Prof. B.S. Sathyaprakash, Elsbach Professor of Physics and Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Penn State

"Gravitational Wave Observations: Latest Results and Future Prospects"

Coffee and cookies will be served at 3:45pm in RLM 4.102

Abstract: LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave detectors have provided a new tool for observing the cosmos. Observations of the merger of binary black holes and binary neutron stars have been used to test general relativity, measure the radius of neutron stars, constrain the speed of gravitational waves, and measure the Hubble constant. These observations have also confirmed that double neutron star mergers are progenitors of short gamma-ray bursts and sites of formation of heavy elements, while the masses and spins of black holes have raised new questions about how these systems form and evolve. In this talk I will discuss implication of gravitational-wave observations so far and how detectors that are 10 times more sensitive could help address open problems in fundamental physics, astrophysics and cosmology.