APEC Seminar (Astronomy - Particle Physics - Experimental Physics - Cosmology)

Speaker: Cyril Lagger (University of Sydney)
Title: Gravitational waves as a probe of fundamental physics
Date (JST): Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 15:30 - 16:30
Place: Balcony A
Related File: 2126.pdf
Abstract: The observation of Gravitational Waves (GWs) by LIGO/Virgo provides new opportunities to explore the fundamental laws of the Universe. GW physics is indeed not only relevant for our understanding of gravity but also for probing the interplay between particle physics and cosmology. Therefore, I discuss on one side how the waveforms observed by LIGO/Virgo allow us to test General Relativity and to put constraints on modified theories of gravity, in particular on the scale of a hypothetical noncommutative space-time. On the other side, I emphasise how the potential detection of GWs produced from first-order phase transitions in the early Universe is able to provide valuable information for particle physics beyond the Standard Model.