David Reitze Discusses Gravitational-Wave Astronomy with LIGO

David Reitze, Ph.D., Executive Director, Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) will present a public lecture at the University of Houston on Monday, October 23.

Gravitational-Wave Astronomy with LIGO: Opening a New Window onto the Cosmos

David Reitze, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory

When: Monday, October 23 - Reception: 6:15 pm, Lecture: 7:00 pm

Where: University of Houston, Science & Engineering Classroom Building, Rm. 100 Lecture Hall, 3517 Cullen Blvd (map)

Opening a New Window onto the Cosmos

On September 14, 2015, scientists observed the collision and fusion of two black holes by directly measuring the gravitational waves emitted during their collision using the LIGO detectors. This detection came almost exactly 100 years after Einstein developed his revolutionary general theory of relativity that predicted gravitational waves, and 50 years after scientists began searching for them. Since then, more gravitational‐wave events have been confidently detected.

The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to founding members of the LIGO team in recognition of these discoveries, which have truly profound implications. Gravitational waves provide unique information on the most energetic astrophysical events in the universe, revealing unique insights into the nature of gravity, matter, space, and time. LIGO has opened a new window onto the cosmos. Reitze will talk about how LIGO made the detections and discuss how gravitational astronomy promises to change our understanding of the universe.

Reitze Bio

Dr. David Reitze holds joint positions as the Executive Director of the LIGO Laboratory at the Caltech and a Professor of Physics at the University of Florida.  He has authored more than 280 publications, and is a Fellow of both the American Physical Society and the Optical Society. He is a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) that was awarded the 2016 Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, the 2016 Gruber Foundation Cosmology Prize, and the 2017 Rossi Prize of the High Energy Astrophysics Division of the American Astronomical Society for the first direct detection of gravitational waves.  He served as the elected Spokesperson of the LSC from 2007-2011, and was awarded the 2017 US National Academy of Sciences Award for Scientific Discovery.

Parking Information

Parking is available in the visitor's section of the Stadium Parking Garage, located on Holman Street, near the corner of Cullen Blvd and Holman Street. The parking fee after 4 pm is $5. The garage is across Cullen Blvd from the meeting location.

This event is organized by the UH Department of Physics and the Texas Center for Superconductivity at UH and sponsored by the UH CPH Lecture Series.