Gravitational Wave Detection and Its Applications in Multi-Messenger Astronomy

It ushered in a new era of astronomy with the direct detection of gravitational waves in 2015. A whole new way of stepping into the dark, scary world that Einstein predicted. This paper reviews the theoretical background of gravitational waves and provides an overview of four main categories of primary astrophysical sources, with a particular emphasis on the transient chirp signal. Explanations of principles of detection through laser interferometry, both for those on the ground, LIGO/Virgo, and proposed plans for a space-based version known as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). The gist of this paper is that the first binary black holes, GW150914 in 2015, and the first binary neutron star, GW170817 in 2017, were found. Verifying that the primary origin of heavy elements like gold as well as platinum was the connection between GW and its equivalent EM wave. This was the beginning of multi-messenger astronomy. A brief explanation of astronomical statistics is also provided.