Public talk (in German) “10 years of gravitational-wave astronomy: insights and mysteries after more than 300 observations”
Public talk
- Date: May 22, 2025
- Time: 06:30 PM - 07:30 PM (Local Time Germany)
- Speaker: Frank Ohme
- Location: hybrid, Physikzentrum Bad Honnef, Hauptstr. 5, 53604 Bad Honnef
- Room: Großer Hörsaal
- Host: Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft, Bad Honnefer Industriegespräche
- Contact: hg.grothues@dlr.de
- Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures
Since 14 September 2015, we have been exploring a previously unknown part of the universe with the help of vibrations of space-time: gravitational waves.
The large gravitational-wave observatories LIGO, Virgo, and more recently KAGRA, have received several hundred signals in four observation runs, triggered by the orbiting and merging of various binary systems. The results are astounding: the universe is full of black holes, which come in different sizes and tell of different formation histories. Even the dance of neutron stars has been observed.
The talk provides an insight into how sophisticated simulations and analyses using supercomputers make it possible to decipher fine details of otherwise noisy signals. Only through careful and meticulous interpretation of the data can the structure and evolution of the universe be gradually understood.