Public Lecture: Ten Years of Gravitational Waves

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the first detection of gravitational waves, Prof. Marco Cavaglia, head of the S&T LIGO group, will give a public lecture titled "From Silence to Sound: 10 Years of Gravitational Waves from Colliding Black Holes." The event is free and open to the public. Anyone with an interest in science is invited - no physics background required.

Abstract:
On September 14, 2015, at 4:50:45 a.m. Central US time, the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory simultaneously observed a gravitational-wave signal that originated 1.3 billion light-years ago in a faraway galaxy. The source of the gravitational wave was a cataclysmic collision of two massive black holes releasing so much energy that it rippled the fabric of space and time across the entire universe. Gravitational waves were predicted by Albert Einstein a century ago and were believed to be undetectable. And yet the human ingenuity of thousands of researchers, engineers, and technicians, and the vision of a few of the greatest scientists of our time, brought us a discovery that ``shook the world'' and created a completely new branch of science to reveal the deepest secrets of the dark universe. As we celebrate the tenth anniversary of one of the most important scientific achievements of this century, observations of gravitational waves from colliding black holes have become routine. In this talk, we will revisit the excitement surrounding the initial discovery, explore the science of gravitational waves and black holes, examine current results, and discuss the expectations for gravitational-wave astrophysics over the next decade.