The detection of gravitational waves: 100 years in the making
Dr Eric Thrane
Member of the LIGO collaboration
School of Physics and Astronomy
Monash University
Eric Thrane is an astrophysicist at Monash University and a research member of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) collaboration. Eric completed a BS(Hons) at the University of Michigan in 2003 and PhD in astrophysics at the University of Washington in 2008. From 2011, he has co-chaired one of the four LIGO analysis groups focused on increasing the LIGO detector's sensitivity in its search for gravitational waves. This group announced a world first in 2016 with the successful detection of gravitational waves.
The detection of gravitational waves is an incredible technical achievement and a watershed moment in astronomy. The world is now witness to the birth of a completely new way of observing the universe. We are now able to observe highly energetic events which previously we had no other way of studying. Eric will discuss his involvement with the LIGO project and how using gravitational waves offers exciting possibilities for discovering new and surprising knowledge about the universe. What can gravitational waves tell us about these immensely distant events?