Louis Dartez is a Caltech postdoctoral scholar stationed at LIGO Livingston Observatory. He received his PhD in applied physics from the University of Texas at Arlington as part of a cooperative doctoral program with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Louis develops detector calibration methods to deliver analysis-ready LIGO data and accurate uncertainty estimates as rapidly as possible. His interests include increasing the range and stability of current ground-based gravitational wave detectors. In his spare time, Louis enjoys camping, hiking, and taking cross-country road trips.
Louis Dartez wins LIGO Lab 2024 Award for Excellence in Detector Characterization and Calibration
News Release • November 25, 2024
The U.S. National Science Foundation Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (NSF LIGO) Laboratory congratulates Louis Dartez of LIGO Livingston Observatory and Caltech for winning this year's LIGO Laboratory Award for Excellence in Detector Characterization and Calibration.
Dartez is recognized for his significant contributions to LIGO detector data calibration for the current observing run (O4), including new infrastructure for rapid data calibration. Thanks to his efforts, scientists worldwide have access to analysis-ready, low-latency calibrated LIGO data with accurate uncertainty estimates within minutes, a marked improvement over previous observation runs where producing such data required extensive re-calibration over the span of months.
Dartez, collaborating with the LIGO calibration team, introduced new measurement tools at LIGO Hanford Observatory to significantly reduce the time needed for data collection for calibration measurements. Furthermore, he spearheaded the effort to automate the calibration workflow for analysis and deployment at both Hanford and Livingston observatories, reducing the time to update and deploy calibration models from weeks in previous observation runs to mere hours or days in O4. Dartez designed tools for ease of use by non-experts, allowing regular characterization measurements to be conducted by site operators without the direct involvement of calibration specialists. This capability enhanced the team’s ability to identify and correct calibration issues with a quick turnaround.
Dartez also played a critical role in refining calibration infrastructure, updating and deploying calibration models, and estimating the calibration uncertainty budget during O4. His work bridged the gap between hardware changes and the rapid production of calibration data, allowing seamless and reliable data distribution nearly immediately. Dartez’s extensive contributions were vital for the timely and accurate delivery of calibrated data with accurate uncertainty estimates during O4.
For his work, Dartez will receive a $1,000 prize and present an invited seminar at one of the LIGO Laboratory sites (LIGO-Hanford, LIGO-Livingston, Caltech, or MIT) to share his achievements with LIGO Laboratory members. Dartez will also be presented with an award certificate at the next meeting of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration.
Visit the 2024 Winner page to learn more about Dartez's award-winning work, and to see an impressive list of 2024 runners-up.
