My research is focused on the astrophysics of compact objects, specifically neutron stars. These are ultra-dense stars, with a mass exceeding that of the Sun squeezed into a sphere of radius of about the size of a city. They have densities in excess of an atomic nucleus, they can rotate hundreds of times a second, have fantastically strong magnetic fields, and probably contains superfluid and superconducting components. In short, they provide ready-made laboratories for probing all sorts of extreme physics inaccessible to terrestrial experimenters.
My research lies in figuring out how measurements of these objects made by astronomers can be used to shed light on all these exotic pieces of physics. I'm interested in observations from the radio, optical, X-ray and gamma ray bands, but am currently most excited about the prospect of detecting neutron stars using gravitational waves. I am a member of the world-wide gravitational wave detection effort that analyses data from the LIGO, VIRGO and GEO600 gravitational wave detectors, with the first ever detection of a gravitational wave hopefully coming soon.