ICCUB COLLOQUIA – Direct observation of gravitational waves from the merger and inspiral of two black holes

• By Bruce Allen (Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Hannover)

This talk describes the advanced LIGO observations of gravitational waves emitted by the final few orbits and merger of two black holes.

I present our main results, as well as some of the "behind the scenes" details of the 14 September 2015 discovery, and briefly describe our 26 December 2015 detection of somewhat weaker gravitational waves from a similar system.

The consistency of these observations with the predictions of General Relativity, and our expectations for the second observing run O2 (which began at the end of 2016) and for future observing runs are also discussed. References: B. P. Abbott et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 061102, 2016; Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 241103, 2016; Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 22110; Ann. der Physik 529, No. 1-2, 1600209, 2017.

Contact email: secretaria@icc.ub.edu