David Shoemaker, MIT Kavli Institute
Monday, February 22, 2016 - 4:00pm to 5:00pm
PAA A-102
On September 14, 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory simultaneously observed a transient gravitational-wave signal. It matches the waveform predicted by general relativity for the inspiral and merger of a pair of black holes and the ringdown of the resulting single black hole. The talk will provide a bit of historical context, describe the instruments, what we have learned from this observation and our confidence in the conclusions, and touch on future developments.
Audio of the colloquium (there was technical problem with the video)