Episode 2 - "Gravitational Waves and the Giant Shazam‪"‬ Receding Horizons

Episode Notes
This is Receding Horizons, Episode 2, where we talk about the exciting era of gravitational wave observations and multi-messenger astronomy.

Brina Martinez is an undergraduate studying physics and computer science at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She is currently a research assistant at the Center for Gravitational Wave Astronomy and in the Time Domain Astronomy Group operating the Cristina Torres Memorial Observatory, both under the mentorship of Dr. Mario Díaz. Brina is a published scientist. Her research focuses on characterizing noise sources intrinsic to the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO. She has participated in a research experience for undergraduates at Louisiana State University under Dr. Guillermo Valdes and Dr. Gabriela González, and was a LIGO undergraduate fellow at Caltech under Dr. Derek Davis. Brina is a board member and resident astrophysicist at the South Texas Astronomical Society, as well as a board member and secretary at the Brownsville Chapter of the Society of Physics Students. She was the recipient of several awards including a scholarship from the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science, and a Victor M. Blanco Fellowship from the LIGO Lab and National Society of Hispanic Physicists. She is a gifted public speaker, and I've had the privilege to work with her (and make a lot of memories) during my time in Brownsville.

Recorded on 26 February 2021.

00:00:00​ - Introduction

00:01:14​ - Excerpt from "Black Hole Blues"

00:02:48​ - Brina Martinez

00:15:53​ - LIGO

00:32:41​ - Gravitational wave events

00:44:06​ - Lacking belief and scientific leakage

00:52:37​ - Center for Gravitational Wave Astronomy

01:02:35​ - Multi-messenger observations

01:13:27​ - Scientific discovery

01:20:43​ - Daily life at Livingston

01:24:10​ - Analyzing thunderstorm noise

01:29:15​ - Black holes

01:32:49​ - Primordial gravitational waves

01:35:22​ - Unification

01:38:02​ - Singularities and horizons

01:45:03​ - Distorting spacetime

02:00:20​ - LISA

02:11:40​ - Future plans

02:14:38​ - Outro

Related material:

J. Levin, "Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space", Bodley Head (2016), https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27430326-black-hole-blues-and-other-songs-from-outer-space

Gravitational Waves Summer School, L’École de Physique des Houches (2018), https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLo9ufcrEqwWG7TrsxBN5f4L5eX_ZxEhka

P. R. Saulson, "Fundamentals of Interferometric Gravitational Wave Detectors", World Scientific (1994), https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11764374-fundamentals-of-interferometric-gravitational-wave-detectors

G. González, "Gravitational Wave Astronomy", TDAG Astrophysics Seminar (2019), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vCTNuINq6o&t=4040s&ab_channel=CTMObservatory

PyCBC, Free and open software to study gravitational waves, https://pycbc.org/​

K. Mack, "The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking)", Scribner (2020), https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52767659-the-end-of-everything

B. Allen and J. D. Romano, "Detecting a Stochastic Background of Gravitational Radiation: Signal Processing Strategies and Sensitivities", Physical Review D 59, 102001 (1997), https://arxiv.org/pdf/gr-qc/9710117.pdf​

J. D. Romano and N. J. Cornish, "Detection Methods for Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Backgrounds: A Unified Treatment", Living Reviews in Relativity, 20:2 (2017), https://arxiv.org/pdf/1608.06889.pdf​

J. Baker, B. Brugmann, M. Campanelli, and C. O. Lousto, "Gravitational Waves from Black Hole Collisions via an Eclectic Approach", Classical and Quantum Gravity, Vol. 17, Number 20, L149 (2000), https://arxiv.org/pdf/gr-qc/0003027.pdf​

J. Baker, B. Brugmann, M. Campanelli, C. O. Lousto, and R. Takahashi, "Plunge Waveforms from Inspiralling Binary Black Holes", Physical Review Letters 87, 121103 (2001), https://arxiv.org/pdf/gr-qc/0102037.