Physics Colloquium: Gravitational Waves: A New Messenger to Observe the Universe

Please join the Physics Department in welcoming Dr. Amber Stuver from Villanova University, who will be giving a talk for our colloquium series. 

The title of the talk is "Gravitational Waves: A New Messenger to Observe the Universe"

ABSTRACT:
Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves, ripples on space-time propagating from accelerating masses, in 1916. 100 years later, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) announced the first detection of a gravitational wave from two stellar-mass black holes that coalesced 1.3 billion years ago. Since then, there have been a handful of detections, each its own first in science. Most recently, a gravitational wave was detected less than 2 seconds before a gamma-ray burst was detected from the same area on the sky. This led over 70 observatories, from around the Earth and orbiting it, to observe the light from this same event. This unprecedented collaboration in astronomy provided evidence to show that short gamma-ray bursts can be made by the coalescence of neutron star binaries. Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves, ripples on space-time propagating from accelerating masses, in 1916. 100 years later, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) announced the first detection of a gravitational wave from two stellar-mass black holes that coalesced 1.3 billion years ago. Since then, there have been a handful of detections, each its own first in science. Most recently, a gravitational wave was detected less than 2 seconds before a gamma-ray burst was detected from the same area on the sky. This led over 70 observatories, from around the Earth and orbiting it, to observe the light from this same event. This unprecedented collaboration in astronomy provided evidence to show that short gamma-ray bursts can be made by the coalescence of neutron star binaries.

This colloquium will discuss what gravitational waves are, how they are detected, and a summary of what has been detected and learned. 

The talk will be preceded by a Physics Tea from 4:00PM to 4:30PM in the Hugel lobby.