Michele Zanolin
- Title
- Professor of Physics
- Michele.Zanolin@erau.edu Email
- Department
- Physics and Astronomy Department
- College
- College of Arts & Sciences
- Daytona College of Arts & Sciences
External Links
The views expressed on faculty and external web pages are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Education
- Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy in Physics, Universita degli Studi di Parma
Currently Teaching
- EP 800: Dissertation
- PS 319: Intro to Part Phy Relativity
- PS 250: Physics for Engineers III
- PS 253: Physics Lab for Engineers
- PS 490: Senior Research Thesis, Part I
- PS 491: Sr Research Thesis, Part II
Research Projects
Publications
- Gravito-optics and intensity correlations for binary inspiral signal detections Publications (2023)
- Induced Magnetic Dipole on Jupiter\u2019s Moon Europa Student Works (2019)
- The Rate of Binary Black Hole Mergers Inferred From Advanced LIGO Observations Surrounding GW150914 Michele Zanolin (2018)
- Supplement: The Rate of Binary Black Hole Mergers Inferred From Advanced LIGO Observations Surrounding GW150914 Michele Zanolin (2018)
- The Basic Physics of the Binary Black Hole Merger GW150914 Michele Zanolin (2018)
- GW170104: Observation of a 50-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence at Redshift 0.2 Michele Zanolin (2018)
- Search for Post-Merger Gravitational Waves From the Remnant of the Binary Neutron Star Merger GW170817 Michele Zanolin (2018)
- Full Band All-Sky Search for Periodic Gravitational Waves in the O1 LIGO Data Michele Zanolin (2018)
- Search for High-Energy Neutrinos From Binary Neutron Star Merger GW170817 With ANTARES, IceCube, and the Pierre Auger Observatory Michele Zanolin (2018)
- On the Progenitor of Binary Neutron Star Merger GW170817 Michele Zanolin (2018)
- Estimating the Contribution of Dynamical Ejecta in the Kilonova Associated With GW170817 Michele Zanolin (2018)
- Characterization of Transient Noise in Advanced LIGO Relevant to Gravitational Wave Signal GW150914 Michele Zanolin (2018)
- Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger Michele Zanolin (2018)
- GW170608: Observation of a 19 Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence Michele Zanolin (2018)
- First Search for Nontensorial Gravitational Waves From Known Pulsars Michele Zanolin (2018)
- GW170814: A Three-Detector Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Coalescence Michele Zanolin (2018)
- First Narrow-Band Search for Continuous Gravitational Waves From Known Pulsars in Advanced Detector Data Michele Zanolin (2018)
- All-Sky Search for Long-Duration Gravitational Wave Transients in the First Advanced LIGO Observing Run Michele Zanolin (2018)
- First Low-Frequency Einstein@Home All-Sky Search for Continuous Gravitational Waves in Advanced LIGO Data Michele Zanolin (2018)
- Directly Comparing GW150914 With Numerical Solutions of Einstein's Equations for Binary Black Hole Coalescence Michele Zanolin (2018)
- Effects of Data Quality Vetoes on a Search for Compact Binary Coalescences in Advanced LIGO's First Observing Run Michele Zanolin (2018)
- GW170817: Implications for the Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background from Compact Binary Coalescences Publications (2018)
- All-Sky Search for Long-Duration Gravitational Wave Transients in the First Advanced LIGO Observing Run Publications (2018)
- Effects of Data Quality Vetoes on a Search for Compact Binary Coalescences in Advanced LIGO's First Observing Run Publications (2018)
- A Gravitational-Wave Standard Siren Measurement of the Hubble Constant Michele Zanolin (2018)
- Multi-Messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger Michele Zanolin (2018)
- Upper Limits on Gravitational Waves from Scorpius X-1 from a Model-Based Cross-Correlation Search in Advanced LIGO Data Michele Zanolin (2018)
- Gravitational Waves and Gamma-Rays from a Binary Neutron Star Merger: GW170817 and GRB 170817A Michele Zanolin (2018)
- Search for Gravitational Waves Associated with Gamma-Ray Bursts During the First Advanced LIGO Observing Run and Implications for the Origin of GRB 150906B Michele Zanolin (2018)
- GW170817: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Neutron Star Inspiral Michele Zanolin (2018)
- First Search for Nontensorial Gravitational Waves From Known Pulsars Publications (2018)
- First Narrow-Band Search for Continuous Gravitational Waves From Known Pulsars in Advanced Detector Data Publications (2017)
- GW170608: Observation of a 19 Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence Publications (2017)
- First Low-Frequency Einstein@Home All-Sky Search for Continuous Gravitational Waves in Advanced LIGO Data Publications (2017)
- Search for Post-Merger Gravitational Waves From the Remnant of the Binary Neutron Star Merger GW170817 Publications (2017)
