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We are now proud to announce the newest course in our CosmoAcademy lineup – Gravity’s Rainbow: Introduction to Gravitational Waves and LIGO, starting on Oct. 17.

One of the mirrors for LIGO, the gravitational wave observatory that discovered colliding black holes. Credit: Matthew R. Francis

Here is the course description, from instructor and head of CosmoAcademy, Dr. Matthew Francis:

CQX255: LIGO and Gravitational Waves

In early February 2016, scientists with LIGO (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory) announced they had detected the collision and merger of two black holes. Unlike ordinary observatories, LIGO uses gravitational waves to study the universe: disturbances in the structure of space-time itself, which travel at the speed of light. Gravitational waves were predicted by Einstein as part of his general theory of relativity, but because gravity is by far the weakest force we know, even cosmic catastrophes like colliding black holes produce waves that are very difficult to detect. That’s where LIGO and other gravitational wave observatories come in.

In “Gravity’s Rainbow”, we’ll look at how colliding black holes and other astronomical events can make gravitational waves, and how LIGO detects them. We’ll start with a non-mathematical overview of how gravity works (starring the lovable round-headed kid, Charlie Brown), and why general relativity naturally predicts waves moving at the speed of light. From there, we’ll see how pairs of massive objects — binaries of white dwarfs, pulsars, black holes, or any combination thereof — create waves. Finally, we’ll see how LIGO and similar detectors pick up those waves, and why last winter’s detection announcement was a really big deal.

You can sign up here: http://cosmoquest.org/x/cosmoacademy/product/gravitys-rainbow-introduction-to-gravitational-waves-and-ligo/