Black Holes and Gravitational Waves

Emanuele Berti of Johns Hopkins University Black holes hold the key to some of the pressing mysteries in modern science. Whether in isolation or in binary systems, they are excellent laboratories to probe high-energy physics and Einstein’s theory of gravity. The detection of gravitational waves from binary mergers marked the dawn of a new era in astronomy, and planned space-based detectors will open a new observational window at low frequencies. Gravitational waves from compact binaries carry important information on their astrophysical formation mechanisms, and on the evolution of the universe as a whole. Join us for a discussion about how gravitational-wave detectors can not only advance our understanding of black hole formation and growth, but also search for potential “smoking guns” of new physics. Host: Dr. Frank Summers of the Space Telescope Science Institute