On Wednesday, October 4, at 7 p.m., Thetford Public Library Network will present Laurent Drissen’s conference, “Waves in Space-Time.”
The most massive stars in the universe are very rare and live for very short periods of time, but play a fundamental role in the evolution of galaxies and the universe in general. Over the course of their lives, they emit a barrage of particles (their “wind,” 10 billion times stronger than the solar wind) and copious amounts of ultraviolet radiation, significantly altering the interstellar medium. They end their lives spectacularly by exploding in the form of a supernova before transforming into a neutron star or black hole. And when two of these massive, dense objects merge, they distort the structure of space-time around them, creating gravitational waves. The conference will therefore focus on the nature of these massive stars, their evolution and their role in the environment and present initial results from gravitational wave detectors.
A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Laurent Drissen is a full professor in the Department of Physics, Technical Physics and Optics at the University of Laval. In 2017, he won the prestigious Synergy Prize from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
TICKETS
Thetford Public Library Network users can obtain tickets at the Cégep Library circulation desk. Please note that a limit of two tickets per member has been set.