We have detected gravitational wawes!

On February 11, 2016 at 16:30, the Ligo and Virgo collaborations announced they had detected gravitational waves, a century after its description by Einstein. It’s a double masterstroke: by detecting for the first time these waves, the researchers also observed the first collision of two black holes. A new window opens on the Universe.

Numerous scientists participated in this project. The UnivEarthS teams Geophysics and gravitational wave detectors, as well as Support to PCCP, have their work turn around gravitational waves and greeted this discovery with enthusiasm.

“This opens a great new and exciting time. The universe is driven by gravity, but it is observed only with the light. We finally see things never seen before because they do not emit light, says Pierre Binétruy. We enter a new area.”

Read the CNRS’s article about this discovery.

Read the article of Pierre Binétruy and Georges Smoot on the website gravity.paris