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Dr. Walid Majid

Principal Research Scientist

About

Research Interests

My research focuses on compact astrophysical objects, with over 25 years of experience studying neutron stars and black holes. My group at JPL has designed and built radio instrumentation now deployed at each of the Deep Space Network complexes, enabling pulsar searches, precision pulsar timing, and detailed characterization of individual pulsars, magnetars, and fast radio bursts. Our group has also developed novel optical instrumentation enabling simultaneous radio and optical observations of fast radio bursts (FRBs), and has carried out multi-wavelength studies of neutron stars and FRBs spanning radio, optical, X-ray, and gamma-ray wavelengths.

More recently, our group has become involved in some of the most sensitive surveys for space orbital debris, using both active radar and passive radio measurements. We are also engaged in the characterization of hypervelocity debris and meteor collisions in Earth's atmosphere and on the lunar surface through coordinated radio and optical campaigns, bringing to bear many of the same instrumentation and signal processing techniques developed for astrophysical applications. From studies of the most extreme compact objects across our galaxy and beyond, our work has expanded to address pressing problems closer to home — in particular, the safety of space assets and the characterization of the near-Earth environment.

My expertise combines gravitational physics, radio and optical instrumentation, radar astronomy, and high-performance computing, applied across some of the most challenging problems in both fundamental astrophysics and applied space science.

Achievements

Awards & Recognitions

  • JPL Award | JPL North Star Awar, Discovery: Pioneering and transformational work on compact, energetic fast radio burst sources, pulsars, and magnetars. (2025)
  • The Edward Stone Award for Outstanding Research Publication | Bright Fast Radio Burst from FRB 20200120E with Sub-100 Nanosecond Structure (2023)
  • NASA Award | NASA Exceptional Public Achievement Medal | For exceptional achievement in advancing the understanding of neutron stars and fast radio bursts through the development of state-of-the-art-spectrometers at Deep Space Network. (2022)
  • JPL Principal Designation | 335D - Deep Space Tracking Systems (2015)

