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Spring Seminar Series
Presentation by:
Dr. Beverly Berger
Program Director for Gravitational Physics
National Science Foundation
Title:
Ripples in Spacetime: a New Window on the Universe
Abstract:
Over the past half century, astronomers have made great strides in expanding our ability to view the universe. They have discovered a host of phenomena by looking beyond the visible light that our eyes
detect to obtain images of the cosmos with all types of electromagnetic radiation --- from radio waves to gamma waves. We are now on the verge of opening another, completely different, window on the universe.
Einstein predicted long ago that when massive objects move in space, they cause space (and time) to ripple. Even if these ripples are produced by the falling together and merger of two black holes,
the ripples (or gravitational waves) reaching the earth would cause a very tiny effect --- equivalent to the change in the distance from the earth to the sun by the diameter of a single atom. Astonishingly, we are
now in a position to detect these tiny ripples, and to observe gravitational waves for the first time.
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