Beverly K. Berger is an American physicist known for her work on gravitational physics, especially gravitational waves,

graviton In theories of quantum gravity, the graviton is the hypothetical quantum of gravity, an elementary particle that mediates the force of gravitational interaction. There is no complete quantum field theory of gravitons due to an outstanding mathem ...

s, and

gravitational singularities A gravitational singularity, spacetime singularity or simply singularity is a condition in which gravity is so intense that spacetime itself breaks down catastrophically. As such, a singularity is by definition no longer part of the regular ...

. Alongside Berger's more serious physics research, she is also known for noticing that vibrational patterns caused by local

raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between " crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigne ...

s were interfering with observations at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory.

Education and career

Berger completed her Ph.D. at the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of ...

in 1972. Her dissertation, ''A Cosmological Model Illustrating Particle Creation through Graviton Production'', was supervised by Charles W. Misner. Long a professor of physics at

Oakland University Oakland University is a public university, public research university in Auburn Hills, Michigan, Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, Michigan. Founded in 1957 through a donation of Matilda Dodge Wilson, it was initially known as Michigan State ...

, she also worked for over ten years as a program officer for general relativity and gravitation at the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

before retiring in 2012. She is a visiting scholar in the

LIGO The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a large-scale physics experiment and observatory designed to detect cosmic gravitational waves and to develop gravitational-wave observations as an astronomical tool. Two large ...

collaboration at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

Service

Within the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

(APS), Berger was instrumental in founding the Topical Group on Gravitation, later to become the Division of Gravitational Physics. She was its first chair, in 1996, and served as chair again in 2014–2015. She also chaired the APS Committee on the Status of Women in Physics in 2000. Berger has been secretary of the

International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation The International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation (ISGRG) is a learned society established in 1971 with the goal to promote research on general relativity (GR) and gravitation. To that end, it encourages communication between relativi ...

since 2010, and has represented the US at the

International Union of Pure and Applied Physics The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP ) is an international non-governmental organization whose mission is to assist in the worldwide development of physics, to foster international cooperation in physics, and to help in the ...

Books

With

Abhay Ashtekar Abhay Vasant Ashtekar (born 5 July 1949) is an Indian theoretical physicist. He is the Eberly Professor of Physics and the Director of the Institute for Gravitational Physics and Geometry at Pennsylvania State University. As the creator of Ash ...

, James A. Isenberg, and Malcolm MacCallum, Berger is co-editor of the book ''General Relativity and Gravitation: A Centennial Perspective'' (Cambridge University Press, 2015). The

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

and IOP Publishing have announced the book ''Vignettes from General Relativity'' by Berger as expected to be published in 2021.

Recognition

In 1983, the

awarded Berger a Visiting Professorship for Women in Science and Engineering. In 1998, she was named a

Fellow of the American Physical Society The American Physical Society honors members with the designation ''Fellow'' for having made significant accomplishments to the field of physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its mot ...

, after a nomination by the APS Division of Gravitational Physics, "for her pioneering contributions to global issues in classical general relativity, particularly the analysis of the nature of cosmological singularities, and for founding the Topical Group on Gravitation of the APS". On the occasion of her retirement in 2012, she was honored by a special session of the April 2012 APS meeting.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berger, Beverly Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American physicists American women physicists University of Maryland, College Park alumni Oakland University faculty Fellows of the American Physical Society American women academics 21st-century American women