“Spacetime Ripples and Rips: Our Amazing Universe”
Professor Deirdre Shoemaker (Georgia Tech)
Tuesday, 4th October 2016 @ 7:00 p.m.
1000 North Lawn Hall
University of Alabama
On February 11, 2016, news spread across the world that gravitational waves have been detected. Caused by the collision of two black holes 1.4 billion years ago, these ripples in the fabric of spacetime open up a new window on the universe and test the very nature of gravity as posed by Albert Einstein 100 years ago. This talk will offer a tour of this fascinating discovery, describing what gravitational waves are, how black holes can produce them, and what all the excitement was about.
About Our Speaker:
Deirdre Shoemaker is the director for the Center for Relativistic Astrophysics at Georgia Tech.
Her work focuses on numerical relativity and its interface with gravitational wave astronomy.
She is a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. She has won the NSF Career award and
is a fellow of the American Physical Society.
Logistics:
Free parking is available at the UA parking deck (Hub) on Hackberry Ln and Campus Drive after 6:00p.m.. Access to the parking deck is off campus drive east.
North Lawn Hall is a short walk (<5 minutes) north on Hackberry Lane, from the parking deck.
For more information on visitor parking please visit:
http://bamaparking.ua.edu/visitor-information/