The past, present and future of gravitational wave astronomy

Abstract

Gravitational Waves (GWs) have become a major source of insight in Multi Messenger Astronomy since their first direct detection in 2015 (Abbott et al. 2016) where the Nobel prize in Physics was awarded in 2017 to LIGO founders Barry C. Barish, Kip S. Thorne, and Rainer Weiss. They complement electromagnetic and particle measurements by providing cosmic scale evidence which cannot be detected in any other way. Their rise to prominence has not been straightforward since the founder of general relativity, Albert Einstein, who predicted GWs, was nevertheless skeptical of their existence and detectability. This skepticism put a damper on Gravitational Wave (GW) research that was not overcome until the 1950's, the decade of Einstein's death. Since then, ever more sensitive GW detectors have been designed for construction on earth and in space. Each of these detector approaches was designed to expand the types of cosmic events that could be detected.

Keywords

• gravitational waves
• history and philosophy of astronomy