# Gravitational waves 100 years after Einstein

## TL;DR

This paper discusses the groundbreaking detection of gravitational waves by LIGO-VIRGO, highlighting its implications for astronomy, black hole physics, and tests of general relativity, marking a new era in observational astrophysics.

## Contribution

It reviews the significance of gravitational wave detection and its impact on understanding the universe, black holes, and fundamental physics, emphasizing recent observational and theoretical advances.

## Key findings

- Detection of gravitational waves from black hole mergers
- Implications for gravitational astronomy and universe structure
- Enhanced understanding of general relativity through observations

## Abstract

The LIGO-VIRGO collaboration has detected directly on Earth the gravitational wave signals generated by the collision and the merger of two massive black holes at astronomical distance. This major discovery opens up the way to Gravitational Astronomy, which should revolutionize our comprehension of the structure of the Universe at large scales, with notably the mechanisms of formation of black holes and their role in the evolution of the Universe, the likely emergence of a multi-messenger astronomy joint with electromagnetic radiation, and a better appraisal of the status of general relativity with respect to other fundamental interactions. The theoretical and numerical works on the two-body problem in general relativity play a very important role when deciphering and interpreting the gravitational wave signals.