Katharina Radermacher: Gravitational waves unveiled – from Einstein to aLIGO
Tid: Fr 2016-03-04 kl 13.15 - 14.15
Plats: Room 3418, Lindstedtsvägen 25, 4th floor, Department of Mathematics, KTH
Medverkande: Katharina Radermacher, KTH
The announcement on February 11 that gravitational waves have (finally!) been detected spread through media of all kind in what might be the biggest scientific news event of the year and will certainly result in a number of prestigious prizes. In my talk, I am going to trace the important steps which led to this discovery, starting with Einstein's theory of relativity in 1915 and culminating in the detection of the binary black hole merger GW150914.
In this scientific overview talk/history lesson, I am going to show how the last 100 years of research in mathematical relativity, theoretical physics, numerical relativity and gravitational physics have made this detection and its correct interpretation possible. Furthermore, I am going to complement the popular scientific knowledge on gravitational waves which many have gained through the latest news with some more solid mathematical background.