LIGO and The Discovery of Gravitational Waves from Colliding Black Holes
by
Imre Bartos(Columbia University)
→
Europe/Stockholm
Siegbahn
Siegbahn
Description
One hundred years ago, Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves, ripples in the very fabric of space-time. Gravitational waves can be created during the birth and collision of black holes, and can reach us from distant galaxies. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) recently detected gravitational waves for the first time in history from black holes billions of light years away. LIGO measured miniscule disturbances in space, much smaller than the size of the atoms from which the detector is built. The detection of gravitational waves and black holes will fundamentally change our understanding of gravity and space, and will expand the frontiers of astrophysics and cosmology by opening a new window to the universe. I will introduce gravitational waves, their recent discovery and how this will change the course of astronomy. In particular, I will discuss the prospects and plans for multimessenger observations focusing on high-energy emission from black holes.
