Physics Colloquium
Date: Monday, 20 November 2023
Time: 3:30 PM
Venue: Lecture Hall 202
Gravitational-wave astronomy: new discoveries, puzzles and prospects
B.S. Sathyaprakash
Penn State and Cardiff University.
20-11-23

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Abstract

Ever since their first discovery by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, compact binary coalescences of neutron stars and black holes have resolved several old enigmas, while rising new questions in gravity, astronomy and fundamental physics. They ultimately hold the secret to resolve their own puzzles and explore physics beyond the Standard Model. This would require the construction of observatories with even better sensitivity and astrophysical reach. In this talk I will highlight what we have learned from gravitational wave observations so far and plans for building new observatories such as LIGO-India, the Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer. I will highlight some puzzles we have discovered about the nature of black holes and neutron stars and how future detectors will help us observe the entire Universe in gravitational waves, understand the dynamics of dense matter in neutron star cores, the expansion rate of the Universe, the nature of dark matter, the equation of state of dark energy and more.