PROFESSOR SUKANTA BOSE

Ten stellar-mass binary black holes ¿ never known to exist before ¿ and a colliding neutron star binary have been detected with gravitational waves even before any of the involved LIGO or Virgo detectors have reached their design sensitivities. In the last case, the event was observed with multiple electromagnetic observatories ¿ in some instances even several weeks after the merger. This beginning bodes well for science since it provides mankind an additional tool to understand the universe in an unprecedented way. What new phenomena and physics can we anticipate harnessing with it? This talk will discuss prospects and limitations in this endeavour in probing the densest form of matter, the expansion of the universe and how correct Einstein was in understanding gravity.