Barry Barish to Deliver Provost’s Spotlight Talk on March 20

Barry Barish, the President’s Distinguished Endowed Chair in Physics at Stony Brook University, will deliver the next Provost’s Spotlight Talk on Wednesday, March 20, at 11:30 am at the Charles B. Wang Center Theater.

Barish’s talk is titled “Gravitational Waves: Unraveling the Mysteries of our Universe.” In 1916, Albert Einstein conjected that gravitational waves exist. They were discovered a century later by LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory. Now, less than a decade after discovery, gravitational waves are becoming a powerful new tool to explore and understand our universe. The discoveries, some puzzles and future possibilities will all be explored in this lecture.

Barish is a world-renowned experimental physicist and Nobel Laureate who joinedStony Brook’s Department of Physics and Astronomy in 2023. Later that year, Barish was one of nine people awarded the prestigious National Medal of Science by President Joe Biden at the White House. The prestigious award is among the highest honors in the scientific community.

The Provost’s Spotlight Talks feature eminent visitors to the university as well as Stony Brook faculty members who have recently been recognized for outstanding contributions in their field.