Physics Colloquium: "Tuning in to the Universe's Symphony"

The Nobel Prize-winning discovery of gravitational waves -- those ripples of spacetime itself that are emitted when black holes or neutron stars collide -- have bestowed us with a new sense to uncover the mysteries of our universe beyond its traditional playground in astrophysics.  In this colloquium I invite you to join me on a journey that (i) starts with the status of gravitational wave astronomy almost exactly five years after its birth; (ii) touches upon numerical relativity that is crucial to accurately predict, identify and interpret gravitational wave signals; and that (iii) leads us to exciting new applications in particle physics, the dark matter quest and quantum gravity.