Gravitational waves, GW150914 and compact binary mergers

Seminar

QUEST Center event

No

Speaker

Tsvi Piran, Racah Institute for Phyiscs, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem

Date

12/12/2016 - 12:30Add to Calendar 2016-12-12 12:30:00 2016-12-12 12:30:00 Gravitational waves, GW150914 and compact binary mergers Gravitational waves were predicted by Albert Einstein as an outcome of the general theory of relativity in 1916. Advanced LIGO was barely switched on when the frist gravitational radiation signal ever, GW 150914, was detected. It turned out that it signaled a merger between two ~30 solar masses black holes some 1.5 billion light years away. Later on a second signal, GW 151226, was detected. I will review the physics of gravitational radiation, the advanced LIGO detector, these recent discoveries and their various implications. 301 Department of Physics physics.dept@mail.biu.ac.il Asia/Jerusalem public

Place

301

Abstract

Gravitational waves were predicted by Albert Einstein as an outcome of the general theory of relativity in 1916. Advanced LIGO was barely switched on when the frist gravitational radiation signal ever, GW 150914, was detected. It turned out that it signaled a merger between two ~30 solar masses black holes some 1.5 billion light years away. Later on a second signal, GW 151226, was detected. I will review the physics of gravitational radiation, the advanced LIGO detector, these recent discoveries and their various implications.