Talks

Various self-similar spherically symmetric spacetimes admit naked singularities, providing a challenge to the cosmic censorship hypothesis. However, it is not clear if the naked singularities are artefacts of the high degree of symmetry of the spacetimes, or if they are potentially generically present. To address this question, we consider perturbations of (various cases of) these spacetimes, focusing particularly on the behaviour of the perturbations as they impinge on the Cauchy horizon. We describe recent results on self-similar Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi spacetime, indicating stability of scalar and odd parity perturbations, and instability of even parity perturbations.

Space and time are two of the universe's most fundamental elements. Relativity combines these two into the unified notion of space-time, but twistor theory goes beyond this replacing both by something entirely different, where the basic elements are the paths taken by particles of light or other particles without mass. Twistor theory has already found powerful applications in the field of high-energy physics. The creation of twistor theory was motivated with the hope that it would shed light on the foundations of quantum physics, a theory that puzzled even Einstein, particularly through the weird effects of quantum non-locality—the phenomenon whereby the behaviour of quantum particles can seem to have instantaneous effects over large distances. In this lecture, Prof. Penrose will describe a deep link between twistor theory and the simplest form of quantum non-locality and how the connection may be generalized in ways that provide a broader understanding of the phenomenon.

One of the great promises of the Advanced LIGO era is the prospect of integrating gravitational wave astronomy into the greater astronomical community. This will allow for measurements that cross spectral bands and provide new paths for insight into some of the most violent processes in the universe. In this talk I'll discuss past and present efforts with Initial and Enhanced LIGO to search for transients with both electromagnetic and gravitational wave signatures, with special focus on electromagnetic followups of inspiral events and an eye towards the advanced detector era. In addition, I'll discuss some work on detecting gravitational waves with pulsar timing experiments, which seeks to bridge the gap between gravitational wave and electromagnetic astronomers in a different way.