SB/BNL Joint Cosmo seminar (at Stony Brook) [Note special day]: Will Farr, U. of Birmingham: 2.9 Black Holes and Other Results from Advanced LIGO's First Observing Run

Thursday 22 Sept 2016, 13:00 → 14:00 US/Eastern

Universe

The first detection of gravitational waves from a massive stellar-mass binary black hole (GW150914) by LIGO (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) opened the era of gravitational wave astronomy. During the course of its first observing run in "Advanced" configuration, from September 2015 to January 2016, LIGO detected in total 2.9 binary black hole coalescences. I will present an overview of the Advanced LIGO instruments, the detection and characterisation of GW150914 & friends (including the origins of the number 2.9), and the implications of these results for astrophysics. I will also discuss prospects for the future of Advanced LIGO observing, which are bright.