The Physics department colloquia are usually on Friday afternoons at 3:30 pm in Lapham Hall Room 160. Coffee and cookies are served at 3:15 pm in the same room. Anyone is welcome.

Was Einstein Right? A Centennial Assessment
Dr. Clifford Will University of Florida & Institut d’ Astrophysique de Paris

Einstein formulated general relativity 100 years ago. Although it is generally considered a great triumph, the theory’s early years were characterized by conceptual confusion, empirical uncertainties and a lack of relevance to ordinary physics. But in recent decades, a remarkably diverse set of precision experiments has established it a the “standard model” for gravitational physics. Yet it might not be the final word. We review a century of measurements that have verified general relativity, and describe some of the opportunities and challenges involved in testing Einstein’s great theory in strong-field regimes and in gravitational waves.