About
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics. I study gravitational waves using methods from differential geometry and signal processing. My main work is on searches for compact binary mergers in LIGO data: low-latency and early-warning detection of neutron star mergers, adaptive whitening of nonstationary detector noise, and the construction of template banks. A second line of work develops geometric tools for detector characterization.
The Naval Academy is a member group of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, and I lead the USNA group. Midshipmen in the group work on real LIGO data with the software the collaboration runs in production. See Research for current projects and openings.
Research Interests
- Searches for compact binary mergers in gravitational-wave data
- Low-latency and early-warning detection for multi-messenger astronomy
- Adaptive whitening and signal processing in nonstationary noise
- Information geometry and template bank construction
- Geometric methods for detector characterization
- Signal detection in nonstationary acoustic environments, including passive sonar
Education
- Ph.D. Physics, The Pennsylvania State University, 2026
- Dissertation: "Geometric Methods in Gravitational Wave Detection"; Advisor: Prof. Chad Hanna
- B.S. Physics with Honors, The University of Texas at Austin, 2015
- Midshipman, United States Naval Academy, 2011-2013
Professional Experience
- Assistant Professor, U.S. Naval Academy (2026 - present)
- Graduate Fellow, Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos, Penn State (2020 - 2026)
- Quantitative Developer, HBK Capital Management (2014 - 2020)
Professional Affiliations
- LIGO Scientific Collaboration, USNA group lead
- LISA Consortium
Latest News
Oct 2026: The LIGO Scientific Collaboration Council voted to admit the Naval Academy as a member group, with Prof. Kennington as group lead.
Aug 2026: Paper published in Physical Review D: "Fisher Information Velocity: A New Geometric Channel for Precision Glitch Identification in Gravitational-Wave Detectors", with Z. Yarbrough (LSU).
Aug 2026: Paper published in Physical Review D: "Dual Cutler-Vallisneri Corrections: Mitigating PSD Drift in Zero-Latency Gravitational-Wave Searches".
Aug 2026: Released GW Explorer, a gravitational-wave exhibit that runs entirely in a web browser, including on a school Chromebook. See Outreach.
Fall 2026: Joined the USNA Department of Physics as Assistant Professor.
Jun 2026: Released People of LIGO, an interactive globe of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration built from the public member directory.
Jun 2026: Defended Ph.D. dissertation, "Geometric Methods in Gravitational Wave Detection," at Penn State.
Dr. Jim Kennington
Assistant Professor of Physics
The U.S. Naval Academy
Department of Physics
572C Holloway Road, Stop 9C
Annapolis, MD 21402
Email: kenningt@usna.edu
