Studium Generale: The Golden Discovery of Merging Neutron Stars

2017-11-27 20:00 | 2017-11-27 22:00

On October 16th of this year, the world was presented with the news that, for the first time in history, the merging of two neutron stars was seen by gravitational wave detectors. This discovery solved at least five major astrophysical mysteries in one go, and was an illustration of how gravitational waves astronomy is fundamentally changing our understanding of the Universe. Black holes, neutron stars, and even gravitational waves sent out by the very early Universe are within grasp, and lead to the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics.

In this lecture Gideon Koekoek will explain the physics and importance of gravitational waves, and discuss what research will be done at Maastricht University in this exciting new field, with a special emphasis on the Einstein Telescope, that is likely to be built in Zuid-Limburg

Date
Monday 27 November, 8 pm

Entrance
Free

About the Lecturer
Gideon Koekoek, PhD
Assistant professor at Maastricht Science Programme, where he lectures in physics and is building a group in gravitational wave research. 

More information: Website Maastricht University