- Estimating the Contribution of Dynamical Ejecta in the Kilonova Associated With GW170817 Publications (2017)
- On the Progenitor of Binary Neutron Star Merger GW170817 Publications (2017)
- Search for High-Energy Neutrinos From Binary Neutron Star Merger GW170817 With ANTARES, IceCube, and the Pierre Auger Observatory Publications (2017)
- Search for Transient Gravitational Waves in Coincidence With Short-Duration Radio Transients During 2007-2013 Michele Zanolin (2017)
- Observing Gravitational-Wave Transient GW150914 with Minimal Assumptions Michele Zanolin (2017)
- GW151226: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a 22-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence Michele Zanolin (2017)
- A Gravitational-Wave Standard Siren Measurement of the Hubble Constant Publications (2017)
- Multi-Messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger Publications (2017)
- Gravitational Waves and Gamma-Rays from a Binary Neutron Star Merger: GW170817 and GRB 170817A Publications (2017)
- GW170817: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Neutron Star Inspiral Publications (2017)
- GW170814: A Three-Detector Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Coalescence Publications (2017)
- Upper Limits on Gravitational Waves from Scorpius X-1 from a Model-Based Cross-Correlation Search in Advanced LIGO Data Publications (2017)
- Full Band All-Sky Search for Periodic Gravitational Waves in the O1 LIGO Data Publications (2017)
- GW170104: Observation of a 50-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence at Redshift 0.2 Publications (2017)
- Search for Gravitational Waves Associated with Gamma-Ray Bursts During the First Advanced LIGO Observing Run and Implications for the Origin of GRB 150906B Publications (2017)
- The Basic Physics of the Binary Black Hole Merger GW150914 Publications (2017)
- Observation of Gravitational Waves From a Binary Black Hole Merger Michele Zanolin (2017)
- The Rate of Binary Black Hole Mergers Inferred From Advanced LIGO Observations Surrounding GW150914 Publications (2016)
- Supplement: The Rate of Binary Black Hole Mergers Inferred From Advanced LIGO Observations Surrounding GW150914 Publications (2016)
- Results of the Deepest All-Sky Survey for Continuous Gravitational Waves on LIGO S6 Data Running on the Einstein@Home Volunteer Distributed Computing Project Publications (2016)
- Improved Analysis of GW150914 Using a Fully Spin-Precessing Waveform Model Publications (2016)
- Directly Comparing GW150914 With Numerical Solutions of Einstein's Equations for Binary Black Hole Coalescence Publications (2016)
- GW151226: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a 22-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence Publications (2016)
- Search for Transient Gravitational Waves in Coincidence With Short-Duration Radio Transients During 2007-2013 Publications (2016)
- Observing Gravitational-Wave Transient GW150914 with Minimal Assumptions Publications (2016)
- Characterization of Transient Noise in Advanced LIGO Relevant to Gravitational Wave Signal GW150914 Publications (2016)
- Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger Publications (2016)
- Core-Collapse Supernovae Overview with Swift Collaboration Publications (2015)
- Application of Asymptotic Expansions for Maximum Likelihood Estimators' Errors to Gravitational Waves From Inspiraling Binary Systems: The Network Case Michele Zanolin (2011)
- Application of Asymptotic Expansions for Maximum Likelihood Estimators' Errors to Gravitational Waves From Inspiraling Binary Systems: The Network Case Publications (2011)
- Application of Asymptotic Expansions for Maximum Likelihood Estimators Errors to Gravitational Waves From Binary Mergers: The Single Interferometer Case Michele Zanolin (2010)
- Application of Asymptotic Expansions for Maximum Likelihood Estimators Errors to Gravitational Waves From Binary Mergers: The Single Interferometer Case Publications (2010)
- Gravitational Wave Burst Source Direction Estimation Using Time and Amplitude Information Michele Zanolin (2008)
- Gravitational Wave Burst Source Direction Estimation Using Time and Amplitude Information Publications (2008)
- Asymptotic Accuracy of Geoacoustic Inversions Michele Zanolin (2004)
- Asymptotic Accuracy of Geoacoustic Inversions Publications (2004)
- Probing Europa's Interior with Natural Sound Sources Michele Zanolin (2003)
Professional Experience
Research
My research is in experimental general relativity, focusing mostly upon gravitational wave detection with the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. Topics that I devote particular attention to are:
1) Search for gravitational wave bursts from optical supernovae
