The Thrumming Universe: Evidence for a Gravitational Wave Background

A cosmic background of electromagnetic waves — a remnant of the Big Bang — was discovered in 1965. In 2016, scientists reported the discovery of a gravitational pulse from the merger of two massive Black Holes using the LIGO detector. On June 28 of this year, five collaborations, including our NANOGrav collaboration, reported evidence for a background of gravitational waves produced by supermassive Black Holes orbiting each other in distant galaxies. Come learn about gravitational waves, how a nanohertz background of gravitational waves is detected with a Pulsar Timing Array, and Oberlin’s role in this important advance.