Colliding Black Holes and Ancient Ripples Through Space-Time | Dr. Deirdre Shoemaker

In this episode, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Deirdre Shoemaker, an award-winning professor, and researcher of gravitational physics. Dr. Shoemaker is a contributor to the groundbreaking LIGO Collaboration, a multinational scientific effort that made physical observations of gravity waves for the first time in human history. She also leads a team of gravitational physicists at the University of Texas at Austin, where they work to uncover the secrets of Black Holes, Black Hole and Neutron Star Collisions, and the Gravity Waves that they produce. Dr. Shoemaker is as sharp as she is hilarious. Amidst the laughter of this episode, expect to learn about what happens when the most massive objects in our universe - black holes - collide, what a gravity wave is exactly, how black holes help prove Einstein's equations and much more. Mentioned Publications, Sources, and Further Reading: Abbott, B.  P., Abbott, R., Abbott, T.  D., Abernathy, M.  R., Acernese, F., Ackley, K., Adams, C., Adams, T., Addesso, P., Adhikari, R.  X., Adya, V.  B., Affeldt, C., Agathos, M., Agatsuma, K., Aggarwal, N., Aguiar, O.  D., Aiello, L., Ain, A., Ajith, P., & Allen, B. (2016). Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger. Physical Review Letters, 116(6). https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.116.061102 ‪Shoemaker, D. M., Huq, M. F., & Matzner, R. A. (2000). Generic tracking of multiple apparent horizons with level flow. Physical Review, 62(12). https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.62.124005 ‌The, the Virgo Collaboration, the KAGRA Collaboration, Abbott, R., D, A. T., Acernese, F., Ackley, K., Adams, C., Adhikari, N., X, A. R., B, A. V., Affeldt, C., Agarwal, D., Agathos, M., Agatsuma, K., Aggarwal, N., D, A. O., Aiello, L., Ain, A., & Ajith, P. (2023). GWTC-3: Compact Binary Coalescences Observed by LIGO and Virgo during the Second Part of the Third Observing Run. Physical Review X, 13(4). https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevx.13.041039 ‌LIGO Project Website: https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/ Dr. Deirdre Shoemaker Academic Profile: https://sites.cns.utexas.edu/cgp/people/deirdre-shoemaker Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=QzwcWv0AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deirdre-shoemaker-8588b140/ For more info about this episode, or to listen to other episodes you can visit the official Heights of Humanity website: https://www.heightsofhumanitypodcast.com