Samaya Nissanke

Samaya Michiko Nissanke is an astrophysicist, associate professor in gravitational wave and multi-messenger astrophysics and the spokesperson for the GRAPPA Centre for Excellence in Gravitation and Astroparticle Physics at the University of Amsterdam.^[1][2] She works on gravitational-wave astrophysics and has played a founding role in the emerging field of multi-messenger astronomy. She played a leading role in the discovery paper of the first binary neutron star merger, GW170817, seen in gravitational waves and electromagnetic radiation.^[3]

Samaya Nissanke
Education	Westminster School
Alma mater	University of Cambridge Institut d'astrophysique de Paris
Awards	Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2016) Gruber Prize in Cosmology (2016) New Horizons in Physics Prize (2020) Suffrage Science award (2021)
Scientific career
Institutions	Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics California Institute of Technology Radboud University Nijmegen University of Amsterdam
Thesis	Aspects théoriques de la forme des ondes gravitationnelles pour les phases spiralante et de fusion des systèmes binaires compacts (2007)

In 2020, she was awarded the New Horizons in Physics Prize from the Breakthrough Prize Foundation with Jo Dunkley and Kendrick Smith for "the development of novel techniques to extract fundamental physics from astronomical data".^[4][5][6]. She was awarded the 2021 Suffrage Award Award for Engineering and Physical Sciences for "outstanding science, science communication and support for women in STEM," nominated by Prof. Amina Helmi of the University of Groningen.

Early life and education

Nissanke was born in London to a Japanese mother and a Sri Lankan father. She completed her bachelor's and master's degrees in the Natural Sciences Tripos (Physics) at the University of Cambridge.^[7] She then joined the Paris Observatory for her postgraduate studies.^[7] Nissanke earned her PhD in analytical relativity at the Institut d'astrophysique de Paris in 2007 with a thesis titled Aspects théoriques de la forme des ondes gravitationnelles pour les phases spiralante et de fusion des systèmes binaires compacts (Theoretical aspects of the shape of gravitational waves for the spiraling and merging phases of compact binary systems).^[7][8]

Research

Nissanke completed her postdoctoral research at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, the Jet Propulsion Lab, California Institute of Technology and Radboud University Nijmegen^[9] working on gravitational wave and electromagnetic emission from compact object mergers since 2007.^{[10][11][12][13]} She is a member of the Virgo collaboration and works with the BlackGEM, VLA, MeerKAT and LOFAR telescopes and was part of the group that discovered the radio counterpart to GW170817.^[14] She demonstrated it was possible to determine the Hubble constant using gravitational wave observations from merging neutron star binaries and how to identify the elusive electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave mergers.^[10][12]

Nissanke was working at Radboud as the group leader for the gravitational wave group when the first detection of gravitational waves was confirmed.^[15][16] In 2016 she was awarded Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) TOP and VIDI grants to study the birth of black holes and neutron star mergers.^[17] In June 2018 she joined the faculty at the Gravitational AstroParticle Physics Amsterdam (GRAPPA) Institute at the University of Amsterdam.^[18][19] She is the Astrophysics Working Group Chair of a European Cooperation in Science and Technology Action on Gravitational Waves.^[20]

Public engagement

Nissanke is a popular science communicator and has been interviewed by Scientific American, New Scientist, Nature, Vox Media, BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service and Die Zeit.^[21][22][23] She represented the Virgo Collaboration at the European Southern Observatory press conference in 2017, for the announcement of a merger of neutron stars.^[24] Before the detection of gravitational waves, Nissanke joined composer Arthur Jeffes at the Marshmallow Laser Feast to create a piece of music about merging neutron stars and black holes billions of years ago.^{[25][26][27][28][29]}

Awards and honours

As part of the LIGO Scientific and Virgo Collaborations, Nissanke was awarded the Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2016) and the Gruber Prize in Cosmology (2016). In 2019, it was announced that Nissanke would receive the 2020 New Horizons in Physics Prize with Jo Dunkley and Kendrick Smith from the Breakthrough Prize Foundation.^[30] In 2021 Nissanke received a Suffrage Science award, nominated by Amina Helmi.^[31][32]