Publications

REFEREED PUBLICATIONS

  1. Wharton, R. S., Majid, W. A., Sherman, M. B., et al., "High-frequency Fast Radio Burst Search of Nearby Star-forming Galaxies M77 and M82", The Astrophysical Journal, 984, 119, 2025. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adc303
  2. Burdge, K. B., Marsh, T. R., Fuller, J., Bellm, E. C., Caiazzo, I., Chakrabarty, D., Coughlin, M. W., De, K., Dhillon, V. S., Graham, M. J., Rodríguez-Gil, P., Jaodand, A. D., Kaplan, D. L., Kara, E., Kong, A. K. H., Kulkarni, S. R., Li, K., Littlefair, S. P., Majid, W. A., Mróz, P., Pearlman, A. B., Phinney, E. S., Roestel, J., Simcoe, R. A., Andreoni, I., Drake, A. J., Dekany, R. G., Duev, D. A., Kool, E. C., Mahabal, A. A., Medford, M. S., Riddle, R., Prince, T. A., "A 62-minute orbital period black widow binary in a wide hierarchical triple", Nature, 605, 41, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04551-1
  3. Younes, G., Hu, C.-P., Bansal, K., Ray, P. S., Pearlman, A. B., Kirsten, F., Wadiasingh, Z., Göğüş, E., Baring, M. G., Enoto, T., Arzoumanian, Z., Gendreau, K. C., Kouveliotou, C., Güver, T., Harding, A. K., Majid, W. A., Blumer, H., Hessels, J. W. T., Gawroński, M. P., Bezrukovs, V., Orbidans, A., "X-Ray Burst and Persistent Emission Properties of the Magnetar SGR 1830-0645 in Outburst", The Astrophysical Journal, 924, 136, 2022. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac417b
  4. Enoto, T., Ng, M., Hu, C.-P., Güver, T., Jaisawal, G. K., O'Connor, B., Göğüş, E., Lien, A., Kisaka, S., Wadiasingh, Z., Majid, W. A., Pearlman, A. B., Arzoumanian, Z., Bansal, K., Blumer, H., Chakrabarty, D., Gendreau, K., Ho, W. C. G., Kouveliotou, C., Ray, P. S., Strohmayer, T. E., Younes, G., Palmer, D. M., Sakamoto, T., Akahori, T., Eie, S., "A Month of Monitoring the New Magnetar Swift J1555.2-5402 during an X-Ray Outburst", The Astrophysical Journal, 920, 4, 2021. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac0eff
  5. Majid, W. A., Pearlman, A. B., Prince, T. A., Wharton, R. S., Naudet, C. J., Bansal, K., "A Bright Fast Radio Burst from FRB 20200120E with Sub-100-Nanosecond Structure", The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 919, L6, 2021. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ac1921
  6. Enoto, T., Terasawa, T., Kisaka, S., Hu, C.-P., Guillot, S., Lewandowska, N., Malacaria, C., Ray, P. S., Ho, W. C. G., Harding, A. K., Okajima, T., Arzoumanian, Z., Gendreau, K. C., Wadiasingh, Z., Markwardt, C. B., Soong, Y., Kenyon, S., Bogdanov, S., Majid, W. A., Güver, T., Jaisawal, G. K., Foster, R., Murata, Y., Takeuchi, H., Takefuji, K., Sekido, M., Yonekura, Y., Misawa, H., Tsuchiya, F., Aoki, T., Tokumaru, M., Honma, M., Kameya, O., Oyama, T., Asano, K., Shibata, S., Tanaka, S. J., "Enhanced x-ray emission coinciding with giant radio pulses from the Crab Pulsar", Science, 372, 187, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abd4659
  7. Younes, G., Baring, M. G., Kouveliotou, C., Arzoumanian, Z., Enoto, T., Doty, J., Gendreau, K. C., Göğüş, E., Guillot, S., Güver, T., Harding, A. K., Ho, W. C. G., van der Horst, A. J., Hu, C.-P., Jaisawal, G. K., Kaneko, Y., LaMarr, B. J., Lin, L., Majid, W., Okajima, T., Pope, J., Ray, P. S., Roberts, O. J., Saylor, M., Steiner, J. F., Wadiasingh, Z., "Broadband X-ray burst spectroscopy of the fast-radio-burst-emitting Galactic magnetar", Nature Astronomy, 5, 408, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-01292-x
  8. Pearlman, A. B., Majid, W. A., Prince, T. A., Nimmo, K., Hessels, J. W. T., Naudet, C. J., Kocz, J., "Multiwavelength Radio Observations of Two Repeating Fast Radio Burst Sources: FRB 121102 and FRB 180916.J0158+65", The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 905, L27, 2020. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/abca31
  9. Younes, G., et al. (including Majid, W. A.), "The NICER View of the 2020 Burst Storm and Persistent Emission of SGR 1935+2154", The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 904, L21, 2020. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/abc03c 1
  10. Hu, C.-P., et al. (including Majid, W. A.), "NICER Observation of the Temporal and Spectral Evolution of Swift J1818.0-1607: A Missing Link between Magnetars and Rotation-powered Pulsars", The Astrophysical Journal, 902, 1, 2020. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/abb6b6
  11. Majid, W. A., Pearlman, A. B., Nimmo, K., Hessels, J. W. T., Prince, T. A., Naudet, C. J., Kocz, J., Horiuchi, S., "A Dual-Band Radio Observation of FRB 121102 with the Deep Space Network and the Detection of Multiple Bursts", The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 897, L4, 2020. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ab9a4a
  12. Scholz, P., Cook, A., Cruces, M., Hessels, J. W. T., Kaspi, V. M., Majid, W. A., et al., "Simultaneous X-ray and Radio Observations of the Repeating Fast Radio Burst FRB 180916.J0158+65", The Astrophysical Journal, 901, 165, 2020. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/abb1a8
  13. Chen, P., Speyer, J. L., Majid, W. A., "Experimental Verification of a Pulsar-Based Positioning System Using L-Band Measurements", Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 43, 1, 60, 2020. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.G004480
  14. Chen, P., Zhou, B., Speyer, J. L., Bayard, D. S., Majid, W. A., Wood, L. J., "Aspects of Pulsar Navigation for Deep Space Mission Applications", The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40295-019-00209-9
  15. Güver, T., et al. (including Majid, W. A.), "NICER Observations of the 2018 Outburst of XTE J1810-197", The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 877, L30, 2019. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ab2345 16. Pearlman, A. B., Majid, W. A., Prince, T. A., "Observations of Radio Magnetars with the Deep Space Network", Advances in Astronomy, 2019, 6325183, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/6325183
