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WFU Physics Colloquium

TITLE: GW150914: The first direct detection of Gravitational Waves. What was seen - How did we see it - What does it mean?

SPEAKER: Professor Gregory B. Cook

Department of Physics,
Wake Forest University

TIME: Wednesday April 13, 2016 at 4:00 PM

PLACE: Room 101 Olin Physical Laboratory

Refreshments will be served at 3:30 PM in the Olin Lounge. All interested persons are cordially invited to attend.

ABSTRACT

On September 14, 2015, the Advanced LIGO detectors recorded a clear gravitational-wave signal. Our best understanding of the waveform tells us that two roughly 30 solar-mass black holes spiralled together and merged into a single black hole. I will give an overview of this event, discussing exactly what was seen, why we interpret this as a binary black hole merger, how the detector works, and delve a little into "what this means".

100 Olin Physical Laboratory
Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem, NC 27109-7507
Phone: (336) 758-5337, FAX: (336) 758-6142
E-mail: wfuphys@wfu.edu