When a sufficiently massive star dies, it can result in a massive explosion called a supernova. For decades, we have been able to see the electromagnetic results of these explosions, but now, with the help of the data from interferometers, we hope to generate evidence for the gravitational waves emitted by these explosions and understand better their physical mechanism. We are developing an algorithm that allows one to analyze weeks of interferometer data around the recorded time of the supernova optical signatures. The tool is to modify an existing algorithm currently used for all-sky searches of un-modeled gravitational wave (GW) transients: Coherent Waveburst. This code combines the signals from different interferometers in a coherent way. We are customizing it to only be sensitive to signals from directions consistent with the supernova location, and then track that location during several sidereal days. This approach is motivated by the desire to increase the sensitivity and solve one of the problems in observing GWs from optical supernovae: the large uncertainty in the exact time of emission of the GWs. The observed optical signal is not usually the beginning of the supernova light curve, which might not be the exact time of emission of the gravitational wave. More explicitly, if the mechanism that generates these waves is the acoustic bounce of the expanding gasses off the solid core, it can reinitialize the fusion process and the visible explosion. This bounce occurs within seconds of the explosion, but because of the significant turmoil of these explosions, it can take up to a day for the first electromagnetic signals to escape the explosion. Then, the fact that the first EM emissions are rarely observed directly can increase the time uncertainty to weeks. In this search, we analyze supernova events recorded by astronomers during the S6 data run.
2) Estimation of parameters from gravitational wave transients and other high-precision measurements
High-precision measurements in modern astrophysics and cosmology have fantastic goals that range from observing the properties of the cosmic microwave background to listening to the symphonies of the universe recorded in the perturbations of its metric. However, how many of these effects are observable by LIGO? Where should we focus our brain and financial resources? The methodology described in Phys.Rev. D81 (2010) 124048 and Phys.Rev. D84 (2011) 104020 extends the standard results on parameter estimation based on the Fisher information matrix, allowing for a deeper understanding of the errors in estimating parameters from weak signals. The tool is asymptotic expansions inspired by the Dyson equation that allow one to calculate analytically the moments of an estimator as inverse powers of the signal-to-noise ratio (and/or the number of measurements if an experiment allows it). There are several applications of this methodology, for example:
- How well can we estimate physical parameters (and the physics attached) and the direction of arrival from gravitational wave transients?
- Can we (or will we) be able to distinguish between standard GR and alternative models of gravity?
- Will we be able to detect non-Gaussianites in the CMB?
Dr. Zanolin Group News
- 2/2021: New paper on the detectability of GWs from a Galactic CCSN with cWB sent to LIGO P and P. (LIGO-P2100038)
- 1/2021: New paper on a 3+1 formulation of the standard-model extension Gravity sector accepted in PRD. Work led by graduate student Kellie Ault O'Neal.
- 12/2020: Simulations for Multi-Messenger Astronomy (S4MMA) workshop.
- 9/2020: Colter Richardson, Skylar Kemper and Bradd Ratto were awarded funding from the undergraduate research institute. Yuka Lin was awarded funding from NASA.
- 8/2020: Three Papers on Core-Collapse Supernovae physics were published: Detecting SASI oscillations in neutrino luminosity (PRD), Optically triggered search for CCSNE GWs in O1-O2 data (PRD), and ML application to CCSNe detections in single IFO data (with M.Cavaglia' group).
- 3/2020: Dr. Zanolin appointed as faculty representative to the Board of Trustees.
- 7/2019: Some ideas on how to probe for gravitons with laser interferometers.
- 7/2018: Marek Szczepanczyk PhD Defense.
- 7/2018: NSF Award.
- 4/2018: Dr. Zanolin was promoted to full professor. Grateful for the support of the University.
- 3/2018: New movie from Kai Staats.
- 2/2018: Jasmine Kiranijot Gillleads's new paper on the application of Bayesian studies on GWs from Core-Collapse Supernovae paper.
- 1/2018: Marek Szczepanczyk was selected for a LIGO fellowship to work on high-frequency hardware injections at the Hanford Observatory.
Awards, Honors and Recognitions
2015 Researcher of the Year, Arizona campus
2012 Researcher of the Year, College of Arts & Sciences
2011 Researcher of the Year, Arizona campus
2010 Researcher of the Year, College of Arts & Sciences