•  Astronomy portal
•  Physics portal

References

1. Universiteit van Amsterdam (2019-07-15). "Samaya Nissanke elected GRAPPA spokesperson - IoP - University of Amsterdam". IoP. Retrieved 2019-08-27.
2. "Members | GRAPPA". Grappa.amsterdam. 2019-08-19. Retrieved 2019-08-27.
3. Levy, Adam (January 11, 2021). "How black holes morphed from theory to reality". Knowable Magazine. doi:10.1146/knowable-010921-1. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
4. "Breakthrough Prize – Fundamental Physics Breakthrough Prize Laureates – Samaya Nissanke". breakthroughprize.org. Retrieved 2020-02-10.
5. ""A true role model for women in physics": Newnham alumna wins 2020 New Horizons in Physics Prize". Newnham College. 2019-09-13. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
6. "Caltech Faculty Honored with Breakthrough and New Horizons Prizes". www.caltech.edu. 6 September 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
7. "CV and Publications". Samaya Nissanke. 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
8. Michiko, Nissanke, Samaya (2006-01-01). Aspects théoriques de la forme des ondes gravitationnelles pour les phases spiralante et de fusion des systèmes binaires compacts (Thesis).{{cite thesis}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
9. "Dr Samaya Nissanke". Radboud Excellence Initiative (in Dutch). Retrieved 2018-10-09.
10. Nissanke, Samaya; Holz, Daniel; Hughes, Scott; Dalal, Neal; Sievers, Jonathan (2010). "Exploring Short Gamma-ray Bursts as Gravitational-wave Standard Sirens". The Astrophysical Journal. 725 (1): 496–514. arXiv:0904.1017. Bibcode:2010ApJ...725..496N. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/725/1/496. S2CID 14028891.
11. Nissanke, Samaya; Sievers, Jonathan; Dalal, Neal (2011). "Localizing compact binary inspirals on the sky using ground-based gravitational wave interferometers". The Astrophysical Journal. 739 (2): 99. arXiv:1105.3184. Bibcode:2011ApJ...739...99N. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/739/2/99. S2CID 34839630.
12. Nissanke, Samaya; Kasliwal, Mansi; Georgieva, Alessandra (2013). "Identifying Elusive Electromagnetic Counterparts to Gravitational Wave Mergers: an end-to-end simulation". The Astrophysical Journal. 767 (2): 124. arXiv:1210.6362. Bibcode:2013ApJ...767..124N. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/767/2/124. S2CID 40475384.
13. Nissanke, Samaya; Holz, Daniel E.; Dalal, Neal; Hughes, Scott A.; Sievers, Jonathan L.; Hirata, Christopher M. (2013-07-09). "Determining the Hubble constant from gravitational wave observations of merging compact binaries". arXiv:1307.2638 [astro-ph.CO].
14. "The LIGO Team Members | The Gruber Foundation". gruber.yale.edu. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
15. "Samaya Nissanke, gravitational wave specialist about the detection of GW150914". Radboud University (in Dutch). Retrieved 2018-10-09.
16. "Gravitational waves exist and can be measured". Radboud University (in Dutch). Retrieved 2018-10-09.
17. Ursula. "5,8 miljoen TOP-subsidie voor 16 exacte topwetenschappers". www.nwo.nl. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
18. "Welcome, Samaya Nissanke! | GRAPPA". grappa.amsterdam. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
19. Amsterdam, Universiteit van (2018-10-02). "dr. S.M. (Samaya) Nissanke - University of Amsterdam". www.uva.nl. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
20. "COST | Who's Who". www.cost.eu. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
21. "Zwaartekrachtsgolf verlicht voor het eerst fatale dans extreem zware zwarte gaten - New Scientist". New Scientist (in Dutch). Retrieved 2018-10-09.
22. "Gravitationswellen: Frau Nissanke, bekommen Sie nun den Nobelpreis?". ZEIT ONLINE (in German). Retrieved 2018-10-09.
23. "Stars Colliding, The Science Hour - BBC World Service". BBC. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
24. "Samaya Nissanke at ESO neutron star merger press conference". www.eso.org. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
25. "SPACE MUSIC". EPC MUSIC. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
26. "Welcome". Arthur Jeffes. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
27. "This Composer Made Music Out of Gravitational Waves". Motherboard. 2016-02-17. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
28. "Einstein's Gravitational Waves Have Been Turned Into Gorgeous Music". Popular Mechanics. 2016-02-17. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
29. Navarro, Alyssa (2016-02-18). "Gravitational Waves Turned to Music: This Is How Awesome It Sounds". Tech Times. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
30. "Breakthrough Prize – Winners Of The 2020 Breakthrough Prize In Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics And Mathematics Announced". Break Through Prize. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
31. "Dr Samaya Nissanke receives an 'Engineering and Physical Sciences' Suffrage Science award on the scheme's tenth anniversary". University of Amsterdam. 8 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
32. "Leading women in 'Engineering and Physical Sciences' receive awards on scheme's tenth anniversary". Suffrage Science. 8 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.