Public Lecture: Exploring the Warped Side of the Universe with Gravitational Waves: From the Big Bang to Black Holes.
Kip S. Thorne, Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics, Emeritus, California Institute of Technology
There is a Warped Side of our Universe: Objects and phenomena that are made largely or wholly from warped spacetime — including, most importantly, black holes and the big-bang singularity in which our universe was born. Gravitational waves are the ideal tool for exploring this warped side, since they themselves are made from warped spacetime. Kip Thorne, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2017, will describe, from his personal viewpoint, the half-century quest to create gravitational wave astronomy, and what it has taught us thus far about the Warped Side. He will then describe a vision for the future of gravitational wave astronomy and what it may teach us about the Warped Side.