Shaw-IAU Workshops by the OAE

Gravitational wave detectors are very sophisticated instruments devoted to the formidable task of measuring space-time deformations as small as a thousandth the size of the atomic nucleus, such as those produced by astrophysical phenomena like coalescence of compact stars or the Big Bang itself. This citizen science project aims at demystifying the detectors functioning and the work of the scientists to improve them. We present their data in the form of images and sounds, and we ask the citizens to identify relations between them or peculiar patterns in images and sounds. All of this is presented with the interface of the Zooniverse platform as a game for the citizens, which, playing with simple tasks, can give a significant contribution to better understand the detectors and improve them

Biography:

I am a postdoctoral researcher at the Physics Department of the University of Pisa and a member of the Virgo Collaboration and the REINFORCE team. I am active in the study of noise and the characterization of the Virgo detector, in order to improve its sensitivity to astrophysical signals. I am also involved in the public outreach activities of the University of Pisa and in related citizen science projects.

Watch a video for this poster (external link)