Miquel Nofrarias: “The dawn of gravitational wave astronomy” [NOT TRANSLATED]

2016-03-14

00:00

On September 14th, 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) simultaneously observed a transient gravitational-wave signal.

This historic event was announced on Feb 11th as the first direct detection ever of gravitational waves and, consequently, as the beginning of gravitational wave astronomy.

In parallel, a mission to test the technologies to detect gravitational waves from space — LISA Pathfinder — lifted off from French Guiana on December 3rd 2015 and it is currently entering the scientific operations phase. Thus, after many decades of development, the gravitational wave astronomy field is nowadays entering a new promising era.

This talk will describe LIGO’s historic discovery both from a historical perspective and also from a scientific point of view. I will also provide some overview on the instrument and the reasons and associated challenges to go to space. [NOT TRANSLATED]