Ben Farr, Department of Physics

Ben Farr, assistant professor of physics

Ben Farr

Assistant Professor
Practice Areas: Gravitational Waves, Black Holes, LIGO, Physics

Research website 

Ben Farr is a recipient is a recipient of a 2022 National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the NSF’s most prestigious award in support of early-career faculty. As member of the LIGO-Virgo Collaboration, Farr co-developed the parameter estimation software used to characterize compact binary mergers from their gravitational wave signatures. More generally, Farr is interested in applying Bayesian forward-modeling techniques to astronomical data sets. Farr received his Ph.D. in physics and astronomy from Northwestern University. 

Recent Media:
What would happen if you fell into a black hole? (Newsweek, June 8, 2022)
Gravitational waves have revealed a stellar mystery (The Atlantic, Feb. 23, 2020)
‘Radical change’ needed after latest neutron star collision (Quanta Magazine, Feb. 20, 2020)
Gravitational waves signal second-ever neutron star merger caught by LIGO (Discover, Jan. 8, 2020)
The gravitational-wave “revolution” is underway (Scientific American, Sept. 12, 2019)