Mötesplats Rydberg: The direct detection of gravitational waves: the first discovery, and where we go from here - Chris Van Den Broeck

Tuesday 8 Mar 2016, 15:15 → 16:15 Europe/Copenhagen

Rydbergsalen (Fysiska institutionen-Physics Department)

On 14 September 2015, a clear gravitational wave signal was recorded at the Advanced LIGO observatories. This led to several discoveries at once: the first direct detection of gravitational waves, the first observation of a binary black hole merger, the first direct evidence for the existence of black holes, and the first tests of general relativity in the genuinely strong-field regime. I will explain how the detection was made and what information was extracted from the signal. I will also outline the scientific opportunities in relativistic astrophysics, fundamental physics, and cosmology that await us in the coming years and decades.

Speaker: Chris Van Den Broeck, Nikhef, for the LIGO and VIRGO collaboration

Slides Gravitational-waves.pdf