by
Prof.Michele Heurs(Leibniz Universitaet Hannover)
→
Europe/Berlin
MPI Meeting rooms
MPI Meeting rooms
Description
The first direct detection of gravitational waves - the merger of a binary black hole system, announced in February 2016 - heralded the new era of gravitational wave astronomy. In the mean time we have observed five further events, among them the
very first instance of multi-messenger astronomy: the coincident observation of the merger of two neutron stars in the gravitational as well as in the electromagnetic spectrum. We have opened a new window to the universe that will help reveal its "dark" secrets, inaccessible to astronomy in the electromagnetic spectrum and neutrino astronomy.
The talk is structured as follows: After a brief introduction to gravitational waves and their effect on space-time I will explain the principle of interferometric gravitational wave detection. I will present the limiting noise sources, both technical and fundamental), resulting detector sensitivities and advanced interferometer techniques. Finally, I will touch upon the current status of the field, including plans for spaceborne detectors.
