Description
Gravitational waves were predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity back in 1916, but it took 100 years of scientific and technological progress to measure them directly at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). Although the signals detected by LIGO originated from cataclysmic astrophysical events such as black hole and neutron star mergers, one expects the presence of a primordial gravitational wave background permeating space today emitted within one trillionth of a second after the Big Bang, some 13.8 billion years ago. Such a signal could have been produced by various particle physics phenomena in the early Universe, including phase transitions, cosmic strings, or domain walls, and would provide insight into the physics at the smallest scales and highest energies. In this talk, I will explain how LIGO made its discovery, present our current understanding of the Universe’s evolution from the Big Bang to today, and discuss the synergies between gravitational wave physics, cosmology, and particle physics.
Date of Event
Thursday, April 17, 2025
Location
Parker Building 338
Included in
The Universe through the Lens of Gravitational Waves
Parker Building 338
Gravitational waves were predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity back in 1916, but it took 100 years of scientific and technological progress to measure them directly at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). Although the signals detected by LIGO originated from cataclysmic astrophysical events such as black hole and neutron star mergers, one expects the presence of a primordial gravitational wave background permeating space today emitted within one trillionth of a second after the Big Bang, some 13.8 billion years ago. Such a signal could have been produced by various particle physics phenomena in the early Universe, including phase transitions, cosmic strings, or domain walls, and would provide insight into the physics at the smallest scales and highest energies. In this talk, I will explain how LIGO made its discovery, present our current understanding of the Universe’s evolution from the Big Bang to today, and discuss the synergies between gravitational wave physics, cosmology, and particle physics.
Presenter Bio
Bartosz Fornal is an assistant professor of physics at Barry University in Miami Shores. His research is focused on theoretical particle physics. He received his Ph.D. in Physics in 2014 from the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, followed by postdoctoral appointments at the University of California, Irvine, at the University of California, San Diego, and at the University of Utah, before joining Barry University in 2021. His research interests include gravitational waves from the early Universe, particle physics models for dark matter, matter-antimatter asymmetry of the Universe, astroparticle physics, and cosmology. He is a senior member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration working on primordial gravitational waves from first order phase transitions. Further information can be found on his website: https://www.barry.edu/en/cvitae/professors/bartosz-fornalph-d/