Neil Cornish
Co-Investigator
I am Neil Cornish, Regents Professor of Physics at Montana State University, where I focus on general relativity, astrophysics, and early-universe cosmology. My passion lies in gravitational-wave astronomy: I work on theoretical and data-analysis methods to detect and interpret gravitational waves, whether from supermassive black hole mergers, stochastic backgrounds, or unexpected transient signals.
My path into physics began in Australia, where I earned a BSc (Hons) and MSc from the University of Melbourne. I later completed my PhD at the University of Toronto, specializing in gravitational theory. Afterward, I worked in Stephen Hawking’s research group at the University of Cambridge and at Princeton University before joining the faculty at Montana State University in 1999.
Over the years, I’ve published extensively on tests of general relativity using gravitational-wave observations — including work on parameterized deviations from Einstein’s theory. I’ve also developed data-analysis techniques to search for generic gravitational-wave bursts in pulsar timing array data.
At MSU, I direct the eXtreme Gravity Institute, and I continue to contribute to major collaborations and future missions, such as LIGO, NANOGrav, and the LISA space observatory. My work is driven by a belief that gravitational-wave astronomy offers a profound way to understand both the most energetic cosmic events and the fundamental nature of spacetime.
Contact
Simons Collaboration ON Black Holes and Strong Gravity 