  16. Bansal, K., Wharton, R. S., Pearlman, A. B., Majid, W. A., Prince, T. A., Younes, G., Hu, C.-P., Enoto, T., Kocz, J., Horiuchi, S., "Simultaneous radio and X-ray observations of the magnetar Swift J1818.0-1607", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 523, 2401, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stad1520
  17. Pearlman, A. B., Majid, W. A., Prince, T. A., Kocz, J., Horiuchi, S., "Pulse Morphology of the Galactic Center Magnetar PSR J1745-2900", The Astrophysical Journal, 866, 160, 2018. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aade4d
  18. Chen, P., Speyer, J. L., Bayard, D. S., Majid, W. A., "Autonomous Navigation Using X-Ray Pulsars and Multirate Processing", Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 40, 9, 2237, 2017. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.G002541
  19. Chen, P., Speyer, J. L., Bayard, D. S., Majid, W. A., "Autonomous Navigation Using X-Ray Pulsars and Multirate Processing", Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 40, 9, 2237, 2017. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.G002541
  20. Arabshahi, S., Majid, W. A., Dwyer, J. R., Rassoul, H. K., "On production of gamma rays and relativistic runaway electron avalanches from Martian dust storms", Geophysical Research Letters, 44, 8182, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL073562
  21. Majid, W. A., Pearlman, A. B., Dobreva, T., Horiuchi, S., Kocz, J., Lippuner, J., Prince, T. A., "Post-outburst Radio Observations of the High Magnetic Field Pulsar PSR J1119-6127", The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 834, L2, 2017. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/834/1/L2
  22. Kocz, J., Majid, W. A., White, L., Snedeker, L., Franco, M., "Pulsar Timing at the Deep Space Network", Journal of Astronomical Instrumentation, 5, 4, 1641013, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1142/S2251171716410130
  23. Kuiper, T. B. H., Monroe, R. M., White, L. A., Miro, C. G., Levin, S. M., Majid, W. A., Soriano, M., "DSN Transient Observatory", Journal of Astronomical Instrumentation, 5, 4, 1641012, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1142/S2251171716410129
  24. Burke-Spolaor, S., Trott, C. M., Brisken, W. F., Deller, A. T., Majid, W. A., Palaniswamy, D., Thompson, D. R., Tingay, S. J., Wagstaff, K. L., Wayth, R. B., "Limits on Fast Radio Bursts from Four Years of the V-FASTR Experiment", The Astrophysical Journal, 826, 223, 2016. https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/826/2/223
  25. Cutler, C., Burke-Spolaor, S., Vallisneri, M., Lazio, J., Majid, W., "The gravitational-wave discovery space of pulsar timing arrays", Physical Review D, 89, 042003, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.89.042003
  26. Trott, C. M., Tingay, S. J., Randall, R. B., Thompson, D. R., Deller, A. T., Wagstaff, K. L., Majid, W. A., Burke-Spolaor, S., Macquart, J. R., Palaniswamy, D., "A framework for interpreting fast radio transients search experiments: application to the V-FASTR experiment", The Astrophysical Journal, 767, 4, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/767/1/4
  27. Wayth, R. B., Brisken, W. F., Deller, A. T., Majid, W. A., Thompson, D. R., Tingay, S. J., Wagstaff, K. L., "Limits on the event rates of fast radio transients from the V-FASTR experiment", The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 753, L36, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/753/2/L36
  28. Majid, W. A., Naudet, C. J., Lowe, S. T., Kuiper, T. B. H., "Statistical Studies of Giant Pulse Emission from the Crab Pulsar", The Astrophysical Journal, 741, 53, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/741/1/53
  29. Thompson, D. R., Wagstaff, K. L., Brisken, W. F., Deller, A. T., Majid, W. A., Tingay, S. J., Wayth, R. B., "Detection of Fast Radio Transients with Multiple Stations: a Case Study Using the VLBA", The Astrophysical Journal, 735, 98, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/735/2/98
  30. Wayth, R. B., Brisken, W. F., Deller, A. T., Majid, W. A., Thompson, D. R., Tingay, S. J., Wagstaff, K. L., "V-FASTR: The VLBA Fast Radio Transients Experiment", The Astrophysical Journal, 735, 97, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/735/2/97
  31. Macquart, J. P., et al. (including Majid, W. A.), "The Commensal Real-time ASKAP Fast Transient (CRAFT) Survey", Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 27, 272, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1071/AS09082
  32. Abbott, B., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "Joint LIGO and TAMA300 search for gravitational waves from inspiralling neutron star binaries", Physical Review D, 73, 102002, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.73.102002
  33. Abbott, B., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "Search for gravitational waves from binary black hole inspirals in LIGO data", Physical Review D, 73, 062001, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.73.062001
  34. Ma, H., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "First observation of the decay K⁺→e⁺νₑμ⁺μ⁻", Physical Review D, 73, 037101, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.73.037101
  35. Abbott, B., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "Upper limits from the LIGO and TAMA detectors on the rate of gravitational-wave bursts", Physical Review D, 72, 122004, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.72.122004
  36. Abbott, B., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "First all-sky upper limits from LIGO on the strength of periodic gravitational waves using the Hough transform", Physical Review D, 72, 102004, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.72.102004
  37. Abbott, B., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "Search for gravitational waves from primordial black hole binary coalescences in the galactic halo", Physical Review D, 72, 082002, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.72.082002
  38. Abbott, B., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "Search for gravitational waves from galactic and extra-galactic binary neutron stars", Physical Review D, 72, 082001, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.72.082001
