GABY GONZÁLEZ
SPOKESPERSON FOR LIGO, LSU PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY PROFESSOR
Testifying in front of a House committee has got to be intimidating. But researcher Gaby González had something pretty astronomical to share.
She and her colleagues at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory confirmed in early 2016 the detection of a gravitational wave—something that before had only been understood in theory.
As LIGO spokesperson, González was thrust into the spotlight, speaking before the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, traveling to conferences worldwide and being interviewed by major publications on what the finding means.
In a nutshell: Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity is correct, and large masses in space emit gravitational waves that ripple out from the source and warp space and time. The first wave LIGO detected in September 2015 originated from the collision of two black holes light years away.
The discovery was such a big deal that many are whispering of a Nobel Prize for the findings.
Mind-blowing stuff, indeed. But for González and the LIGO team, it’s the product of decades of work fine-tuning two identical, massive interferometers in nearby Livingston and in Washington state.
González was born in Argentina and began teaching at LSU in 2001. She is currently serving her third consecutive term as spokesperson of LIGO, coordinating with more than 1,100 members across the world. Her tenure is an unprecedented feat during LIGO’s most unprecedented moment.
“It’s been a long ride and it’s been amazing, but there’s still a lot to do,” González says.
Her third term ends in March and though she won’t run again, she will continue improving the interferometer and training LSU students, and is ready to see where this discovery takes the study of the universe.
“Sometimes I like saying we have now found the dark side of the universe, because it’s the one that doesn’t emit light, it emits gravitational waves,” González says. “It changes everything. We did this one discovery, but there are more black holes and there are more things we haven’t seen.” ligo.caltech.edu
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HOW TO:
Explain complicated concepts to people
“You have to focus on a few details. Our detectors are very, very complicated, and we love those complications. But it’s not necessarily what interests other people. Sometimes it’s enough to say you use lasers to measure distances and you do it very precisely. What’s important that’s mind-boggling is you’re measuring this dynamic space-time.”
This article was originally published in the January 2017 issue of 225 Magazine.
