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October 2009

EINSTEIN'S COSMIC MESSENGERS

University of Florida Celebrates the International Year of Astronomy with a Performance of 'Einstein's Cosmic Messengers'.

Gainesville, FL – Join an award winning composer and a University of Florida professor of physics for the Florida premiere of "Einstein's Cosmic Messengers," an inventive multimedia concert.

This unique event will feature Andrea Centazzo, award-winning composer, percussionist, and multimedia artist with University of Florida professor of physics David Reitze, head of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) Scientific Collaboration. The program is based on LIGO's quest for gravitational waves--ripples in the fabric of space and time produced by violent events in the distant universe. Albert Einstein predicted the existence of these waves in 1916, but only in the last 20 years have scientists developed the scientific tools to detect them. The event takes place Sunday, November 8, at 8 p.m., in the Rion Ballroom of the Reitz Union. The event is free and open to the public.

Reitze will open the program with a brief presentation highlighting gravitational waves and what they reveal about the most violent events in the universe, such as collisions of black holes and neutron stars and even the Big Bang itself. He’ll also explain how LIGO, the world’s most sensitive laser interferometer, will detect gravitational waves. Centazzo will then perform his "Einstein's Cosmic Messengers," the multimedia concert. The presentation blends music and sounds played live with images and animations inspired by LIGO's facilities, the universe, and Einstein's genius and obsessions, creating a one-of-a-kind live performance.

'Einstein’s Cosmic Messengers’ is a wonderful blend of science, art, and music. It brings together one of the boldest and most precise astrophysics experiments ever developed – LIGO – with the musical and artistic interpretative powers of Andrea Centazzo”.

For more information on Andrea Centazzo and his music, go to http://www.andreacentazzo.com. For more information on the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, go to http://www.ligo.org.

The program is co-sponsored by the University of Florida LIGO research group, the University of Florida Department of Physics and the National Science Foundation.