PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

14-Nov-2014

Contact: Heath Jeffries jeffrieshv1@cardiff.ac.uk 44-292-087-0917 Cardiff University @cardiffuni

A team of Cardiff University researchers have made a breakthrough in helping scientists discover hundreds of black holes throughout the universe.

When two detectors are switched on in the US next year, the Cardiff team hope their research will help scientists pick up the faint ripples of black hole collisions millions of years ago, known as gravitational waves.

Black holes cannot be seen, but scientists hope the revamped detectors - which act like giant microphones - will find remnants of black hole collisions.

Led by Dr Mark Hannam from the School of Physics and Astronomy, the researchers have built a theoretical model which aims to predict all potential gravitational-wave signals that might be found by the detectors.

The Cardiff researchers hope it will act as a 'spotters' guide' to help scientists working with the giant LIGO detectors recognise the right waveforms and reveal the secrets of how black holes orbit into each other and collide.

Dr Hannam said: "The rapid spinning of black holes will cause the orbits to wobble, just like the last wobbles of a spinning top before it falls over. These wobbles can make the black holes trace out wild paths around each other, leading to extremely complicated gravitational-wave signals. Our model aims to predict this behaviour and help scientists find the signals in the detector data."

The Cardiff team, which includes postdoctoral researchers, PhD students, and collaborators from universities in Europe and the United States, will work with scientists across the world as they attempt to unravel the origins of the Universe.

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Mission to discover hundreds of black holes could unlock secrets of the universe