CAP congratulates the LIGO & Virgo collaborations for the first detection of gravitational waves

Today, scientists from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) and the Virgo interferometer collaborations announced that they have detected gravitational waves for the first time. Among other implications, it confirms the prediction of such waves by Albert Einstein exactly 100 years ago and caps a multi-decade search for this elusive phenomenon.

Dr. Adam Sarty, CAP president, said that “we would like to congratulate CAP members involved in the collaboration. The CAP is aware of the involvement of Dr. Harald Pfeiffer, Dr. Prayush Kumar, and Dr. Kipp Cannon from the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA) in Toronto, which is also an organizational member of the LIGO collaboration. Dr. Pfeiffer is also affiliated with the Perimeter Institute, an institutional member of the CAP. The CAP recognizes how extremely monumental this discovery is and we offer our warmest congratulations to the entire scientific collaboration.”

For More Information:

·         The official LIGO news release: https://cap.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/detection-press-release-1.pdf

·         The official paper, published in Phys. Rev. Lett.: https://dcc.ligo.org/public/0122/P150914/014/LIGO-P150914_Detection_of_GW150914.pdf

·         Further information and a full list of all scientists in the collaborations: https://dcc.ligo.org/cgi-bin/DocDB/ShowDocument?.submit=Identifier&docid=P150914&version

·         A good pedagogical explanation of the discovery can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/AlbertEinstein/videos/10153660858099843/

About the CAP:

The Canadian Association of Physicists is a broad-based national network of physicists working in educational, industrial, and research settings. We are a strong and effective advocacy group for support of, and excellence in, physics research and education. We represent the voice of Canadian physicists to government, granting agencies, and many international scientific societies. We are an enthusiastic sponsor of events and activities promoting Canadian physics and physicists, including the CAP’s annual congress and national physics journal. We are proud to offer and continually enhance our web site as a key resource for individuals pursuing careers in physics and physics education.