Fast Radio Bursts: The Story So Far
Friday, March 31st, 7:30 PM, White Hall G09
Followed by rooftop telescope observing (weather permitting)
Duncan Lorimer, WVU Physics & Astronomy Professor, Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology
Fast radio bursts are anomalously dispersed millisecond-duration pulses of unknown origin that were discovered by pulsar astronomers in 2007. Almost a decade on from the discovery, with only a dozen examples currently known, fast radio bursts remain enigmatic sources which parallel the early days of gamma-ray burst astronomy in the early 1970s. I will describe the science opportunities these phenomena present, and discuss the challenges and opportunities presented in their discovery.
When Black Holes Collide! Gravitational Waves and Other Tales from the Horizon
Friday, April 7th, 7:30 PM, White Hall G09
Followed by rooftop telescope observing (weather permitting)
Zach Etienne, WVU Math Professor, Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology
WVU Math Department
What happens if you fall
into a black hole? Einstein's theory of gravity provides us a means to
answer questions that, like this one, fuzz the boundary between science
fiction and science fact. But the equations
behind this theory are extremely complex, and solving them to advance
our scientific understanding--particularly now that gravitational waves
have been discovered--usually requires the use of supercomputers. In a
nutshell, this is my field of expertise. I will
review my career path and present results from some of my latest
supercomputer simulations, which have given us both deeper insights into
the gravitational waves we have already observed, as well as important
predictions for those we are likely to observe in
the near future.
Einstein Unyielding: A Catalyst in a New Berlin
Monday, April 10th, 7:30 PM, White Hall G09
Followed by rooftop telescope observing (weather permitting)
Katherine Aaslestad, WVU History Professor
This lecture features Albert Einstein as a public figure in Berlin between 1918 and 1933. It explores the scientific controversy in the 1920s over relativity and how that debate extended into the public realm as modern science became a lightning rod for critics of internationalism, pacifism, liberalism and the Weimar Republic. It also addresses Einstein's personal politicization amidst this tumultuous political, social and economic environment that ended with the rise of National Socialism.
Beginning the Exploration of the Universe with Gravitational Waves
Rainer Weiss, MIT on Behalf of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration
The recent observation of gravitational waves from the merger of binary black holes opens a new way to learn about the universe as well as to test General Relativity in the limit of strong gravitational interactions – the dynamics of massive bodies traveling at relativistic speeds in a highly curved space-time. The lecture will describe some of the difficult history of gravitational waves proposed exactly 100 years ago. The concepts used in the instruments and the methods for data analysis that enable the measurement of gravitational wave strains of 10-21 and smaller will be presented. The results derived from the measured waveforms, their relation to the Einstein field equations and the astrophysical implications are discussed. The talk will end with our vision for the future of gravitational wave astronomy.
"little green men" Film
Monday, April 17th, 7:00-9:00pm, WVU White Hall G09
Little Green Men is a documentary film about high school students searching for pulsars (a certain type of collapsed star) using radio astronomy data from West Virginia's Green Bank Telescope through the Pulsar Search Collaboratory (PSC).
Why little green men? No, the film isn’t about aliens, although Frank Drake did begin his search for extra-terrestrial life (now known as SETI) at Green Bank. "Little Green Men,", or LGM-1, was the 'nickname' first given to an unknown radio signal discovered in 1967, by Jocelyn Bell, then a graduate student at Cambridge. Once it became clear that the signal was not an alien communication, but rather radio waves emitted by a collapsed star, the name 'pulsar' was created to describe this newly discovered stellar object.
So far our students have discovered seven pulsars, including two
rotating radio transients (RRATs), which are unusual pulsars with very
sporadic emission. Our first discoverer - who was 15 at the time - even
got invited to the White House.
NANOGrav: Using Pulsars to Detect Gravitational Waves
Tuesday, April 18th, 7:30 PM, White Hall G09
Followed by rooftop telescope observing (weather permitting)
LIGO Documentary
Wednesday, April 19th, 7:00-8:00PM, WVU Mountainlair Gluck Theater
Nearly every day we read articles about great,
scientific discoveries, and quote science facts we read or hear from
friends. We use advanced technology in the palm of our hands that not
too long ago was born of a science experiment. When we take a break from
our busy lives, we sometimes ponder what lies beyond the tangible
universe, out there, among the stars.
How many of us have spent time, side-by-side with the researchers and scientists who dedicate their lives to understanding distant, cosmic events?
Inspired by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, funded by the California Institute of Technology 'LIGO, A Passion for Understanding' celebrates the dedication of who have worked for nearly three decades on a single science experiment. In this film, we witness the installation of instruments designed to prove the last piece of Einstein's theory of general relativity, and come to understand what scientific discovery means for us all.
Set to a fast-paced musical score, this film delivers engaging animations, timelapse photography, and intense, personal interviews from the high, winter desert of Washington State.
Expanding The Frontiers Of Astronomy With Gravitational Waves
Thursday, April 20th, 4:30-5:30pm, White Hall G09
(NOTE TIME CHANGE: was originally 3:30pm)
Recent breakthroughs in the detection of gravitational-waves (GWs) by the ground-based laser interferometer LIGO have allowed humanity to observe the final death-spiral of two black holes. LIGO will continue to observe more of these, and potentially other types of mixed systems that include neutron stars. In so doing, we will peel away the layers of unknowns about the formation channels of these binary systems, and the kinds of electromagnetic signatures they can produce. But this is just the beginning of GW astronomy. A network of radio telescopes across the Earth have been monitoring millisecond pulsars for decades to forge a web of precision clocks that can catch GWs from supermassive black-hole binaries -- these systems are billions of times as massive as the LIGO targets, and form during the mergers of massive galaxies. Finally, there is growing momentum behind the LISA space-based laser interferometer project, which would be sensitive to intermediate-mass black-hole binary systems, and offer precision tests of the fundamental nature of gravity. With all these projects building steam, and offering complementary views of the GW universe, a new era of discovery is upon us. I will review the current state of research and near-future prospects.