Research Terms
Physical Sciences Theoretical Physics
US National Academy of Sciences, Member; 2007 - present
International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation, President; 2004 - 2007
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow; 2002 - present
American Physical Society, Fellow; 1989 - present
American Astronomical Society, Member; 1984 - present
American Astronomical Society, Member; 1972 - present
How has the most celebrated scientific theory of the 20th century held up under the exacting scrutiny of planetary probes, radio telescopes, and atomic clocks? After 100 years, was Einstein right? In this lecture we relate the story of testing relativity, from the 1919 measurements of the bending of light to the 2015 detection of gravity waves. We will show how a revolution in astronomy and technology led to a renaissance of general relativity in the 1960s, and to a systematic program to try to verify its predictions. We will also demonstrate how relativity plays an important role in daily life.
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Keywords:
Audience:
Adults
Duration:
1 hour or less
Fee:
Less than $500
Einstein's theories of relativity have had a major impact on everything from popular culture to everyday life to basic science. Songs, plays and movies proclaim Einstein as the symbol of genius, while users of GPS navigation devices unknowingly take account of Einstein's relativistic warpage of time. Two of the crazier ideas that come from Einstein's theories are Gravitational Waves and the Black Hole. Today, international teams of scientists are on a quest to verify these ideas. Using large-scale detectors on the ground they have detected Einstein's gravity waves and are using them to reveal the hidden secrets of black holes. Gravitational waves provide a remarkable new tool for ``listening'' to Einstein's cosmic symphony.
Subject Areas:
Keywords:
Audience:
Adults
Duration:
1 hour or less
Fee:
Less than $500
One of the most remarkable predictions of Einstein's general theory of relativity is the Black Hole, a region of warped spacetime left over from the catastrophic collapse of a star from which nothing, not even light, can escape. What is a Black Hole and what are its properties? Do Black Holes really exist? Have gravitational-wave observatories recently given us the ``smoking gun'' for the existence of black holes?
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Audience:
High School
Duration:
1 hour or less
Fee:
Expenses Only
In 2015 a new form of astronomy began, called ``gravitational-wave astronomy''. General relativity predicts that moving matter produces gravitational radiation, and that the most intense sources of waves will be cosmic cataclysms such as the collapse of stars, or the collisions of black holes. In this lecture, we describe the nature and properties of gravitational waves, and the network of gravitational wave observatories that have recently detected these waves. Gravitational waves provide a remarkable new tool for ``listening'' to Einstein's cosmic symphony.
Subject Areas:
Keywords:
Audience:
High School
Duration:
1 hour or less
Fee:
Expenses Only