David Mateos, an ICREA researcher in the Department of Quantum Physics and Astrophysics and member of the UB Institute of Cosmos Sciences (ICCUB), has obtained an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) to apply holography in the field of gravitational waves. The HoloGW project will receive funding of 2.5 million euros and will address unresolved challenges in cosmology and astrophysics from another perspective.
Gravitational waves are small perturbations in space-time that were postulated by Einstein's theory of general relativity. "The first detection in 2015 was a real experimental revolution," says Mateos. He adds that "almost everything we knew at the time about the universe was based on the light coming to us from all directions".
The UB researcher is clear about the importance of the discovery: "Listening to the universe through gravitational waves is as ground-breaking a change as adding sound to silent films".
The ERC-funded project, HoloGW, aims to use holography, a tool originating from string theory, to gain a deep understanding of "the properties of quantum matter that generate gravitational waves", and to take advantage of this experimental revolution.
