Robinson's Podcast

108 - Chiara Mingarelli: Supermassive Black Holes & the Gravitational Wave Background


Listen Later

Chiara Mingarelli is a gravitational-wave astrophysicist and a professor in the Department of Physics at Yale University. She studies supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies and their mergers using data about gravitational waves that are detected by pulsar timing array experiments. In this episode, Robinson and Chiara discuss PTAs, gravitational waves, black holes, how and why they merge, and the fresh release of NANOgrav’s fifteen-year data set, which gives the first ever evidence of a gravitational wave background in the universe, an unprecedented discovery that marks the dawn of a new era of astrophysical research.


Chiara’s Website: https://www.chiaramingarelli.com/


Chiara’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Dr_CMingarelli


OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode...

00:30 Introduction

02:58 Chiara’s Interest in Black Holes

10:25 What Are Gravitational Waves

15:47 Detecting Gravitational Waves

31:39 How to Visualize Black Holes

40:55 Black Holes and Gravitational Waves

48:51 Two Different Backgrounds

53:46 Collecting and Interpreting Data

56:36 Why Do Black Holes Anchor Galaxies?

58:34 Why Do Black Holes Form Binaries?

01:04:25 Lingering Questions

01:11:33 Cosmic Strings

01:17:35 NANOgrav’s Data Release and the Gravitational Wave Background


Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com


Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between. 

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Robinson's PodcastBy Robinson Erhardt

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

229 ratings


More shows like Robinson's Podcast

View all
Closer To Truth by Closer To Truth

Closer To Truth

242 Listeners

Robert Wright's Nonzero by Nonzero

Robert Wright's Nonzero

584 Listeners

The Quanta Podcast by Quanta Magazine

The Quanta Podcast

482 Listeners

Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff by Democracy at Work - Richard D. Wolff

Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff

1,959 Listeners

Philosophy For Our Times by IAI

Philosophy For Our Times

307 Listeners

Into the Impossible With Brian Keating by Big Bang Productions Inc.

Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

1,043 Listeners

The Michael Shermer Show by Michael Shermer

The Michael Shermer Show

918 Listeners

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas by Sean Carroll | Wondery

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas

4,131 Listeners

The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss by Lawrence M. Krauss

The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss

486 Listeners

Dwarkesh Podcast by Dwarkesh Patel

Dwarkesh Podcast

379 Listeners

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal by Theories of Everything

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

459 Listeners

Why This Universe? by Dan Hooper, Shalma Wegsman

Why This Universe?

366 Listeners

The Joy of Why by Steven Strogatz, Janna Levin and Quanta Magazine

The Joy of Why

498 Listeners

Cool Worlds Podcast by coolworldslab

Cool Worlds Podcast

83 Listeners

The Chris Hedges Report by Chris Hedges

The Chris Hedges Report

245 Listeners