A talk by premier physicist Prof. Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy on "Discovery of Gravitational Waves"

On 19th April 2016 at FAST-NU Lahore, the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society, a chapter of the IEEE NUCES Lahore Student Branch, organized an interactive session with the globally renowned and honored nuclear physicist and mathematician Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy. He was invited to shed some light on the recent discovery of gravitational waves, what they are and their behavior. The lecture was highly informative and captivating with an overwhelming turn out of not only students but also professors from other institutions in Lahore.

The event kicked off with a descriptive introduction of the esteemed guest speaker by an Associate Professor of FAST-NU Lahore, Dr. S. M. Sajjid. The lecture was highly comprehensive and inspiring. “This is the best time for physics”, were the opening words of Dr. Hoodbhoy. He started off with the history of how stars are formed and the behavior of black holes. He defined what a supernova is and gave a detailed account of gravitational wave behavior. Dr. Hoodbhoy described how the incoming gravitational waves from the solar system are able to leave a distinctive pattern on the shape of the earth. He further described pulsar which is the accelerated expansion of the universe and how it is occurring. He said that most recently only the creation of one supernova has been witnessed even though there have been multiple black hole collisions. In the end, Dr. Hoodbhoy stated some facts like 90% of the universe is dark, emitting no electromagnetic radiation and that gravitational wave detectors have begun making observations routinely. The lecture was concluded with an interactive questions and answers session.

The event closed with a quick speech by the director of FAST-NU Dr. Amjad Hussain. He then presented our honorary guest speaker with souvenirs accompanied by the Branch Counsellor of IEEE NUCES Lahore Student Branch Mr. Omer Saleem, the Advisor of IEEE Circuits and Systems Society Ms. Beenish Fatima and Associate Professor Dr. S. M. Sajid.