Gravitational waves as a probe of fundamental physics

by Mr Cyril Lagger (The university of Sydney)

Monday 3 Sept 2018, 15:00 → 16:00 Asia/Seoul

CTPU seminar room (Theory Building 4th Floor)

The observation of Gravitational Waves (GWs) by the LIGO/Virgo Collaborations 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.