General Physics Colloquium, Professor Matthew Evans, MIT

Title:  Gravitational Waves:  Sources and the Next-Gen Observatories

Host:  Nils Deppe

Abstract: In 2016 the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) announced the first direct detection of gravitational waves; minute distortions in space-time caused by cataclysmic events far away in the universe.  Nine years later, with almost 200 gravitational-wave sources detected to-date and the first-generation facilities now almost 30-years old, there is growing momentum towards the next-generation of gravitational-wave observatories.  Projects are underway in Europe, Australia, Japan, India and the US to bring new observatories online. I will talk about the sources of the signals we detected, the physics behind the detectors, and prospects for building a next-gen gravitational-wave observatory known as Cosmic Explorer.