Ph. D.: Univ. of Warsaw 1983, Habilitacja: Institute of Mathematics PAN 1990, Professor: 2003. 

Curriculum Vitae

My field of research is gravitation and general theory of relativity. I am interested in phenomena predicted by this theory like black holes and gravitational waves and also in the ways of testing these predictions.

Presently my scientific work is focused on theoretical and practical aspects of analysis of data from gravitational-wave detectors. Detection of gravitational waves will be a final confirmation of Einstein’s theory of gravity and will open a new window on the Universe.

I am the leader of Polgraw-Virgo group - a member of the Virgo gravitational wave detector project. The groups has 20 members from 9 institutions. Virgo Project collaborates closely with the LIGO Project. By Memorandum of Understanding between LIGO and Virgo, all analyses are performed jointly by common data analysis groups. The members of the two collaborations have the exclusive right to the data from this unique, global GW detector network. This very large international infrastructure was built at a cost of around 1 bln US dollars. Polgraw group members have direct influence on the management of the Virgo project and directions of the gravitational wave searches in both LIGO and Virgo data. I am a member of Virgo Steering Committee and a co-chair of one working group. Within this project I have led an all-sky search of Virgo data for gravitational waves from rotating neutron stars. On September 14, 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) simultaneously observed a transient gravitational-wave signal. This was the first direct observation of gravitational waves on Earth. The signal originated form merger of two black holes. In the publication of this major discovery 9 authors form the Polgraw group were included.  On August 17, 2017 at 12∶41:04 UTC the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and  the detector of Virgo project detected for the first time the signal form a coalescence of two neutron stars. In the publication of this new discovery 10 authors form the Polgraw group were included. 

Home institutions of the members of Polgraw-Virgo group formed Polish Consortium of the Virgo Project. Recently Polish contribution to the Virgo project embraced by Polish Consortium of the Virgo Project has been placed on the Polish Roadmap of Research Infrastructures by Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

Previously I led a team that worked on analysis of data from Italian resonant bar detectors EXPLORER and NAUTILUS where we performed the first all-sky search for gravitational waves from rotating neutron stars.

I also worked on theoretical methods and data analysis tools to analyse the gravitational wave signal originating from a superposition of many signals from binary systems in our Galaxy. This is the dominant gravitational wave signal that will be present in the data of a space-borne gravitational wave detector which was selected as European Space Agency (ESA) L3 Mission Concept.

In the past I haved studied black holes and space-time singularities using methods of differential topology and geometry developed by Geroch, Hawking and Penrose. In particular I have worked on cosmic censorship hypothesis put forward by Roger Penrose in 1969. The hypothesis asserts that the final state of gravitational collapse is always a black hole: space-time singularity clothed by the event horizon. In the language of Lorentzian geometry, space-time satisfies Penrose’s hypothesis if it is globally hyperbolic. For Kerr rotating black hole space-time cosmic censorship holds if ratio of specific angular momentum and mass - a/m is less than 1.

I have collaborative links with Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Germany and a NASA institute - Jet Propulsion Laboratory in USA.

Selected publications

1. C. J. S. Clarke and A. Królak, Conditions for the occurrence of strong curvature singularities, Journal of Geometry and Physics, Vol. 12 (1985), 127.

2. A. Królak, Towards the proof of the cosmic censorship hypothesis , Classical and Quantum Gravity Vol.3 (1986), 267.

3. A. Królak and B. F. Schutz, Coalescing binaries - probe to the Universe, General Relativity and Gravitation, Vol. 19 (1987), 1163. (Second Prize by Gravity Research Foundation, Ma, USA).

4. P. Jaranowski and A. Królak, Optimal solution of the inverse problem for the gravitational wave signal of a coalescing compact binary, Phys. Rev. D49 (1994) 1723.

5. P. Jaranowski, A. Królak, and B. F. Schutz, Data analysis of gravitational-wave signals from pulsars. I. The signal and its detection, Phys. Rev. D58 (1998) 063001.

6. P. Jaranowski and A. Królak, Data analysis of gravitational-wave signals from pulsars.II. Accuracy of estimation of parameters, Physical Review D59 (1999) 063003.

7. P. Jaranowski and A. Królak, Data analysis of gravitational-wave signals from pulsars. III. Detection statistics and computational requirements, Physical Review D61 (2000) 062001.

8. P. Astone, K. Borkowski, P. Jaranowski and A. Królak, Data analysis of gravitational-wave signals from spinning neutron stars. IV. An all-sky search, Physical Review D65 (2002) 042003.

9. R. Budzyński, W. Kondracki, and A. Królak, New properties of Cauchy and event horizons, Nonlinear Analysis Vol. 47 (2001) 2983.

10. A. Królak, Cosmic Censorship Hypothesis, Contemporary Mathematics, Vol.359 (2004) 51.

11. A. Królak, M. Vallisneri, and M. Tinto, Optimal filtering of the LISA data, Physical Review D70 (2004) 022003.

12. P. Jaranowski and A. Królak, Gravitational Wave Data Analysis: Formalism and Applications, Living Reviews, lrr-2012-4, 2012.

13. J. Edlund, M. Tinto, A. Królak, and G. Nelemans, The White Dwarf - White Dwarf galactic background in the LISA data, Phys. Rev. D71 (2005) 122003.

14. P. Astone et al., All-sky search of NAUTILUS data, Class. Quantum Grav. Vol. 25 (2008) 184012.

15. A. Blaut, S. Babak and A. Królak, Mock LISA Data Challenge for the galactic white dwarf binaries, Phys. Rev. D 82, 064010 (2010).

16. P. Astone, K. Borkowski, P. Jaranowski, M. Pietka and A. Królak, Data analysis of gravitational-wave signals from spinning neutron stars. V. A narrow-band all-sky search, Physical Review D82 022005 (2010).

17.  B.P. Abbott et al, Implementation of an F-statistic all-sky search for continuous gravitational waves in Virgo VSR1 data, Class. Quantum Grav. Vol. 31 (2014) 165014.  LSC - Virgo Collaboration paper (science summary of the paper)

18. All authors of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration, Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger, Phys. Rev. Lett 116 061102 (2016)

19. All authors of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration, GW170817: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Neutron Star Inspiral , Phys. Rev. Lett 119 161101 (2017)

Monograph

Analysis of Gravitational-Wave Data,  P. Jaranowski and A. Królak, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2009.