Physics & Astronomy Public Talk

Speaker: Deirdre Shoemaker, Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology

Title: Spacetime Ripples and Rips: Our Amazing Universe

Abstract: On February 11, 2016, news spread across the world that gravitational waves have been detected.   Caused by the collision of two black holes 1.4 billion years ago,  these ripples in the fabric of spacetime open up a new window on the universe and test the very nature of gravity as posed by Albert Einstein 100 years ago.  This talk will offer a tour of this fascinating discovery, describing what gravitational waves are, how black holes can produce them, and what all the excitement was about.

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