  39. Abbott, B., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "Upper limits on gravitational wave bursts in LIGO's second science run", Physical Review D, 72, 062001, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.72.062001
  40. Abbott, B., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "Search for gravitational waves associated with the gamma ray burst GRB030329 using the LIGO detectors", Physical Review D, 72, 042002, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.72.042002
  41. Sher, A., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "Improved upper limit on the decay K⁺→π⁺μ⁺e⁻", Physical Review D, 72, 012005, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.72.012005
  42. Abbott, B., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "Limits on Gravitational-Wave Emission from Selected Pulsars Using LIGO Data", Physical Review Letters, 94, 181103, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.181103
  43. Majid, W. A., Lamb, R. C., Macomb, D. J., "X-Ray Pulsars in the Small Magellanic Cloud", The Astrophysical Journal, 609, 133, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1086/420925
  44. Abbott, B., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "Analysis of first LIGO science data for stochastic gravitational waves", Physical Review D, 69, 122004, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.69.122004
  45. Abbott, B., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "Analysis of LIGO data for gravitational waves from binary neutron stars", Physical Review D, 69, 122001, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.69.122001
  46. Abbott, B., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "First upper limits from LIGO on gravitational wave bursts", Physical Review D, 69, 102001, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.69.102001
  47. Abbott, B., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "Setting upper limits on the strength of periodic gravitational waves from PSR J1939+2134 using the first science data from the GEO 600 and LIGO detectors", Physical Review D, 69, 082004, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.69.082004
  48. Allen, B., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "Upper limits on the strength of periodic gravitational waves from PSR J1939+2134", Classical and Quantum Gravity, 21, 671, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1088/0264-9381/21/5/003
  49. Abbott, B., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "Detector description and performance for the first coincidence observations between LIGO and GEO", Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 517, 154, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2003.11.124
  50. Sher, A., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "High Statistics Measurement of the K⁺→π⁰e⁺ν (K⁺e3) Branching Ratio", Physical Review Letters, 91, 261802, 2003. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.261802
  51. Pislak, S., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "High statistics measurement of Ke4 decay properties", Physical Review D, 67, 072004, 2003. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.67.072004
  52. Poblaguev, A. A., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "Experimental Study of the Radiative Decays K⁺→μ⁺νe⁺e⁻ and K⁺→e⁺νe⁺e⁻", Physical Review Letters, 89, 061803, 2002. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.89.061803
  53. Poblaguev, A. A., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "A large acceptance, high-resolution detector for rare K⁺ decay experiments", Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 479, 349, 2002. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-9002(01)00916-4
  54. Lamb, R. C., Macomb, D. J., Prince, T., Majid, W. A., "X-Ray Pulsars in the Small Magellanic Cloud", The Astrophysical Journal, 567, L129, 2002. https://doi.org/10.1086/340005
  55. Pislak, S., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "New Measurement of Ke4 Decay and the s-Wave ππ Scattering Length a⁰₀", Physical Review Letters, 87, 221801, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.221801
  56. Appel, R., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "Search for Lepton Flavor Violation in K⁺ Decays into a Charged Pion and Two Leptons", Physical Review Letters, 85, 2877, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.2877
  57. Appel, R., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "Improved Limit on the Rate of the Decay K⁺→π⁺μ⁺e⁻", Physical Review Letters, 85, 2450, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.2450
  58. Ma, H., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "New Measurement of the Rare Decay K⁺→π⁺μ⁺μ⁻", Physical Review Letters, 84, 2580, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.84.2580
  59. Appel, R., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "New Measurement of the Properties of the Rare Decay K⁺→π⁺e⁺e⁻", Physical Review Letters, 83, 4482, 1999. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.4482
  60. Abe, K., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "Measurement of the charged multiplicity of Z⁰→bb̄ events", Physical Review Letters, 72, 3145, 1994. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.72.3145
  61. Abe, K., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "Measurement of αs from jet rates at the Z⁰ resonance", Physical Review Letters, 71, 2528, 1993. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.71.2528
  62. Abe, K., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "First measurement of the left-right cross section asymmetry in Z boson production by e⁺e⁻ collisions", Physical Review Letters, 70, 2515, 1993. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.70.2515
  63. Abe, K., et al. (Majid, W. A. is co-author), "First Measurement of the Left-Right Asymmetry in Z-Boson Production", Modern Physics Letters A, 8, 2237, 1993. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217732393002392