Delilah Gates, Ph.D.

THESIS: "Observational Electromagnetic Signatures of Spinning Black Holes"
ADVISOR: Prof. Andrew Strominger
GRADUATION: May 2021
Kudoboard: https://harvardphysics.kudoboard.com/boards/tJ0gFL19

What is your home town?
Mitchellville, MD

What research did you do while at Harvard Physics?
Analytically characterizing universal observational signatures of the near horizon strong field region of the black holes using two critical phenomena of the Kerr geometry: the presence of critical null geodesics, and the emergent conformal symmetry of the near horizon region of (near-)extremal black holes.

If you had to describe your work to someone outside of physics, what would you say you do?
I study the way light bends around black holes due to the strong gravity near the black hole. In particular I look for features in images of black holes that tell us about the black hole: how massive it is, how fast it is rotating, from what angle we are viewing it.

Is there anything about your experience at Harvard you'd like to share with everyone? 
I found Harvard Physics to be a welcoming environment that really tries hard to support its students. Graduate school here has also given me some of my dearest friends.

What are your plans for the future?
Postdoctoral fellow at the Princeton Gravity Initiative

What advice do you have for incoming G1 students? 
Ask lots of questions, don't be afraid to explore, and make sure to take care of yourself mentally and physically.