Abstract

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Abstract:

In this talk, I will review progress in the field of gravitational wave detection from the first days of the aluminium bar detectors to the present time where the laser interferometer detectors Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo have allowed gravitational waves to be detected and are opening up a new field of gravitational multi-messenger astrophysics. Many experimental challenges had to be overcome and new challenges are presenting themselves as we look to further enhance the performance of ground based detectors and look to lower frequencies with the space based detector LISA . Further, the most recent discoveries by the collaboration will be discussed.

Speaker profile:

Professor Sir James Hough (Jim) is a graduate of the University of Glasgow where he became Professor of Experimental Physics in 1986 and is the emeritus holder of the Kelvin Chair of Natural Philosophy. He was Director of the University’s Institute for Gravitational Research from 2000 to 2009 and is now Associate Director. His research interests are centred on gravitational wave detection on the ground and in space. Prof Hough was elected to the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1991, the Fellowship of the Institute of Physics in 1993, and the Royal Society of London in 2003. For his wide-ranging research and advisory work, Sir James was awarded the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 Queen’s Birthday Honours, and a Knighthood in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours.