Dear colleagues:

We would like to bring to your attention a meeting on Gravitational-wave Astrophysics at the next COSPAR assembly. The COSPAR assembly itself is scheduled for August 2-10, 2014, in Moscow, Russia. We don’t yet know the exact dates of the GW event [E1.20], but it will take place over ~3 days during this time. Here is a brief event description:

Gravitational-wave astronomy will provide us with a new probe of the Universe and enable us to answer deep questions about astrophysics and strong-field general relativity. As the first direct detections of gravitational waves from astrophysical sources are imminent, this is a perfect time to take stock of the available techniques for analyzing signals from gravitational-wave detectors across multiple frequency bands, including ground-based high-frequency detectors such as LIGO and Virgo, proposed space-borne low-frequency detectors such as LISA, and ultra-low frequency data from pulsar timing arrays. We will focus on the problems of inference from the data and the key issues that must be resolved to maximize the scientific payoff of gravitational waves, including multimessenger observations, for astrophysics and tests of general relativity. We invite participants from the LIGO/Virgo/GEO/KAGRA/INDIGO, LISA, and PTA communities, as well as participation from those interested in binary astrophysics, massive black holes, measurements of gravitational-wave signatures in CMB polarization, tests of gravitation, and astrostatistics.

Abstract submission has just opened, and will close on February 14, 2014.

We look forward to seeing you in Moscow!

Your Scientific Organizing Committee:
Will Farr (deputy chair), Jonathan Gair, Ilya Mandel (chair), Cole Miller, Alberto Sesana