Gravitational Waves

Scholars from the School of Natural Sciences are leading investigations into the sources of gravitational wave signals, the unexpectedly high frequency of detections, and—extending beyond these direct questions—establishing innovative and unexpected connections between gravitational wave research and particle collider physics. These contributions are redefining our understanding of the field.

A research team at IAS has recently announced the discovery of six new binary black hole mergers. The team applied a unique set of signal processing techniques to data made publicly available by the LIGO-Virgo Collaboration (the same group...

On September 14, 2015, the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) observed a gravitational-wave signal from the merger of a pair of black holes. While this impressive technological triumph was celebrated...

The Institute sometimes spends money on risky ventures, giving sustained support to people who work on unfashionable and dubious projects. One example of a risky venture was Einstein, who worked here for twenty years on unified field theories that...

Matias Zaldarriaga, Professor in the School of Natural Sciences, Scott Tremaine, Richard Black Professor in the School, Member Doron Kushnir, and Junior Visiting Professor Nadia Zakamska discuss LIGO's recent detection of gravitational waves...

“Space Ripples Reveal Big Bang’s Smoking Gun,” read the New York Times headline last March 17. In a seemingly momentous news conference at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, researchers using a BICEP (Background Imaging of Cosmic...

John Brockman, founder and proprietor of the Edge website, asks a question every New Year and invites the public to answer it. THE EDGE QUESTION 2012 was, “What is your favorite deep, elegant, or beautiful explanation?” He got 150 answers that are...