Alexander Jenkins recognized in 2022 Buchalter Cosmology Prizes

Alex Jenkins won the second prize for his work with Diego Blas (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona) on Bridging the μHz gap in the gravitational-wave landscape with binary resonance. The Buchalter Cosmology Prize is a prestigious annual prize established in 2014, bestowed by Dr. Ari Buchalter, a former astrophysicist turned entrepreneur. It distinguishes research papers contributing to better understand the evolution of the universe.

The judging committee recognized Alex Jenkins and Diego Blas’s work for its “potential for remarkable impact through the exploration of gravitational wave phenomena in the unprobed microhertz frequency band via a novel technique leveraging already-existing missions, which could enable exploration of first-order cosmological phase transitions in the early Universe.”  

Congratulations on winning the 2022 Buchalter Cosmology Second Prize! Can you tell us what your winning research paper is about?

Thank you! Our paper is about how gravitational waves can affect binary systems by stretching and squeezing the space between two objects as they orbit each other. If the frequency of the wave matches the frequency of the orbit, then there’s a resonance effect which causes permanent changes to the orbit that build up over time. We showed that by searching for these changes, one can turn these binaries into surprisingly sensitive gravitational-wave detectors.In particular, by lucky coincidence, the frequency of the Moon’s orbit around the Earth sits in a range that’s been really difficult to reach with other detectors (the so-called “microhertz gap”), so our methods could provide a unique way of looking for gravitational waves at those frequencies.

What does it mean for you to win such a prestigious prize as an early career researcher? What made you apply?

It’s amazing — I feel incredibly lucky and grateful for our research to be recognised in this way. I submitted the paper because I was excited about the work Diego and I had done, but no part of me was expecting to hear back. To find out just after Christmas that we’d won one of the prizes was the perfect way to wrap up 2022!

How important is collaborative work for you?

It’s extremely important, and one of the best parts of being a physicist: the chance to work with and learn from smart and interesting people. This project never would have come about if I hadn’t crossed paths with Diego when we were both at King’s. Right now we’re in the early stages of a new collaboration with experts in laser ranging and in radio astronomy, trying to apply our ideas to real data from the Earth-Moon system and from binary pulsars, respectively.

Tell us more about your future research focus and projects:

I’m really excited about the work I’m doing in the Cosmoparticle Initiative as part of the Quantum Simulators for Fundamental Physics (QSimFP) program, which is developing quantum analogue experiments that can help us better understand what happened in the very early Universe. More generally, the lattice simulations that I use to model these experiments are a really powerful tool for understanding nonlinear field dynamics, and I’m excited to use them to tackle other interesting problems in cosmology.

What brought you to physics in the first place?

I was always fascinated by numbers and patterns as a kid, and loved solving puzzles and maths problems. Then when I was a bit older I started reading books like “A Brief History of Time”, and discovered that physicists use numbers and patterns to study some of the biggest questions you can ask: Why is the Universe the way it is? How did it begin, and how will it end? I’ve been hooked on physics ever since.

What has been the most exciting moment in your researcher’s life to date? 

I will always remember LIGO’s announcement of the first gravitational-wave detection in 2016 as an incredibly exciting moment. I was in the final year of my undergrad degree, trying to figure out what scientific direction I wanted to take. Watching the announcement live-streamed in a packed lecture theatre, I felt like I was witnessing history being made, and I knew immediately that I wanted to be a part of this amazing new field.

What one piece of advice would you give to aspiring physicists?

Being a physicist is the best job there is, and an incredible privilege. Appreciate it and enjoy it!

Links:

Alex Jenkins

Diego Blas

The Prize-Winning paper in Physical Review Letters

Using the moon’s orbit to detect gravitational waves