Abstract: Gravitational waves can finally be detected by humankind. The two years between the first detection from LIGO and the recent announcement of the well observed neutron star merger is the blink of an eye compared to the almost 100 years of research and development that went into making gravitational astronomy possible. We'll trace the history and drama of the field from the arguments against the existence of gravitational waves (from Einstein himself) to the conference and discovery that convinced the skeptics and finally into the design choices made by LIGO to obtain the sensitivity needed. We'll also look into the analysis that allow us to obtain information on the cataclysmic events that drive gravitational waves, and how we can know the difference between black hole and neutron star mergers.
Papers: https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102 https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.161101