Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences - Theoretical Particle Physics - Lattice Field Theory

Dr. Rafael Porto (DESY & Hamburg U)

Precision Gravity: from the LHC to LISA
  • What QFT Colloquium
  • When Feb 14, 2020 from 01:30 to 02:30
  • Where Hörsaal 0'310, Erwin Schrödinger Zentrum, Rudower Chaussee 26, 12489 Berlin
  • iCal

Precision Gravity: from the LHC to LISA

 

The nascent field of gravitational wave (GW) science will be an interdisciplinary subject — enriching different branches of physics — yet the associated computational challenges are enormous. Faithful theoretical templates are a compulsory ingredient for data analysis and reliable physical interpretation of the signals. 
Yet, while current templates for compact binary sources may be sufficient for detection and crude parameter estimation, they are still too coarse for precision physics with GW data. We then find ourselves in a situation in which, for key processes within empirical reach, theoretical uncertainties may dominate. To move forward, and profit the most from GW observations, more accurate waveforms will be needed. This will be  critical, as I will discuss, to study the equation of state of neutron stars and the nature of black holes; as well as potentially successful searches for exotic compact objects and putative ultra-light (dark matter) particles in the Universe. 
The ‘effective field theory approach’ to the binary inspiral problem in general relativity — which my collaborators and I have developed — has been instrumental for the construction of the state-of-the-art GW template bank. I will review how these and other novel techniques borrowed from particle physics have transformed the study of the two-body problem in gravity, providing key new results and paving the road forward to a new era of foundational investigations in physics through GW precision data.

 

Coffee and tea will be offered half an hour before the start of the colloquium.