Abstract: Gravitational waves have offered us a whole new way of looking at our Universe. So far, we have seen them in the ~10-100 Hz range, and, most recently, in the nanohertz regime. However, there are parts of the frequency space that are currently not covered by any future or planned observations. I will explain how we can use past and upcoming photometric surveys to bridge a gap in the spectrum through relative astrometric measurements. Similar to pulsar timing array measurements, these astrometric measurements rely on the coherent spacetime distortions produced by gravitational waves at Earth. These induce coherent, apparent stellar position changes on the sky. Upcoming photometric surveys will have excellent relative astrometry and timing resolution, which will make them perfect for detecting gravitational waves in the microhertz regime. I will discuss this measurement scheme, and our current work to detect gravitational waves with Kepler Space Telescope archival data.

Bio: Kris Pardo is an Assistant Professor of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Southern California. He earned his PhD in Astrophysical Sciences from Princeton University. He was then a postdoc at the Jet Propulsion Lab and Caltech before joining USC.

Before the talk (~3:45pm), tea and coffee will be served outside 116 Weniger.

After the talk, there will be a reception with food and drink in 247 Weniger.