Dr. Louis J Rubbo

Curriculum Vitae

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Contact Information

Research Interests

– Astrophysical population modeling of gravitational wave sources
– Development of computational techniques for time series analysis
– Education and public outreach for topics in General Relativity

Current Position

Assistant Professor of Astronomy at Coastal Carolina University

Employement History

Postdoctoral Scholar at the Institute for Gravitational Physics and Geometry / Center for Gravitational Wave Physics at the Pennsylvania State University

Professional Preparation

Awards and Honors

1. Jocelyn Bell Burnell Award for the Best Student Talk at the Pacific Coast Gravitational Meeting 20 (2004)


2. Montana State University, Department of Physics Teaching Assistant of the Year (2001)

Publications

Refereed Journals

1. Relativistic Effects in Extreme Mass Ratio Gravitational Wave Bursts, N. Yunes, C. F. Sopuerta, L. J. Rubbo, & K. Holley-Bockelmann, Astrophysical Journal 675, 604-613 (2008) [arXiv:0704.2612 [astro-ph]]


2. Hands-on Gravitational Wave Astronomy: Extracting Astrophysical Information from Simulated Signals, L. J. Rubbo, S. L. Larson, M. B. Larson, & D. R. Ingram, American Journal of Physics 75, 597-601 (2007) [physics/0610028]


3. Gravitational Waves: New Observatories for New Astronomy, L. J. Rubbo, S. L. Larson, M. B. Larson, & K. D. Zaleski, The Physics Teacher 44, 420-423 (2006) [physics/0509201]


4. Science Icebreaker Activities: An Example from Gravitational Wave Astronomy, M. B. Larson, L. J. Rubbo, K. D. Zaleski, & S. L. Larson, The Physics Teacher 44, 416-419 (2006) [physics/0503198]


5. Event Rate for Extreme Mass Ratio Burst Signals in the LISA Band, L. J. Rubbo, K. Holley-Bockelmann, & L. S. Finn, Astrophysical Journal Letters 649, L25-L28 (2006) [astro-ph/0602445]


6. Characterizing the Galactic Gravitational Wave Background with LISA, S. E. Timpano, L. J. Rubbo, & N. J. Cornish, Physical Review D 73, 122001 (2006) [gr-qc/0504071]


7. Forward Modeling of Space-borne Gravitational Wave Detectors, L. J. Rubbo, N. J. Cornish, & O. Poujade, Physical Review D 69, 082003 (2004) [gr-qc/0311069]


8. LISA Response Function, N. J. Cornish & L. J. Rubbo, Physical Review D 67, 022001 (2003) [gr-qc/0209011]

Conference Proceedings

1. Facing the LISA Data Analysis Challenge, L. J. Rubbo, Journal of Physics: Conference Series 60, 268-271 (2007) [astro-ph/0610683]


2. Preparing for LISA Data: The Testbed for LISA Analysis Project, L. S. Finn, M. B. Benacquista, S. L. Larson, & L. J. Rubbo, in the Proceedings for the Sixth International LISA Symposium, edited by S. M. Merkowitz and J. C. Livas, vol 873, pages 640-644, AIP Conference Proceedings, Melville (2006)


3. When is Enough Good Enough in Gravitational Wave Source Modeling?, L. J. Rubbo, in the Proceedings for the Sixth International LISA Symposium, edited by S. M. Merkowitz and J. C. Livas, vol 873, pages 605-611, AIP Conference Proceedings, Melville (2006) [gr-qc/0608114]


4. Slice & Dice: Identifying and Removing Bright Galactic Binaries from LISA Data, L. J. Rubbo, N. J. Cornish, & R. W. Hellings, in the Proceedings for the Sixth International LISA Symposium, edited by S. M. Merkowitz and J. C. Livas, vol 873, pages 489-493, AIP Conference Proceedings, Melville (2006) [gr-qc/0608112]


