Gravitational Wave Astronomy

Gravitational waves are spacetime ripples generated by cosmic events like collisions of black holes and neutron stars. These waves were mighty when produced but became minuscule when reaching the Earth, causing a fractional length distortion of about 10^-21. To detect them, profoundly sensitive detectors (e.g., LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA) were built and large global organizations (e.g., LIGO Scientific Collaboration, Virgo and KAGRA Collaborations) were formed. The gravitational wave events that have been detected so far, including a historic neutron star merger which also emitted electromagnetic waves, have vastly broadened our knowledge in gravity, nuclear physics, stellar evolution, and the nature of dark matter and dark energy. The gravitational wave detections have opened a new era in astronomy. Now, we not only can “see” the Universe, but also “hear” it.  

QMUL  is part of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. With the team lead by the School of Mathematical Sciences, we actively engage in the big science, spanning from LIGO detector characterization to gravitational-wave detection and parameter estimation, and downstream sciences. Our contribution also extends to the science with next-generation detectors, including the ground-based Cosmic Explorer in the United States, the Einstein Telescope in Europe, and the space-borne LISA. Researchers at QMUL are using a variety of techniques, ranging from analytical methods to numerical simulations, to capture the various stages of the binaries, and compute and analyse the gravitational waveforms.   

Waveforms produced in mergers of equal mass black holes in general relativity and in certain higher derivative theories of gravity.