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Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Mississippi

Events

Event Information:

  • Thu
    07
    Feb
    2019

    Colloquium: Astrophysics with Synergy of Electromagnetic and Gravitational Wave Observations

    4:00 pmLewis Hall 101

    Shaon Ghosh
    Department of Physics
    University of Wisconsin — Milwaukee

    Astrophysics with Synergy of Electromagnetic and Gravitational Wave Observations

    About three and a half years ago, the direct detection and measurement of gravitational waves from a pair of coalescing black holes by the LIGO interferometers opened a new window for astrophysicists to look into the universe. Almost two years later, the discovery of gravitational wave from a binary neutron star system marked the beginning of the era of joint electromagnetic and gravitational wave astronomy. In this talk, I will present a brief history of this discovery and its importance in that context. I will then focus on the rich scientific results of the multi-messenger observation and finally, discuss how such joint observations can help us extract astrophysical information from some of the most extreme objects in the universe. Specifically, I will highlight how observations of neutron stars can help us understand how matter behaves in conditions that cannot be replicated in earth-based laboratories. The required information for such studies comes to us from various avenues of astrophysical observations. I will delineate the methods that we will be employing in combining these information to make robust inferences on the neutron star equation of state.