The Sounds of the Cosmos : Gravitational Waves and the Birth of Multi-Messenger Astronomy

In 2016, the LIGO and Virgo Collaborations made headlines when they announced the detection of gravitational waves—a century after Albert Einstein first predicted their existence with his general theory of relativity. With unprecedented perspective as physicists at the forefront of this discovery, Mario Díaz, Gabriela González, and Jorge Pullin provide a comprehensive and accessible account of the quest to find gravitational waves, their controversial history, and the efforts that culminated with their detection and a Nobel Prize in Physics. The Sounds of the Cosmos vividly narrates contributions from the ancient Greeks through Einstein, in addition to the breakthroughs of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, including the discovery of the Hulse-Taylor binary star system (the first of its kind ever observed) and the technology behind gravitational wave detectors. The authors' fusion of meticulous research and accessible prose makes this book an indispensable resource for the scientifically curious, lending astonishing new context to the revelation that we can “hear” the cosmos through gravitational waves. Written with exceptional historical and conceptual insight, this is a definitive and dazzling journey through “the eternal quest of humankind to understand the universe.” The remarkable story of how humankind discovered gravitational waves, chronicled with unparalleled historical and scientific vision.In 2016, the LIGO and Virgo Collaborations made headlines when they announced the detection of gravitational waves—a century after Albert Einstein first predicted their existence with his general theory of relativity. With unprecedented perspective as physicists at the forefront of this discovery, Mario Díaz, Gabriela González, and Jorge Pullin provide a comprehensive and accessible account of the quest to find gravitational waves, their controversial history, and the efforts that culminated with their detection and a Nobel Prize in Physics.The Sounds of the Cosmos vividly narrates contributions from the ancient Greeks through Einstein, in addition to the breakthroughs of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, including the discovery of the Hulse–Taylor binary star system (the first of its kind ever observed) and the technology behind gravitational wave detectors. The authors'fusion of meticulous research and accessible prose makes this book an indispensable resource for the scientifically curious, lending astonishing new context to the revelation that we can “hear” the cosmos through gravitational waves. Written with exceptional historical and conceptual insight, this is a definitive and dazzling journey through “the eternal quest of humankind to understand the universe.” The remarkable story of how humankind discovered gravitational waves, chronicled with unparalleled historical and scientific vision. In 2016, the LIGO and Virgo Collaborations made headlines when they announced the detection of gravitational wavesa century after Albert Einstein first predicted their existence with his general theory of relativity. With unprecedented perspective as physicists at the forefront of this discovery, Mario Daz, Gabriela Gonzlez, and Jorge Pullin provide a comprehensive and accessible account of the quest to find gravitational waves, their controversial history, and the efforts that culminated with their detection and a Nobel Prize in Physics. The Sounds of the Cosmos vividly narrates contributions from the ancient Greeks through Einstein, in addition to the breakthroughs of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, including the discovery of the Hulse-Taylor binary star system (the first of its kind ever observed) and the technology behind gravitational wave detectors. The authors' fusion of meticulous research and accessible prose makes this book an indispensable resource for the scientifically curious, lending astonishing new context to the revelation that we can hear the cosmos through gravitational waves. Written with exceptional historical and conceptual insight, this is a definitive and dazzling journey through the eternal quest of humankind to understand the universe. Contents Preface 1 Gravity from the Ancient Greeks to Newton 2 Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity 3 The General Theory of Relativity 4 Gravitational Waves: Their Long and Difficult History 5 The Life and Death of Stars 6 Astrophysical Sources of Gravitational Radiation 7 Numerical Relativity 8 A Brief History of Terrestrial Gravitational Wave Detectors 9 The Technology of LIGO 10 At Last: Detections—andMany! 11 The Birth of Gravitational Wave Multi-Messenger Astronomy 12 The Future Epilogue Acknowledgments Notes Recommended Reading Index "A comprehensive insider's account of the discovery of gravitational waves, including insights on the physics theory and the critical LIGO technology that made it possible"-- Provided by publisher