The Discovery of Gravitational Waves

In a stunning discovery with vast implications for astronomy and physics, the first detection of gravitational waves was made in 2015 by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in Hanford, Washington and Livingston, Louisiana. Gravitational waves are ripples in space-time caused by some of the most violent processes in the Universe. Massive accelerating objects such as neutron stars or black holes orbiting each other disrupt space-time, causing waves of distorted space to radiate from the source, like waves from a stone thrown into a pond. The waves travel at the speed of light through the Universe, carrying with them information about their cataclysmic origins, as well as clues to the nature of gravity itself. Dr. Knacke will describe gravitational waves; the LIGO Observatories; the epochal discovery of gravitational wave radiation from two massive, colliding black holes; and the implications for our understanding of the Universe.

Speaker: Roger Knacke, Penn State