Dr Daniel Williams

I’m Daniel Williams, and I’m an astrophysicist and astronomer specialising in the observation and analysis of gravitational waves using observatories such as LIGO (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory), Virgo, and KAGRA.

My research centres on the development and use of statistical and programming techniques for analysing signals from these detectors which are produced by colliding black holes and neutron stars.

I’m currently a postdoctoral researcher, based at the University of Glasgow’s Institute for Gravitational Research (IGR). I’m also a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and I’m the Chair of the LVK Allies programme. I’ve also been an LSC Fellow, which involved working at the LIGO Livingston site in Louisiana, USA for three months in 2017.

Previous to my current position, I completed my PhD in the IGR at the University of Glasgow, and also my MSci in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Glasgow.

Research

My research is mainly centred around data analysis for “advanced” generation gravitational wave detectors. I’ve been involved with work spanning the analysis and interpretation of gravitational wave signals, software development related to performing large-scale analyses, and astrophysics.

A full list of my on-going and past research projects can be found here.

Publications

I have a number of publications spanning my research interests, from Bayesian analysis techniques to gamma-ray astrophysics. You can find a list of my publications here.

Teaching

A full list of my past and current teaching can be found here.

Assorted other facts about me

• I was born in Northern Ireland, and spent some of my formative years at Methodist College Belfast.
• When I’m away from the desk you can often find me running, bagging munros, or turning my hand incompetently to some other sport.