"Observing black hole mergers from across the universe with LIGO "

 

 

 

On September 14, 2015 the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) detected gravitational waves from the coalescence of a binary system of black holes. This discovery, thought to be impossible by Einstein, could not have been made without a century of advances in optical technology and precision metrology. This talk will include an overview of gravitational waves and LIGO, the optical technology involved and noise limitations, the gravitational-wave discovery and source parameters, and end with prospects for future gravitational-wave observations.

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