Detections of the Gravitational Waves

Authors

  • José Maria Filardo Bassalo Academia Paraense de Ciências, Belém, PA
  • M. Cattani Instituto de Física, Universidade de São Paulo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-7941.2016v33n3p879

Abstract

On February 11, 2016, during a conference held at the National Science Foundation (NSF), in Washington, D.C., the American physicist David Reitze, Executive Director of the Laser Interferometer Gravitacional-Wave Observatory (LIGO) announced that it had been observed on September 14, 2015 Gravitational Waves (GW). This event was named GW150914. A second observation was also done by the LIGO on December 26, 2015 named GW151226. The signals of these two events are similar and are due to the coalescence of a binary black holes (BH). The GW sources are distant, respectively, of ~ 410 Mpc and ~ 440 Mpc from the Earth. To understand the significance of this extraordinary events we will make a historical summary of the GW and the BH.

Author Biographies

José Maria Filardo Bassalo, Academia Paraense de Ciências, Belém, PA

Formou-se em Engenharia Civil pela antiga Escola de Engenharia do Pará; em 1965, recebeu o título de Bacharel em Física pela Universidade de Brasília; em 1973 e 1975, respectivamente, obteve os títulos de Mestre em Física e Doutor em Física, pela Universidade de São Paulo. 

M. Cattani, Instituto de Física, Universidade de São Paulo

Mauro Cattani é professor Titular no Instituto de Física da Universidade de São Paulo desde 1985. 

Published

2016-12-15

How to Cite

Bassalo, J. M. F., & Cattani, M. (2016). Detections of the Gravitational Waves. Caderno Brasileiro De Ensino De Física, 33(3), 879–895. https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-7941.2016v33n3p879

Issue

Section

História e Filosofia da Ciência