Seeing two black holes merge (with gravitational waves!) - TeV Particle Astrophysics 2016 Public Event

14.09.2016 19:00 – 20:30

On the 14th of September 2015, the advanced LIGO gravitational wave
instruments detected the gravitational wave signal emitted as two
black holes, about one billion light years away from Earth, made a
final few orbits around each other then merged together. This was big
news around the world, because scientists have tried to make such
observations for more than half a century. Before they merged, the
two black holes were about 29 and 36 times as massive as the sun;
after the merger was complete, a single black hole about 62 times the
sun's mass was left behind. I'll describe what black holes are, how
they (and other accelerated masses) produce gravitational waves, and
how those waves are detected. I'll also discuss some of the
behind-the-scenes details of this discovery, and why we are
convinced that this signal, called GW150914, is real. For physics
enthusiasts, I'll explain how the main properties of the black holes
can be directly determined from the observational data and also why we
are convinced that no other explanation is possible.

Lieu

Bâtiment: Uni Dufour

Auditorium U300

entrée libre