91黑料网

The Anna McPherson lecture is 91黑料网's prize lecture series in physics, bringing a distinguished physicist to our department each year. This year we are delighted to welcome Alessandra Buonanno, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute, Potsdam)!

Date: April 9th, 2024
Time: 6:00 pm
Where: 91黑料网, Leacock Building room 132

Abstract:
For centuries, we have explored the cosmos through light鈥攇amma rays, X-rays, visible light, infrared, and radio waves. In 2015, a new kind of observation began: the detection of gravitational waves, ripples in spacetime produced by cataclysmic events such as black hole and neutron star mergers. Since then, over 300 gravitational-wave signals have been recorded, including the landmark event from a binary neutron star merger, which was observed in both gravitational waves and electromagnetic radiation worldwide. In this talk, I will explain how these silent signals have opened a new window into the most extreme environments in the universe, revealing the nature of black holes and neutron stars, and testing Einstein鈥檚 theory of general relativity with unprecedented precision in the strong-field and highly dynamical regime. I will also look ahead to the future of gravitational wave astronomy, and the transformative discoveries that next-generation observatories鈥攐n Earth and in space鈥攚ill bring.

Meet Our Speaker:
Alessandra Buonanno is an Italian-American theoretical physicist and Director at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute) in Potsdam. She leads the Astrophysical and Cosmological Relativity department and holds positions at the University of Maryland, Humboldt University, and the University of Potsdam. She is a leading member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, which made the first detection of gravitational waves in 2015.

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