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Course
A
world-wide network of advanced gravitational wave detectors is under
construction, and regular detections are expected before the end of the
decade. Among the most promising sources are coalescing compact binary
objects composed of neutron stars and/or black holes. The rich dynamics
in these systems will be imprinted onto the gravitational wave signals,
which will contain a wealth of information. For the first time, we will
have empirical access to the full non-linear dynamics of general
relativity, which can not be probed and tested by any other means.
Secondly, the neutron star equation of state, which is currently
uncertain by an order of magnitude, will be strongly constrained by
looking at the deformability of neutron stars during the last stages of
inspiral. Third, inspiraling binaries can be used as cosmic distance
markers to map out the large-scale structure and evolution of the
Universe in a way that is completely independent of existing methods,
and which will not suffer from the systematic uncertainties that may be
hiding in the so-called cosmic distance ladder. The focus will mainly
be on the science that will already be possible with the upcoming
second-generation detectors, but the potential of third-generation
ground-based observatories, as well as space-based detectors, will also
be discussed.
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Chapters
- Tests of GR with gravitational wave detectors
- Alternative polarization states
- Compact binary coalescence and the strong-field dynamics of gravity
- Probing the equation of state of neutron stars with second-generation detectors
- Cosmology: probing the large-scale structure of spacetime
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