Oct 9 – 11, 2016
Albanova University Center
Europe/Stockholm timezone

Venue

Nordita, Stockholm, Sweden

The recent detections by the twin Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors of gravitational waves is one of the most important events in the history of science. It is therefore not surprising that gravitational waves are today the focus of attention for both the general public and professionals. There were already many events organized where LIGO's experimental results have been discussed, but none focused on the mathematical foundations of the theory behind the discovery. However, LIGO’s success is not only a triumph of experimental physics and technology; it is also the culmination of a century of work by theorists on mathematical descriptions of gravitational waves.

Nordita (Nordic Institute of Theoretical Physics) organizes a three-day event in Stockholm. The event starts on Sunday, October 9, with the evening lecture by Brian Foster (Oxford University) and Jack Liebeck, internationally acclaimed violinist from Great Britain, on “Musical Einstein” in Riddarhuset. The event continues on Monday and Tuesday with lectures by world leading experts at the Albanova University Center.

The conference is organized by Marek Abramowicz, Lars Brink, Jean-Pierre Lasota, Juri Poutanen and Stephan Rosswog and is supported by Nordita, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences through its Nobel Institute for Physics, the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the Polish Society of Relativity.

Lecture and Welcome reception on Sunday, October 9 (starting at 16.00) at Riddarhuset, Riddarhustorget 10 (300 m from Gamla Stan tunnelbana station) [google map]

  • 16:00-17:00 welcome drinks, snacks
  • 17:00-17:30 guided tour of the Riddarhuset
  • 17:30-17:40 Lars Brink (Chalmers): A few words on gravitational waves and Einstein's music
  • 17:40-18:30 Brian Foster (Oxford University) with Jack Liebeck (Royal Academy of Music, UK) on violin:
    Musical Einstein : a lecture on Einstein's life-long devotion to music
  • 18:30-20:00 Buffet dinner

Program for Monday, October 10 (at Oscar Klein Auditorium, Albanova University Center)

  • 08:45-09:00 Stephan Rosswog (Stockholm University): Welcome
  • 09:00-09:50 Gary Gibbons (Cambridge University): Gravitational waves and fundamental physics
  • 09:50-10:40 Daniel Kennefick (University of Arkansas): The history of the theory of gravitational waves
  • 10:40-11:10 coffee break
  • 11:10-11:25 Andrzej Trautman in a Krzysztof Zanussi film
  • 11:25-12:15 Piotr Chruściel (University of Vienna): Matematical foundations of the theory of gravitational waves
  • 12:15-13:15 Thibault Damour (keynote speaker; Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques): Gravitational waves and analytic relativity
  • 13:15-14:15 lunch
  • 14:30-15:20 Luciano Rezzolla (Goethe University of Frankfurt): Gravitational waves and neutron star mergers
  • 15:20-16:10 Bernd Brügmann (University of Jena): Gravitational waves and black hole mergers
  • 16:10-16:40 coffee break
  • 16:40-17:10 Stephan Rosswog (Stockholm University): Neutron star mergers: what else apart from gravitational waves?
  • 17:10-17:40 Edvard Mörtsell (Stockholm University): Gravitational waves, dark matter and dark energy
  • 17:40-18:10 Fawad Hassan (Stockholm University): Gravitational waves and alternative theories of gravity
  • 18:30-20:00 buffet dinner, poster session
  • 19:50-20:00 Lars Brink (Chalmers): A few final words

Program for Tuesday, October 11 (at Auditorium FB42, Albanova University Center)

  • 09:00-09:30 Andrew King (University of Leicester): Electromagnetic emission from gravitational wave events, and what we might learn
  • 09:30-10:00 Vitor Cardoso (Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal): Gravitational-wave emission from ultra-compact objects
  • 10:00-10:30 Philippe Grandclément (Observatoire de Paris): Boson stars
  • 10:30-11:00 coffee break
  • 11:00-11:30 Scott Hughes (MIT): Testing the black hole hypothesis with gravitational wave observations
  • 11:30-12:00 Gerhard Schäfer (Universität Jena): PN approximation and GW physics
  • 12:00-12:45 Paweł Nurowski (Center for Theor. Physics, Warsaw): Asymptotic behaviour of GW
  • 12:45-14:00 lunch
  • 14:00-15:00 poster session
  • 15:00-15:30 Michele Maggiore (Université de Genève): Stochastic GW Background
  • 15:30-16:00 Alberto Sesana (University of Birmingham): Massive black hole binaries: astrophysics and gravitational waves
  • 16:00-16:30 Petr Hořava (University of California, Berkeley): Quantum gravity and gravitational waves
  • 16:30-17:00 coffee break
  • 17:00-17:30 Luis Lehner (Perimeter Institute): Conference summary
  • 17:30-18:30 final discussion
Starts
Ends
Europe/Stockholm
Albanova University Center
Oscar Klein Auditorium(Mon) and Auditorium FB42 (Tue)
Roslagstullsbacken 21, Stockholm