Wenxuan Jia

Wenxuan received his PhD at MIT in August 2024. Prior to joining MIT in 2019, he obtained B.S. from University of Southern California.  Wenxuan’s interest lies in applying quantum technologies such as quantum squeezing to precision measurements for fundamental science and beyond. His research work involves using a novel quantum state of light, known as squeezed vacuum states, to improve the sensitivity of a gravitational-wave detector (LIGO) that is fundamentally limited by laws of quantum mechanics. As a result, the LIGO Livingston detector achieved a quantum noise reduction of 5.8 dB at 2 kHz, a record-high level of observed squeezing in the worldwide detector network. It leads to a doubled gravitational-wave detection rate compared to previous observing runs.