SEAN T. McWILLIAMS

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY

MORGANTOWN, WV 26506

WELCOME 

RESEARCH

GROUP

TEACHING

MEDIA

PERSONAL   

 

A montage of the various events that were part of “Celebrating Einstein”, an interdisciplinary event first performed at MSU, that we adapted and hosted at WVU to commemorate the centennial of General Relativity. Full credits are found at the end of the video, and more information, including additional videos of the event, can be found at einstein.wvu.edu.

“A Shout Across Time”, a lecture on gravitational waves written and performed by me, accompanied by a dance choreographed by my multitalented wife Stephanie. This performance was part of “Celebrating Einstein”, an interdisciplinary event hosted at WVU to commemorate the centennial of General Relativity, which I co-produced. More information, including additional videos of the event, can be found at einstein.wvu.edu.

Recent Press Coverage:

  1. -WVU Magazine feature story on my research and the LIGO discovery

  2. -Eberly College feature story on GW work at WVU, emphasizing my recent work

  3. -Popular article I wrote about the LIGO discoveries for The Conversation

  4. -The New York Times coverage of the first detection of gravitational waves by LIGO, from a pair of black holes (GW150914), and the first simultaneous observation of a gravitational-wave event (GW170817) and light from a single source, the collision of two neutron stars

Twenty minute television interview on gravitational waves, including both science and history (no longer online, will try to get video)

Multimedia:

Thirty minute radio interview on KDNK about gravitational waves, including science and some history

Fifteen minute commencement address, equal parts gravitational waves and soaring rhetoric

Hour long public colloquium, with Q&A, on gravitational waves, LIGO, and my role in waveform modeling

Older Press Coverage:

  1. -Sky & Telescope, New Scientist, and the MIT Tech Review had articles on my old work on galaxy/black hole evolution and pulsar timing arrays

  2. -I was interviewed by Scientific American regarding the future of gravitational wave astrophysics during some dark times for LISA!

  3. -The New York Times covered the work of the NASA Goddard numerical relativity group, of which I was a member at the time, after the big numerical relativity breakthroughs of 2005-2006

Two-minute blurb on gravitational waves