Scientists Meet Scientists – TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee Talk by TUM-IAS Fellow Prof. Dr. Laura Cadonati on “Sensing the Invisible Universe with Gravitational Waves”
Events, WCT |
On 10 June 2026, Prof. Dr. Laura Cadonati (School of Physics, Georgia University of Technology) will talk about “Sensing the Invisible Universe with Gravitational Waves”.
Abstract: A century ago, Einstein predicted that the most violent events in the cosmos should ripple through the very fabric of spacetime, but these gravitational waves were thought far too faint to ever detect. That changed in 2015, when two black holes colliding more than a billion light-years away produced a signal we could finally measure, opening an entirely new way of observing the universe. Unlike telescopes, which collect light, gravitational-wave detectors like LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA let us sense events that are invisible to conventional astronomy: the mergers of black holes and neutron stars. In this talk, I will introduce what gravitational waves are and how we detect distortions in space far smaller than an atomic nucleus. I will then discuss what these signals have already taught us, from weighing distant black holes to witnessing the birth of heavy elements like gold, and where this young field is heading as detectors grow ever more sensitive.
Date: June 10, 2026
Time: 13:00 CEST (until approx. 14:00)
Location: online
Registration: The TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee talks are held online via Microsoft Teams. To register and to receive the Teams link, please send an email to events@ias.tum.de.
THE TUM-IAS WEDNESDAY COFFEE TALKS
Every Wednesday after lunch, it's all about a new topic - current research highlights at TUM, insights into the work of our Fellows from all over the world, sometimes even topics not usually found at TUM, such as history or theology.
The talks held online start every Wednesday during TUM lecture time at 13:00 CE(S)T. Everyone is welcome - TUM researchers of all levels, students, visiting scholars, and anyone interested!
Would you like to receive regular updates on the TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee Talk and the online link? Just send a short note to events@ias.tum.de.
An overview of upcoming and past TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee Talks can be found at the TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee Talk Overview.