2018 CAP Congress / Congrès de l'ACP 2018

The Warped Universe: the one hundred year quest to discover Einstein’s gravitational waves

11 Jun 2018, 19:30

1h

Rebecca Cohn Theatre, Dalhousie Arts Centre (Dalhousie University)

Plenary Speaker / Conférencier(ère) plénier(ère) Herzberg Public, Plenary, and Medal Talks / Conférenciers des sessions Herzberg, plénières et médaillés (CAP-ACP) Herzberg Memorial Public Lecture | Conférence commémorative publique Herzberg (Nergis Mavalvala, MIT)

Speaker

Prof. Nergis Mavalvala (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Description

The recent announcements of the first ever detections of gravitational waves from colliding black holes and neutron stars have launched a new era of gravitational wave astrophysics. Gravitational waves were predicted by Einstein a hundred years earlier. I will describe the science, technology, and human story behind these discoveries that provide a completely new window into some of the most violent and warped events in the Universe.