Speaker: Patrick Brady, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Abstract: Brady will describe the current state of ground-based, gravitational-wave astronomy and the prospects for the future. He will present highlights from LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observations including recent findings on compact object mergers. Gravitational waves from black-hole-binary mergers are now being detected about twice per week and astronomers are eagerly awaiting the next multi-messenger event. Over the next decade, a sequence of upgrades will more than double the amplitude sensitivity of the most sensitive gravitational-wave detectors and increase the rate of compact binary detections by about a factor of ten. Brady will discuss how the improved signal-to-noise ratio will also enable unprecedented measurements of masses, spins, and other properties of black holes and neutron stars in binary systems. The upgrades may also bring the discovery of other gravitational-wave sources. The talk will end with a discussion of future directions for ground-based gravitational-wave astronomy, highlighting the opportunities for multimessenger astronomy in the early 2030s and how operations of the current detector network can dovetail with operations of next-generation facilities such as Cosmic Explorer and Einstein Telescope.