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Gravitational Waves and Binary Black Holes

Colloquium

Theoretical Physics, general interest

Speaker:

Thibault Damour

Institution:

IHES, Paris

Location&Place:

CFTMAT Blue Room

Abstract:

JOINT ICMAT-IFT Colloquium.

Gravitational waves and Black Holes are two of the most novel predictions of Einstein’s theory of General Relativity. These predictions emerged with the discovery of General Relativity in 1916. However, it took fifty years to grasp their physical meaning and 100 years to obtain direct evidence for their reality. After reviewing the historical path that led to our understanding of gravitational waves and black holes, the talk will outline the theoretical developments that have been crucial in interpreting the transient events detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), and by the Virgo interferometer, as being gravitational wave signals emitted by the coalescence of two black holes.