100 Years in the Making: The Detection of Gravitational Waves

On September 14, 2015, the echo of the distant merger of two black holes was detected by LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. Zoheyr Doctor tells us the dramatic story of the detection of gravitational waves by LIGO, starting with Einstein’s theoretical prediction of their existence. He then explains the physics behind the detection itself, and what it all means: what have we learned about black holes and gravitational physics from this discovery, and what are the implications of the detection for the future of astronomy?

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100 Years in the Making: The Detection of Gravitational Waves