
Dr Simon Stevenson
- School of Science
- Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing
- Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Melb Hawthorn campus
Biography
On 14th September 2015 the Advanced LIGO detectors observed gravitational-waves from a merging binary black hole for the first time. There are many theories of how one can form a binary of two black holes orbiting one another close enough that they can collide and give off a burst of gravitational-waves. Broadly, these are through dynamical interactions in extremely dense stellar environments such as globular clusters, and the evolution of a massive binary star system in isolation. I study both of these formation channels, trying to understand how we might be able to distinguish between these scenarios (or measure the fraction of evens originating from each) using gravitational-wave observations. These theories also contain many uncertainties pertaining to poorly understood physical processes such as supernovae and common envelope evolution. I try to understand how gravitational-wave observations may help shed some light on these processes, informing our understanding of massive stellar evolution.
PhD candidate and honours supervision
Higher degrees by research
Accredited to supervise Masters & Doctoral students as Associate Supervisor.
Honours
Available to supervise honours students.
Fields of Research
- Astronomical Sciences - 510100
- Space Sciences - 510900
Awards
- 2020, Swinburne, Vice-Chancellor’s Research Excellence award, Swinburne University of Technology
- 2020, Swinburne, FSET ECR Award 2020, Swinburne University of Technology
- 2016, International, Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, Breakthrough Prize
Publications
Also published as: Stevenson, Simon; Stevenson, S.
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Recent research grants awarded
- 2022: Discovering the origin of gravitational waves *; ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA)
* Chief Investigator
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