Department of Physics
MIT
Thursday, March 9th 2017, 18:30
Stephen Leacock Building, Leacock Auditorium (room 132)
Exploring the universe with gravitational waves
The recent observation of gravitational waves from colliding black holes
opens the new field of gravitational wave astronomy. The talk begins with
some of the history of Einstein's theory of gravity and the ideas leading to
gravitational waves. The first attempts at direct observation of the waves
and a beautiful indirect measurement are presented. The instrument and the
technical challenges that had to be met to make the recent detection are
discussed. The data and their interpretation as the merger of binary black
holes to a single black hole is described. The talk ends with new directions
open by gravitational wave astronomy.
Friday, March 10th 2017, 15:30
Ernest Rutherford Physics Building, Keys Auditorium (room 112)
Observation of the merger of binary black holes:
The opening of gravitational wave astronomy
The recent observation of gravitational waves from the merger of binary
black holes opens a new way to learn about the universe as well as to test
General Relativity in the limit of strong gravitational interactions -
the dynamics of massive bodies traveling at relativistic speeds in a highly
curved space-time. The lecture will describe some of the difficult history
of gravitational waves proposed 100 years ago. The concepts used in the
instruments and the methods for data analysis that enable the measurement
of gravitational wave strains of 10-21 and smaller will be presented. The
results derived from the measured waveforms, their relation to the Einstein
field equations and the astrophysical implications are discussed. The talk
will end with our vision for the future of gravitational wave astronomy.
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