Joint Colloquium: Geraint Lewis -- The maths (and physics) of gravitational waves

The direct detection of gravitational waves has been touted as one of the greatest
scientific discoveries.  But what are gravitational waves, and how were they detected?
Here, I will review the concepts and ideas behind Einstein’s general theory of
relativity, including the notion of space-time, the stuff that does the waving in a
gravitational wave.  We’ll also consider the interaction of a gravitational wave with
matter, and look at how we deduce that the wave was formed by the collision by two
massive black holes.