Gravitational Waves: A Window Into Black Holes and the Early Universe
3401 Spruce Street
Hosted by the Center for Particle Cosmology
This event is free and open to the public
The discovery of gravity waves, ripples in space-time generated by extreme astrophysical events, has opened a new window on black holes and the universe. During this panel discussion, Bhuvnesh Jain, Justin Khoury, Masao Sako, Robyn Sanderson, and Mark Trodden will introduce the LIGO experiment’s discoveries of merging black holes and neutron stars, and discuss what we have learned from them. New questions about black holes and the early universe, both of which can generate gravity waves, can now be posed and answered. These include: Do black holes spin? Can we detect matter falling into black holes? How did the pre-Big Bang universe generate gravity waves? One of the exciting frontiers is the near simultaneous detection of gravity waves and light – we will explore the prospects for this mode of multi-messenger astronomy as well.