Gravitational Physics Group
A snapshot of the final moments in the merger of binary black holes and the gravitational radiation emitted in the process (Credit: Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)/Zuse Institute Berlin/Center for Computation and Technology at Louisiana State University).
The Gravitational Physics Group is one of the largest research groups in the School. The Group co-founded the British-German GEO 600, is a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, involved in the space-based LISA and the design study of the 3rd generation Einstein gravitational-wave Telescope.
The Group's search for gravitational waves is focused on transients such as supernovae and binary neutron stars and black holes, and stochastic gravitational waves. As a part of this research we have developed novel algorithms and software which have now become standard search tools. Cardiff is a data archival centre for GEO600 and hosts also the strain data from LIGO. The data is analyzed using in-house large computer clusters.
Our theoretical research is focused on quantum processes in the early Universe, cosmic microwave and gravitational wave backgrounds, the formation, evolution and nature of large-scale structure in the Universe, alternative formulations of general relativity, modeling binary black holes.
The spectrum of the radiation as seen by gravitational wave detectors.
Link to Full-size Image [603 KB]
Recent Activities
- Cardiff researchers could herald a new era in fundamental physics.
- Cardiff’s ‘Universal’ expert honoured by Royal Society.
- Cardiff Gravitational Physics Group awarded STFC grant.
- Awarded a grant from the Wales Institute of Mathematical and Computational Studies (WIMCS).
- LIGO's S5 run just finished and we are busy analyzing the data.
Full stories on our Recent Activities page
Announcement: BritGrav 9 will be held at Cardiff University, 15-16 April 2009