Abstract
Einstein's theory of relativity revolutionised our understanding of space, time and gravitation. The curvature of spacetime dictates the way in which matter and energy flow through it; matter and energy in turn determine the curvature. Disturbances in spacetime curvature propagate as gravitational waves which leave footprints in distance measurements. With the advent of a new class of kilometre-scale interferometers (Advanced Virgo in Italy and two Advanced LIGOs in the US), the first direct detection of gravitational waves is expected to happen around the middle of the decade. Direct detections of gravitational waves will usher in a new era of observational astrophysics, and has the ability to revolutionise our view of the Universe. In particular, the Advanced LIGO-Virgo network and future detectors have the power to answer many open questions in astrophysics. In this talk, I will describe how detections of gravitational waves emitted by compact binary mergers (neutron stars and/or black holes) can address questions such as: Does general relativity describe gravity in the genuinely strong field regime? What can we say about the interior of neutron stars? What is the large-scale structure of the Universe?
Coffee and tea will be served 20 minutes prior to the seminar.