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Cosmic Sirens:Discovery of Gravitational Waves and their Impact on Astrophysics and Fundamental Physics


Affiliations
1 Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune 411 007, India
2 Institute for Gravitation and Cosmos, Department of Physics, Penn State University, PA 16802, United States
 

On 14 September 2015, the twin detectors belonging to the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) made a triple discovery: the first direct detection of gravitational waves (GWs), first observation of formation of a black hole and first observation of a binary black hole. Since then LIGO has reported two other events and a marginal candidate. These discoveries have heralded a new era in observational astronomy. They will help us in exploring extremes of astrophysics and gravity. GWs are our best chance of getting an idea of what went on a small fraction of a second after the big bang, even if that takes many more decades. With LIGO's discoveries we hope to solve many puzzles in astronomy and fundamental physics, but GWs are guaranteed to show up objects and phenomena never imagined before.

Keywords

Cosmic Sirens, Gravitational Waves, Coalescing Compact Binaries, General Relativity.
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  • Cosmic Sirens:Discovery of Gravitational Waves and their Impact on Astrophysics and Fundamental Physics

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Authors

Sanjeev Dhurandhar
Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune 411 007, India
Bangalore S. Sathyaprakash
Institute for Gravitation and Cosmos, Department of Physics, Penn State University, PA 16802, United States

Abstract


On 14 September 2015, the twin detectors belonging to the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) made a triple discovery: the first direct detection of gravitational waves (GWs), first observation of formation of a black hole and first observation of a binary black hole. Since then LIGO has reported two other events and a marginal candidate. These discoveries have heralded a new era in observational astronomy. They will help us in exploring extremes of astrophysics and gravity. GWs are our best chance of getting an idea of what went on a small fraction of a second after the big bang, even if that takes many more decades. With LIGO's discoveries we hope to solve many puzzles in astronomy and fundamental physics, but GWs are guaranteed to show up objects and phenomena never imagined before.

Keywords


Cosmic Sirens, Gravitational Waves, Coalescing Compact Binaries, General Relativity.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv113%2Fi04%2F663-671