Cosmic Breakthrough: the first direct detection of gravitational waves and its significance

Abstract

We have gazed at the night sky since the dawn of time, marveling at the beauty of the cosmos and trying to understand its inner workings. Now we can “hear” it: tiny ripples in the very fabric  of space time, that tell stories of great cosmic cataclysms. The first gravitational waves were detected on September 14, 2015 and was revealed to the public on February 11, 2016. Their prediction though was made 100 years ago, by Albert Einstein, as part of his famous general theory of relativity. What are gravitational waves? Why did it take so long to find them? Where do they come from? How does their discovery change our understanding of the cosmos?  Those, are the questions I will answer. Finally, I will talk about my own contributions to this field.