Current Schedule

Speaker = Prof. David Reitze of Caltech

Host = Dean Lee leed@frib.msu.edu

When = 2024-11-20 Wednesday 16:10

Where = FRIB 1300

Please feel free to sign up below, but note that some slots may need to be re-assigned to accommodate those with a specific need to meet the speaker. If this happens, the Admin or Speaker Host will reach out to you via email.

Title = Gravitational-wave Astrophysics: Taking Advantage of Nature's Hadron Collider

Abstract

Since the first direct detection of gravitational waves in 2015 from a pair of merging black holes, gravitational-wave astrophysics is opening a new window to the high energy universe. In particular, the simultaneous observation of the colliding binary neutron star system GW170817 in the gravitational wave and electromagnetic sectors produced fundamental insights into (among many other things) the nature of the neutron star equation of state and r-process nucleosynthesis.

This talk will cover the fundamentals of gravitational-wave detectors and how they work as well as present recent highlights from LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observing runs with an emphasis on discoveries associated with GW170817. Time permitting, we'll look at the future generation of gravitational-wave observatories being planned for the next decade.

Relevant background:

• FIRST Gravitational Waves Detected (2016-02-11 NSF News)
• Gravity’s Shadow: The Search for Gravitational Waves by Harry Collins
• Joseph Weber (wikipedia)
• The Impact of the LIGO/VIRGO Neutron Star Merger Discovery on Research in Nuclear Science and Nuclear Astrophysics (2017-12-01 JINA-CEE Livestream
• GW170817 Press Release LIGO and Virgo make first detection of gravitational waves produced by colliding neutron stars (2017-10-16)
• INT Program INT-17-2b: Electromagnetic Signatures of r-process Nucleosynthesis in Neutron Star Binary Mergers (July 24 - August 18, 2017)
• Signals from Black Hole + Neutron Star Mergers by Dan Kasen (2022-05-06 CCA Colloquium)