Gravitational Radiation from Black Holes

University Of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

Research in gravitational physics will simulate the production of gravity waves by collisions between black holes. Water, sound and electromagnetic waves are common examples of waves occurring in nature. A revolutionary prediction of general relativity, Einstein's reformulation of Newton's gravitational theory, is that accelerated masses produce gravity waves analogous to the way electric charges produce electromagnetic waves. Gravity waves have already been detected indirectly by their effect on binary pulsars orbits. A Laser Interferometric Gravity Wave Observatory (LIGO) sensitive enough to detect the waves directly is now under construction and will open up a new form of astronomy. The knowledge of the shape of the wave produced in a black hole collision is crucial to infer the collision process from the LIGO signal.