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CATEGORIES:The Sackler Lectures
SUMMARY:Gravitational wave science - observations and a fo
 rward look - Sheila Rowan (Glasgow).
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20181115T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20181115T170000
UID:TALK113038AThttp://talks.cam.ac.uk
URL:http://talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/113038
DESCRIPTION:In September 2015 the twin ‘Advanced LIGO’ observa
 tories allowed the first direct detection of gravi
 tational waves from astrophysical sources. The wav
 es detected originated from the collision and merg
 er of two black holes 1.3 billion light years from
  earth. This detection marked the start of new fie
 ld of gravitational astrophysics\, in the 100th an
 niversary year of Einstein’s General Theory of Rel
 ativity. This talk will discuss the discovery\, co
 ver the status of observations since then\, some o
 f the science emerging from gravitational wave stu
 dies to date and outline what the future of the fi
 eld might look like.\n\nProfessor Rowan led one of
  the teams who contributed to the international LI
 GO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observ
 atory:https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/) collaboration
 . LIGO first detected gravitational waves in Septe
 mber 2015\, 100 years after Einstein’s original pr
 ediction.\n\nShiela Rowan received her Bachelor of
  Science at the University of Glasgow and stayed o
 n to complete her PhD. After her PhD\, Rowan split
  her time between the University of Glasgow and th
 e Edward Ginzton Laboratory at Stanford University
 . Since 2003\, she has been based solely in Glasgo
 w\, and in 2006 was appointed Professor of Experim
 ental Physics. In June 2016\, Rowan was seconded (
 part-time) to Chief Scientific Advisor to the Scot
 tish Government.\n\nProfessor Rowan's research is 
 targeted at the development of innovative \nlow no
 ise optical mirrors used in novel 'gravitational' 
 observatories which are targeted at searching for 
 gravitational signals from astrophysical systems i
 n our Universe. This represents one of the most ex
 citing challenges in experimental physics and astr
 ophysics. It holds great potential for observing e
 xotic objects such as black holes and neutron star
 s in a way not possible with optical\, radio or ot
 her electromagnetic observations - through their p
 ure gravitational signals.\n\n\nSee also: https://
 stfc.ukri.org/news/gravitational-waves/
LOCATION:Sackler Lecture Theatre\, IoA (tea at 3.30 pm)
CONTACT:Richard McMahon
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