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“Einstein’s theory of general relativity“
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Date: |
Download-files: |
Time: |
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Thursday, 05. Nov. 2015 |
Audio-only-Recording as MP3-File
(smallest possible size):
- Audio.mp3 (ca.27 Mb) ============================================ Video-Recording for any system with MP4-support:
- Video.mp4 (ca.233 Mb) |
14:00 – 15:05 |
Speaker :
Michael Kramer (Max-Planck Institute for
Radio Astronomy,
Abstract :
This year, we celebrate the centenary of Einstein’s theory of general relativity.
When the theory was conceived,
the number
of experimental tests to confront the theory with was limited. Since then we
have come a long way.
In
particular astronomical observations provide precision tests that were
inconceivable even 50 years ago.
We use
neutron stars observable as pulsars to provide the most precise tests for
strongly self-gravitating bodies,
to prove
that gravitational waves exist or to measure the effects of curvature of space
time. We also attempt to determine
the
properties of black holes, such as their mass and spin to test the description
of black holes within general relativity.
One of the
highlights will be an image of the “shadow" of the supermassive black hole
in the centre of our Milky Way.
Soon we
also expect that the direct detection of gravitational waves opens up a new
window to Einstein’s Universe.
In all
cases, neutron stars or black holes play a crucial role. In this talk I will
review some of the current and future tests
of general
relativity, but will also mention alternative theories of gravity and other
applications of radio astronomy
for
fundamental physics, such as studying the equation-of-state of super-dense
matter.