Abstract:
Einstein predicted that gravitational waves exist when he discovered the theory of general relativity more than a century ago. Einstein, however, never believed that it would be possible to detect such waves and he did not believe that black holes exist. Yet, the last Nobel Prize in physics was awarded for the detection of gravitational waves from colliding black holes. I will explain how such waves are generated in black hole mergers, how they were detected against all odds by using laser interference technology and what they could teach us about gravity, black holes and the universe.