA award to explore extreme gravity and the universe". Montana State University. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  5. ^ a b c "MSU gravitational physicist awarded grant to test Einstein's theory using observations of colliding black holes". Montana State University. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  6. ^ Will, Clifford M.; Yunes, Nicolas (23 July 2020). Is Einstein still right? : black holes, gravitational waves, and the quest to verify Einstein's greatest creation. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-257942-3. OCLC 1181849247.
  7. ^ Miller, M. Coleman; Yunes, Nicolas (December 2021). Gravitational Waves in Physics and Astrophysics: An artisan's guide. Institute of Physics. ISBN 978-0-7503-3049-7. OCLC 1122800550.
  8. ^ "2008-2013 Alumni Association Dissertation Award Winners". gradschool.psu.edu. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  9. ^ "Jürgen Ehlers Thesis Prize". www.isgrg.org. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  10. ^ "Chandra Press Room :: 2010 Einstein Fellows Chosen :: 26 February 10". chandra.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  11. ^ "Why does Einstein still matter?". Montana State University. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  12. ^ "MSU physicist, Einstein expert wins $500,000 award from National Science Foundation". Montana State University. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  13. ^ "Fellows nominated in 2022". APS Fellows archive. American Physical Society. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
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