Syllabus
History of gravitational waves theory (from Einstein to equation of geodesic deviation, beginning of the golden age). Fundamental properties of gravitational waves.
History of gravitational wave detectors (from Weber to LIGO). Astrophysical sources of gravitational waves (from first estimates to binary pulsar PSR 1913+16, and beyond).
Advanced LIGO and Virgo (brief description of technological miracles). First direct detection of the gravitational wave %GW150914, and 2017 Nobel Prize (description of the event, including the introduction to signal analysis and determination of the source parameters by comparing to perturbative calculations and numerical simulations).
Summary of all detections to date. Dawn of the multi-messenger astronomy.
Future detectors of gravitational waves (KAGRA, LISA). Expected spectrum of gravitational waves.
Annotation
The course is an introduction to an extensive topical field of study of gravitational waves in Einstein’s general relativity. We will summarize 100 years of the field (both its theoretical and experimental aspects), the first detection of gravitational waves from a binary black hole merger (by LIGO interferometers in 2015), current status, and expected future.