Abstract:
Kilometer scale Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Detectors
like LIGO (vntGO) are expected to go online in 2002 (2003). Space
interferometers like LISA are scheduled for 2011. In this talk the possible science
payoffs of these experiments are explored. Starting from the basic properties of
gravitational waves and anticipated gravitational wave sources, it highlights the
implications of gravitational wave observations for basic physics, astrophysics
and cosmology. The current status of theoretical computation of waveforms
and templates for data analysis is briefly discussed.
