PULLMAN, Wash. – The media and public are invited to join Washington State University physicists at 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 11, in Webster Hall 17 for a presentation on the latest progress in the search for gravitational waves – or ripples in the fabric of space-time – using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO).
Gravitational waves were predicted to exist by Einstein almost 100 years ago but have not yet been directly detected.
Following a brief videostream presentation by National Science Foundation researchers in Washington, D.C., WSU members of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration will discuss their contributions to the ongoing effort to detect gravitational waves. Members include Sukanta Bose, professor; Nairwita Mazumder, postdoctoral researcher; Bernard Hall, graduate student; and Ryan Magee (former graduate student), all from physics and astronomy. They will be joined by WSU theoretical physicist Matt Duez and other faculty experts for the presentation.
LIGO is the world’s largest gravitational wave observatory and a cutting edge physics experiment. Comprised of two enormous laser interferometers, located in Hanford, Wash., and Livingston, La., LIGO exploits the physical properties of light and space to detect and understand the origins of gravitational waves.
Read more about LIGO in a Washington State Magazine article at https://magazine.wsu.edu/2015/11/06/eureka-on-the-horizon/.
Contacts:
Matt Duez, WSU physics and astronomy, 509-335-2396, m.duez@wsu.edu
Nairwita Mazumder, WSU physics and astronomy, 432-271-6536, nairwita.mazumder@wsu.edu
Sukanta Bose, WSU physics and astronomy (currently in India), sukanta@wsu.edu
