Nergis Mavalvala facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Nergis Mavalvala
Mavalvala in 2010
Born	1968 (age 56–57) Lahore, Pakistan
Nationality	Pakistani, American
Known for	Interferometric gravitational waves, quantum measurement
Awards	2013 Joseph F. Keithley Award For Advances in Measurement Science, MacArthur Fellows
Scientific career
Fields	Astrophysics and Quantum Physics
Institutions	Wellesley College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Thesis	Alignment issues in laser interferometric gravitational-wave detectors (1997)
Doctoral advisor	Rainer Weiss

Nergis Mavalvala (born 1968) is a Pakistani-American astrophysicist. She is a top professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She also leads MIT's School of Science. Dr. Mavalvala is famous for her work on detecting gravitational waves. This was part of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) project. She also studies tiny quantum effects in larger objects. In 2010, she received a special award called a MacArthur Fellowship.

Early Life and Education

Nergis Mavalvala was born in Lahore, Pakistan. She grew up mostly in Karachi. She went to school there and earned her O-Level and A-Level qualifications. In 1986, she moved to the United States. She studied at Wellesley College. There, she earned a bachelor's degree in physics and astronomy in 1990.

After Wellesley, she joined Rainer Weiss's group at MIT. She earned her PhD in 1997. Dr. Mavalvala comes from a Parsi family that follows the Zoroastrianism religion. She is the younger of two children.

Career in Science

As a student at MIT, Dr. Mavalvala worked with Professor Rainer Weiss. She helped create a test laser tool to find gravitational waves. After her PhD, she became a researcher at the California Institute of Technology. She first studied the cosmic microwave background. Later, she began working on the LIGO project.

Dr. Mavalvala mainly focuses on two areas of physics. These are gravitational wave astrophysics and quantum measurement science. She joined the MIT physics faculty in 2002. In 2017, she was chosen to be part of the National Academy of Sciences. This is a very high honor for scientists.

Discovering Gravitational Waves

Dr. Mavalvala was part of the team that first saw gravitational waves. These are like ripples in the fabric of spacetime. She had been working on gravitational waves since 1991. When the discovery was announced, she became a well-known scientist in Pakistan.

The Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif praised Dr. Mavalvala. He said she was an inspiration for Pakistani scientists and students. He also stated that "the entire nation is proud of her valuable contribution." In 2016, Pakistan's Ambassador to the U.S. congratulated her. He invited her to visit Pakistan again, and she accepted.

Using Lasers to Cool Objects

Dr. Mavalvala's work also includes using lasers to cool mirrors. Cooling mirrors to nearly absolute zero helps reduce unwanted vibrations. These vibrations can cause measurement noise. Her research focused on cooling larger and larger objects with lasers. This helps the LIGO project and other studies.

Her team achieved important results in this area. They cooled an object the size of a centimeter to a very low temperature of 0.8 kelvin. They also observed a 2.7-kilogram pendulum near its quantum ground state. These experiments help scientists understand how quantum behavior works in everyday objects.

Special Kinds of Light

Dr. Mavalvala has also worked on creating special kinds of light. She helped make light in "squeezed coherent states." By putting this special light into the LIGO detectors, her team made the detectors much more sensitive. This reduced quantum noise. These special light states are useful in many physics experiments. Her group was the first to create squeezed light using optomechanics at room temperature. Before this, all other sources needed very cold temperatures.

Personal Life and Role Model

Nergis Mavalvala is open about her background as a Pakistani immigrant. She often talks about how she chose her career. In an interview, she said, "I grew up in a family where the stereotypical gender roles were not really observed. So I grew up thinking women can, must and should do anything and everything. That is very important for me."

She is seen as a role model for young female scientists. Especially for those from the Indian subcontinent. As a child, Dr. Mavalvala enjoyed hands-on work. She was not limited by traditional gender roles. She believes good mentors helped her succeed in both the United States and Pakistan.

In a 2016 interview, Dr. Mavalvala said, "When everyone has access to education that's when all the other things come into place... People should just do what they enjoy most and I think for all of society whether it's in Pakistan or elsewhere we have to create opportunities for young girls to do what they're good at and do what they love to do must cultivate the sense of wonder in a child."

Dr. Mavalvala lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She has two children. She has family in Karachi and visited the city in 2010.

Awards and Recognition

• 2022, Wellesley’s 2022 Commencement Speaker
• 2017, Dr. Mavalvala won the first Lahore Technology Award. This award was started by Information Technology University.
• 2017, the Carnegie Corporation of New York honored her as one of its Great Immigrants. This award goes to naturalized citizens who have greatly helped American society.
• 2016, she was a co-recipient of the Gruber Prize in Cosmology.
• 2016, she was also a co-recipient of the Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. This was as part of the LIGO team.
• 2014, NOGLSTP recognized Dr. Mavalvala as the LGBTQ Scientist of the Year.
• 2014, she became an Optica Fellow.
• 2013, she received the Joseph F. Keithley Award For Advances in Measurement Science. This award is from the American Physical Society.
• 2010, she became a MacArthur Fellow.
• 2010, she became an American Physical Society Fellow.
• 2007, she received the Edgerton award for faculty achievement at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
• 2005, she received a Sloan Research Fellowship.
• 1990, she received the Phyllis Fleming Award for Excellence in Physics.

See also

In Spanish: Nergis Mavalvala para niños