As astrophysics experiments become increasingly precise, where they are sited is of greater importance to ensuring the sensitivities of the instruments. This talk focuses on LIGO's over one decade endeavor from 1981 to 1994 to find locations for its two twin laser interferometers that would provide the ability to detect faint gravitational waves produced from cataclysmic events in our universe such as the collision of two black holes. Tiffany Nichols will focus on approaches used by LIGO physicists to locate and investigate candidate locations and negotiate existing land uses present on the sites that were in conflict with the specifications of their experiment through a process Tiffany Nichols calls "finding stillness."
Event Speaker
Tiffany Nichols, Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Princeton University
Event Information
This event is free and open to the public; Registration required. Please contact [email protected] with any questions.
This event is part of the New York History of Science Lecture Series.
Sponsoring Organizations:
- The University Seminars at Columbia University
- Columbia University in the City of New York
- NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study
- The Graduate Center, City University of New York
- The New York Academy of Medicine
- The New York Academy of Sciences
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