Lucy Thomas

Lucy Thomas is a Researcher in Physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), affiliated with the Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy and the LIGO Lab. She holds a PhD in Gravitational Wave Astronomy from the University of Birmingham (2023), an MSc in Physics from King's College London, and a BSc in Mathematics and Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, all in the UK.

Her research focuses on gravitational wave waveform models for compact binary coalescences, emphasizing machine learning acceleration and precession dynamics. She investigates how spin misalignment impacts orbital precession and gravitational wave signals, contributing to tests of general relativity and insights into binary formation mechanisms. Lucy is a key member of the LIGO-Virgo-Kagra (LVK) collaboration, analyzing real data to refine theoretical models and explore extreme astrophysical phenomena like high-mass black hole mergers and neutron star-black hole systems.

Lucy has not listed any scientific awards. Her work on population studies and merger rate estimates has advanced understanding of compact object dynamics. She advises no current students and does not mention grants. She is based at Caltech's LIGO Lab, collaborating with the High-Energy Astrophysics group and the Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics (WBITP).

Lucy's contributions include developing novel methods to interpret gravitational wave data, such as the effective precession spin vector and generalized χp parameter. Her recent publications address waveform calibration challenges, systematic errors in precession measurements, and the implications of asymmetric mass ratios in observed binaries. She also explores constraints on Lorentz violation and the mass of the graviton through gravitational-wave dispersion effects.