{{short description|American laser physicist (born 1961)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox scientist |name = David Reitze |image = David-reitze-amaldi.jpg |alt = |image_size = |caption = |birth_name = |birth_date = 6 January 1961 |birth_place= Washington, Pennsylvania |death_date = |death_place= |field = Physics, astronomy |alma_mater = B.A. in physics (with honors), Northwestern University; PhD in physics, The University of Texas at Austin |work_institutions = Executive director, LIGO Laboratory; research professor of physics, California Institute of Technology; professor of physics, University of Florida |doctoral_advisor = |academic_advisors = |doctoral_students = |known_for = Laser-based interferometric gravitational wave detection |influences = |prizes = |religion = |footnotes = }}
'''David Howard Reitze''' (born 6 January 1961) is an American laser physicist who is professor of physics at the University of Florida and served as the scientific spokesman of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) experiment in 2007-2011.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/article6802383.ece?print=yes&randnum=1151003209000|title='Non-discovery' of space-time ripples opens door to birth of the Universe|last=Henderson|first=Mark|date=20 August 2009|work=The Times|access-date=15 November 2009}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> In August 2011, he took a leave of absence from the University of Florida to be the Executive Director of LIGO,<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.caltech.edu/content/new-ligo-executive-director-named | title = New LIGO Executive Director Named | date = 24 August 2011 | first = Kathy | last = Svitil | publisher = California Institute of Technology | access-date = 5 January 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171206074630/http://www.caltech.edu/content/new-ligo-executive-director-named | archive-date = 6 December 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.softpedia.com/news/LIGO-Experiment-Gets-New-Executive-Director-218348.shtml |title=LIGO Experiment Gets New Executive Director |last=Vieru |first=Tudor |date=24 August 2011 |publisher=Softpedia}}</ref> stationed at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California. He obtained his BA in 1983 from Northwestern University, his PhD in physics from the University of Texas at Austin in 1990, and had positions at Bell Communications Research and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, before taking his faculty position at the University of Florida. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the Optical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
An expert in ultrafast optics and laser spectroscopy, he now specialises in laser-based interferometric gravitational wave detection. This includes the development of new interferometer topologies for next generation gravitational wave detectors, investigations of thermal loading in passive and active optical elements, development of high power optical components, and the design, construction and operation of the LIGO interferometers.
As Director of the LIGO Laboratory, one of his main efforts has been planning the proposed extension of the LIGO network of detectors to include one in India.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gw-indigo.org/tiki-index.php?page=LIGO-India |title=LIGO-India |website=IndiGO}}</ref>
In February 2016, he, as executive director of LIGO, announced that the first direct gravitational wave observation had occurred on 14 September 2015 by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration using the LIGO detectors in Hanford, WA and Livingston, LA.<ref>{{Cite news|title = Gravitational Waves Exist: The Inside Story of How Scientists Finally Found Them|url = http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/gravitational-waves-exist-heres-how-scientists-finally-found-them|newspaper = The New Yorker|access-date = 2016-02-11|issn = 0028-792X|first = Nicola|last = Twilley}}</ref><ref name="PRL-20160211">{{cite journal |last=Abbott|first=B.P. |title=Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger |url=http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102 |journal=Phys. Rev. Lett. |volume=116 |article-number=061102 |date=11 February 2016 |issue=6 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102 |collaboration=LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration |arxiv = 1602.03837 |bibcode = 2016PhRvL.116f1102A |pmid=26918975|s2cid=119286014 }}</ref><ref name="Naeye">{{cite news |last=Naeye |first=Robert |url=http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/gravitational-wave-detection-heralds-new-era-of-science-0211201644/ |title=Gravitational Wave Detection Heralds New Era of Science |work=Sky and Telescope |date=11 February 2016 |access-date=11 February 2016 }}</ref><ref name="Nature_11Feb16">{{cite journal |title=Einstein's gravitational waves found at last |journal=Nature News|url=http://www.nature.com/news/einstein-s-gravitational-waves-found-at-last-1.19361 |date=11 February 2016 |last1=Castelvecchi |first1=Davide |last2=Witze |first2=Alexandra |doi=10.1038/nature.2016.19361 |s2cid=182916902 |access-date=11 February 2016 |url-access=subscription |doi-access=free }}</ref>{{efn|Other LIGO physicists present for the announcement were Gabriela González, Rainer Weiss, Kip Thorne, and France A. Córdova from the NSF.}}
Reitze, along with other former and present spokespersons of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, was awarded the National Academy of Sciences Award for Scientific Discovery in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.nasonline.org/programs/awards/nas-award-for-scientific.html|title = NAS online awards}}</ref>
In 2019, Reitze co-edited a book with Peter Saulson and Hartmut Grote on the current state of gravitational-wave detectors and future upgrades.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Reitze |first1=David |last2=Saulson |first2=Peter |author-link2=Peter Saulson|last3=Grote | first3=Hartmut|title=Advanced Interferometric Gravitational-Wave Detectors |date=2019 |publisher=World Scientific |doi=10.1142/10181 |isbn=978-981-3146-07-5 |url=https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/10181}}</ref> The book discusses about both LIGO and Virgo interferometers.
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== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{cite web | url = https://labcit.ligo.caltech.edu/~reitze/index.html | title = David Reitze | publisher = California Institute of Technology }} * {{cite web | url = http://www.phys.ufl.edu/~reitze/ | title = David Reitze | publisher = University of Florida }} * [https://labcit.ligo.caltech.edu/~reitze/index.html Retize's site] {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reitze, David}} Category:Living people Category:21st-century American physicists Category:1961 births Category:Gravitational-wave astronomers Category:University of Florida faculty
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