5. Event Rate for Extreme Mass Ratio Burst Signals in the LISA Band, L. J. Rubbo, K. Holley-Bockelmann, & L. S. Finn, in the Proceedings for the Sixth International LISA Symposium, edited by S. M. Merkowitz and J. C. Livas, vol 873, pages 284-288, AIP Conference Proceedings, Melville (2006)


6. The LISA Simulator, L. J. Rubbo, N. J. Cornish, & O. Poujade, in The Astrophysics of Gravitational Wave Sources, edited by J. M. Centrella, vol 686, pages 307-312, AIP Conference Proceedings, Melville (2003)

Dissertation

Title: Gravitational Wave Astronomy Using Spaceborne Detectors
Advisor: Dr. Neil J. Cornish
Defense: July 8, 2004

Other Professional Contributions

1. Addressing LISA Science Analysis M. J. Benacquista, L. S. Finn, S. L. Larson, & L. J. Rubbo (2006) [gr-qc/0606089]
   A preparation article for the LISA Science Analysis Workshop which outlines essential analysis research problems for the proposed LISA mission.


2. Testbed for LISA Analysis, L. S. Finn, M. J. Benacquista, S. L. Larson, & L. J. Rubbo (2006) [gr-qc/0602019]
   The TLA Project is a community driven suite of tools and resources designed to enable and facilitate the development, validation, and comparison of different methods for LISA science data analysis.


3. The LISA Simulator, N. J. Cornish & L. J. Rubbo, (2003)
   An open software package for simulating the response of the proposed LISA detector to an arbitrary input gravitational wave.

Education and Public Outreach

Developed Activities

Hands-on Gravitational Wave Astronomy: Extraction of Astrophysical Information from Simulated Signals
In collaboration with S. L. Larson, M. B. Larson, & D. R. Ingram
Featured activity in the educational support material for the National Science Foundation's Einstein's Messengers DVD on the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory.

Searching for Signal in the Noise: A Gravitational Wave Icebreaker Activity
In collaboration with M. B. Larson, S. L. Larson, & K. D. Zaleski
Featured activity in the educational support material for the National Science Foundation's Einstein's Messengers DVD on the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory.

Interactive Activities, Competitions, and Workshops

Adopt-a-Physicist
Fall 2006, 2007

Adopt a Scientist
Fall 2005

Space Day at Penn State Workshop Co-instructor (with M. B. Larson & K. D. Zaleski)
April 2005
Pennsylvania State University
Workshop: "Be a Universe Detective!"

NASA Student Involvement Program Judge
March 2005
Pennsylvania State University
Event: "Design a Lunar-Based Mission to Mars or Beyond"
Event: "Watching Earth Change"

Expanding Your Horizons Co-instructor (with M. B. Larson & K. D. Zaleski)
October 2004
Pennsylvania State University
Workshop: "Do You See What I See? Observing the Distant Universe"

Montana Science Olympiad Captain
November 2003
Montana State University - Bozeman
Event: "Physics Lab"

Peaks and Potentials (Summer Youth Camp) Instructor
June 2003
Montana State University - Bozeman
Course: "Colliding Galaxies and Anti-Matter Worlds"
Course: "Black Holes and Time Warps"

Montana Science Olympiad Volunteer
November 1999
Montana State University - Bozeman
Event: "Reach for the Stars"

Talks

"Gravitational Wave Astronomy: Our New Eyes on the Universe"
As part of AstroFest 2005
July 2005
Pennsylvania State University; State College, Pennsylvania

"Historical Tour of the Sky"
On behalf of the Big Sky Institute
July 2003
Yellowstone Club; Big Sky, Montana

Professional Services

Refereeing Duties

Affiliations

1. American Physical Society Member
   • Division of Astrophysics
   • Topical Group in Gravitation
   • Forum on Education
   • Forum on Physics and Society


2. American Association of Physics Teachers Member


3. The Testbed for LISA Analysis Developer and Steering Committee Member