Prof. Barbara Patricelli (UniPi)
10 April 2026
11:30, Aula Piazzi
Abstract:
On August 17, 2017, the first observation of a binary neutron star merger through gravitational waves (GWs) by Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo and the detection of its electromagnetic (EM) multi-wavelength counterparts marked the beginning of multi-messenger astronomy with GWs, opening a new chapter in the study of the universe. This joint GW and EM discovery clearly demonstrated the huge informative power of multi-messenger observations, allowing us to probe neutron star physics, relativistic astrophysics, nucleosynthesis and cosmology, and in the future multi-messenger astronomy will be key to further probe the rich physics of transient phenomena in the Universe. This talk will give an overview of multi-messenger observations so far, their astrophysical implications and the prospects and challenges for the upcoming years.