Lecture in Trieste: Black-Hole Research, A New Golden Age

[Info Point]

>
>
> http://www.sissa.it/ap/sciama/memorial_sciama.html
>
>
>
> Wednesday 25 May 2011 at 17:30, Stazione Marittima
>
> * Kip S. Thorne (Caltech)
>
> "Black-Hole Research: A New Golden Age"*
>
>
> We are entering a new "golden age" of research on black holes. This 
> golden age is being triggered by numerical simulations, and it will 
> culminate in observations with gravitational-wave detectors. Among our 
> recent discoveries, in this new golden age, are vortices of whirling 
> space: When two spinning black holes collide, the merged hole that 
> they form has six vortices sticking out of it. As they rotate and 
> slosh, these vortices generate gravitational waves that will be 
> detected by gravitational-wave observatories such as LIGO, VIRGO and GEO.
> 	
> The lectures 
> <http://www.sissa.it/ap/sciama/memorial_sciama_lectures.html>
> Short biography 
> <http://www.sissa.it/ap/sciama/memorial_sciama_biography.html>
>
>
>
> Dennis Sciama (1926-1999) played a pivotal role in the development of 
> modern cosmology and relativistic astrophysics both through his own 
> work and through being the mentor of a large number of research 
> students and colleagues who then went on to become leading figures in 
> their own right. He was head of the Astrophysics Sector of SISSA from 
> 1982 - 1998, first jointly with Nicolo' Dallaporta and then on his 
> own. During those years the group grew to become a major world player 
> in astrophysics research, particularly in the areas of relativistic 
> astrophysics and cosmology which were his main interests. Before 
> coming to Trieste, he had led similar groups in England, first at 
> Cambridge and then at Oxford.
>
> The memorial lectures are an occasional series with each lecture being 
> given by a leading world expert, focusing on topics which were of 
> particular interest to Dennis. Each lecture is normally given twice, 
> once in Trieste and once in Oxford; the first four were given by Roger 
> Penrose, George Ellis, Stephen Hawking and John Barrow.
>