Particle and Astroparticle Physics Colloquium Hamburg

Catching gravitational waves: - a new discovery and a new astronomy

by Sheila Rowan (Institute for Graviational Research, Glasgow Univ.)

Europe/Berlin
Auditorium (DESY Hamburg)

Auditorium

DESY Hamburg

Description
Close to a century after Albert Einstein predicted the existence of ripples in space-time - `Gravitational waves' - the advanced detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) recently detected such signals for the first time, starting a new era in astronomy. This talk will explain the nature of gravitational waves, describe what sources out in the Universe can produce them, explain how they are detected, what the signals were that the LIGO detectors actually have captured and what the future of this new era in astronomy might look like.
Poster
Slides