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.

Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger
Dr. Patrick Brady Professor, UWM Dept. of Physics

On September 14, 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) simultaneously observed a transient gravitational-wave signal. The signal sweeps upwards in frequency from 35 to 250 Hz and matches the waveform predicted by general relativity for the inspiral and merger of a pair of black holes and the ringdown of the resulting single black hole.

I will discuss the LIGO detectors, the implications of the observation, and prospects for the new field of gravitational-wave astronomy.