Peter Veitch

Professor Peter Veitch

Professor

School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.


Professor Peter Veitch is the leader of the University of Adelaide node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) and a member of the Optics & Photonics research group in the Department of Physics at the University of Adelaide.

He was a co-recipient of the Prime Minister's Prize for Science 2020, was elected a Fellow of the Optical Society of America in 2016 “for development of techniques essential to the successful high optical-power operation of gravitational wave detectors and contributions to Advanced LIGO”, and was elected a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics in 2021.

His current research interests includes
• High precision, high accuracy, wavefront sensors and beam profilers for advanced- and next-generation gravitational wave (GW) interferometers;
• High precision measurement of optical absorption in the short-mid wave infrared;
• New techniques for adaptive wavefront control for advanced GW detectors;
• Next-generation phase camera for investigation of wavefront distortion in advanced GW detectors;
• High-power continuous-wave cryogenic mid-infrared lasers;
• Ultra-short-pulsed infrared lasers for industrial, remote sensing and biomedical applications;
• High-precision eye-safe coherent lidar for wind-field mapping; and
• Laser airborne methane differential absorption lidar system.

  • Appointments

    Date Position Institution name
    2017 - ongoing Professor University of Adelaide
    2007 - 2008 Visiting Associate Caltech
    2006 - 2016 A/Prof University of Adelaide
  • Awards and Achievements

    Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount
    2021 Distinction Fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics (FAIP) Australian Insititute of Physics Australia -
    2020 Award Prime Ministers Prize for Science 2020 Prime Minister of Austraia Australia -
    2016 Research Award The Gruber Foundation 2016 Cosmology Prize to Rainer Weiss, Kip Thorne and Ronald Drever, and the entire LIGO team for pursuing a vision to observe the universe in gravitational waves, leading to a first detection that emanated from the collision of two black holes. - United States -
    2016 Research Award Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics awarded to LIGO for the detection of gravitational waves - - -
    2016 Award Fellow of the Optical Society of America Optical Society of America United States -
  • Education

    Date Institution name Country Title
    University of Western Australia Australia PhD
  • Research Interests

  • Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2024 Principal Supervisor Stabilisation of a 2 micron fibre laser for next generation gravitational wave detectors Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Lucas James Kemperman
    2023 Co-Supervisor Birefringence Measurements of Crystalline Silicon Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr Mitchell Louis Richardson
    2023 Principal Supervisor Low Noise 2-micron Lasers Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Zachary James Holmes
    2022 Co-Supervisor Advanced Instrumentation for current and next generation gravitational wave detectors Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Madison Dallas Simmonds
    2021 Co-Supervisor 2 micron laser development Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Georgia Nicole Bolingbroke
    2021 Principal Supervisor Real-Time Optically Stimulated Luminescence Fibre-Coupled Dosimetry with Beryllium Oxide Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Miss Erin Jennifer Lukas
    2019 Co-Supervisor Airborne Detection of Methane Using Lidar Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Sarah Martha Watzdorf
  • Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2021 - 2023 Co-Supervisor Development of a Wideband, High Sensitivity Optical Wavefront Curvature Sensor Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr Thomas James Roocke
    2020 - 2023 Principal Supervisor Development of a high sensitivity absorption measurement system for low-loss novel glasses Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Ms Sophie Kate Muusse
    2020 - 2023 Principal Supervisor Experimental and Numerical Optimisation of a SESAM Mode-locked Holmium Fibre Laser Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr Alexandros Kolovinos
    2018 - 2020 Principal Supervisor Operating Regimes and Automated Control of Holmium and Thulium Non-linear Polarisation Rotation Mode-locked Fibre Optic Lasers Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr David Michael McAfee
    2017 - 2022 Co-Supervisor Wavefront modelling and sensing for advanced gravitational wave detectors Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Alexei Ciobanu
    2017 - 2020 Principal Supervisor High precision measurement of optical absorption in ultra-low-OH fused silica at wavelengths near 2 µm Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr Craig Ingram
    2017 - 2019 Principal Supervisor Investigation of Narrowband Acousto-Optic Tunable Filters for Semiconductor Laser Tuning Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr Adam James Gambell
    2016 - 2020 Co-Supervisor A Laser Based Sensor for Airborne Methane Detection Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Joshua Steven Pease
    2016 - 2019 Principal Supervisor Development of Technologies for Active Wavefront Control of Advanced Gravitational Wave Detectors Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Huy Tuong Cao
    2016 - 2018 Co-Supervisor Mid-Infrared Fibre Lasers for use in Wavefront Correction in Advanced Gravitational Wave Detectors Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Ms Deeksha Beniwal
    2015 - 2015 Co-Supervisor Investigation of cryogenic Er:YAG lasers for Gravitational Wave Interferometry Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Miss Sophie Elizabeth Hollitt
    2013 - 2018 Principal Supervisor An Er:YAG Laser for Airborne Methane Detection Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Myles Ray Clark
    2012 - 2018 Principal Supervisor Development of an Er:YAG Laser for Range-finding Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Lachlan Mitchell Harris
    2012 - 2021 Co-Supervisor Characterizing the aLIGO Interferometers Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Eleanor Jean King
    2007 - 2011 Co-Supervisor Microstructured Tellurite Glass Fibre Laser Development Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Michael Oermann
    2005 - 2013 Principal Supervisor Eye-safe Er:YAG Lasers for Coherent Remote Sensing Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Nick Weihan Chang
    2005 - 2014 Co-Supervisor Novel methods for the quantification of atmospheric turbulence strength in the atmospheric surface layer. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Raymond James Oermann
    2004 - 2010 Co-Supervisor 1064 nm Injection Mode-Locked Nd:YAG Laser Optimized for Guide Star Applications Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Thomas Rutten
    2003 - 2008 Principal Supervisor A Study Of Transition Metal Acetylides for Broadband Optical Limiters Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Yvonne Jansen van Galen
    2002 - 2010 Co-Supervisor Development and Testing of an Er:Yb:Glass Coherent Laser Radar for Wind Field Mapping Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Matthew Heintze
    2001 - 2009 Principal Supervisor Deployable Stable Lasers for Gravitational Wave Interferometers Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr David Hosken
    2001 - 2007 Principal Supervisor Hartmann Wavefront Sensors for Advanced Gravitational Wave Interferometers Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Aidan Brooks
    1997 - 2007 Principal Supervisor An instrument for the Measurement of the Spectrum of Thermoelastic Noise in Sapphire Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Christopher Hollitt
  • Position: Professor
  • Phone: 83134270
  • Email: peter.veitch@adelaide.edu.au
  • Fax: 83134380
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: Physics, floor G
  • Org Unit: Physics

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