Kip Thorne
Nobel Laureate, Theoretical Physicist
1940 – present
Kip Thorne won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics for his foundational role in the detection of gravitational waves with LIGO — confirming Albert Einstein's 1916 prediction after exactly 100 years of searching. He co-founded LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) in the 1980s, which on 14 September 2015 detected the collision of two black holes 1.3 billion light-years away — the first gravitational wave ever observed by humans. The signal lasted 0.2 seconds. The black holes were 29 and 36 solar masses. The collision released more energy than all the stars in the observable universe combined — for that fraction of a second. Thorne also served as scientific advisor for Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar" (2014), and the visualisation of the black hole Gargantua was calculated directly from his equations. It was the most scientifically accurate depiction of a black hole ever put on film — and revealed something new about photon rings that led to a published paper.
Key Contribution
Co-founded LIGO. First detection of gravitational waves from a black hole merger (September 14, 2015) — proving Einstein's century-old prediction. Nobel Prize in Physics 2017. Gargantua in Interstellar is real science: his equations produced a new discovery about photon rings around black holes.
“The warped side of the universe — objects and phenomena that are made from warped spacetime — is a place of amazing richness and diversity.”
— Kip Thorne
Works & Achievements
- ✦Nobel Prize in Physics (2017) — gravitational wave detection
- ✦LIGO Co-Founder — first gravitational wave observed September 14, 2015
- ✦Black Holes and Time Warps (1994)
- ✦Scientific Advisor, Interstellar (2014) — Gargantua black hole rendered from real equations
- ✦Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics Emeritus, Caltech