LISA

LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) is being designed to measure gravitational waves over a range of low frequencies from .1 mHz to 1 Hz. Once launched and functional, LISA will see 10s of 1,000s of sources simultaneously and having an efficient means of analysis will be crucial. Current analysis techniques were investigated to detect and characterize galactic binaries with LISA. A Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method was utilized to account for the amount of simultaneous sources. Additionally, this method was repeated and implemented on a cloud computing facility. Using cloud computing sets up a platform that can be manipulated to fit the needs of many computing situations and is ideal for large data. This platform was created from the ground up and has been used to reproduce the results of previous codes to demonstrate the ability and effectiveness of cloud computing. Because the specifications and number of computers can easily be chosen and altered by the user, the analysis with cloud computing becomes more efficient, significantly faster, as well as cost-effective.  (See Poster Below)

Based on this research and my outstanding academic performance, I was awarded the John Mather Nobel Scholarship of $3,000 in 2019. Less than 10 people are selected for this award every year. I presented my findings at the 2019 NASA Symposium in Maryland, the 2020 Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics, and at the 2020 Winter American Astronomical Society meeting with the award's funding. 

See more about this award HERE.