The full article may be found in the July 2023 issue of In Focus, located here

It was a celebration more than 15 years in the making – and the second time UWM has had a role in the breakthrough science of gravitational waves. UWM physics students and faculty gathered to watch a livestream on June 29 announcing the discovery that could tell us more than ever before about how the very early universe formed.

A collaboration of scientists in the U.S. and Canada, called the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves, or NANOGrav, has compiled compelling evidence that a signal has been found for low-frequency gravitational waves that collectively generate a “background hum” across the universe. UWM has been a member of NANOGrav since its inception in 2007.

More than 190 scientists comprise NANOGrav, a Physics Frontiers Center funded by the National Science Foundation. Vigeland and David Kaplan, UWM professor of physics, lead the current UWM group: postdoctoral researchers Joe Swiggum, Abhimanyu Susobhanan and Megan Jones; doctoral students Alex McEwen, Gabriel Freedman, Shashwat Sardesai and Gabriella Agazie; and Administrative Specialist Tonia Klein.