Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2013
Volume 58, Number 4
Saturday–Tuesday, April 13–16, 2013; Denver, Colorado
Session T5: Invited Session: Einstein Prize Session |
Hide Abstracts |
Sponsoring Units: GGR Chair: Daniel Holz, University of Chicago Room: Governor's Square 14 |
Monday, April 15, 2013 3:30PM - 4:06PM |
T5.00001: Einstein Prize Talk: The Anatomy of a Test of General Relativity Invited Speaker: Irwin Shapiro I will review the conceptual underpinnings of the time-delay test of general relativity (``the Shapiro Effect''), the difficulties in carrying it out, and some recent results of applying the effect in astrophysics. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, April 15, 2013 4:06PM - 4:42PM |
T5.00002: Lunar Laser Ranging: A Playground for Gravitational Physics Invited Speaker: Tom Murphy Laser ranging to the reflectors placed on the Moon by the Apollo astronauts has long been a productive tool for probing gravitation, continuing to this day. This talk will survey the gravitational physics tested by lunar ranging and prospects for the future, touching on contributions to the endeavor by Irwin Shapiro, in celebration of the Einstein Prize. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, April 15, 2013 4:42PM - 5:18PM |
T5.00003: New astrophysical probes of black-hole spin Invited Speaker: Michael Kesden Astrophysical black holes can be divided into two populations: stellar-mass black holes formed in the collapse of massive stars, and supermassive black holes that reside in galactic centers. New instruments coming online within the next 10 years will revolutionize our capability to observe both populations, and in particular will allow us to place important constraints on black-hole spin. I will focus on two phenomena sensitive to black-hole spins: binary black-hole mergers and stellar tidal disruption by supermassive black holes. The gravitational waves emitted during stellar-mass black-hole mergers are an important source for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). I will discuss how the orientation of the spins in these black-hole binaries can teach us about how such systems form. Stars wandering too close to supermassive black holes will be tidally disrupted. Debris from the disrupted star accreted by the black hole can power a bright electromagnetic flare known as a tidal disruption event (TDE). If the tidal radius at which the star is disrupted is close enough to the black hole's event horizon, black-hole spin will affect both the rate at which these TDEs occur and the light curves for individual events. Future observational surveys by instruments like the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) should discover thousands of TDEs, allowing us to probe the spins of previously quiescent supermassive black holes for the very first time. [Preview Abstract] |
Follow Us |
Engage
Become an APS Member |
My APS
Renew Membership |
Information for |
About APSThe American Physical Society (APS) is a non-profit membership organization working to advance the knowledge of physics. |
© 2024 American Physical Society
| All rights reserved | Terms of Use
| Contact Us
Headquarters
1 Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844
(301) 209-3200
Editorial Office
100 Motor Pkwy, Suite 110, Hauppauge, NY 11788
(631) 591-4000
Office of Public Affairs
529 14th St NW, Suite 1050, Washington, D.C. 20045-2001
(202) 662-8700