At the pursuit of gravitational waves

This book is an introduction to the universe of gravity. It does not require specific knowledge, and avoids any mathematical formulation which is at the root of general relativity. The author first recalls how the gravitational force has been perceived and studied by Galileo, Newton and Einstein. Then, he presents the general relativity as a passage from a theory of gravity to a theory of the Universe. For this purpose, the author comments Einstein equations, describes the role of light in drawing space time, questions the limits of the Universe and its expansion, and presents the Big Bang model. In the third part, he addresses how the Universe can be observed, outlines that this observation is a look into the past, presents the various observed forms (galaxies, dark matter), and addresses the issues of recombination and cosmological background. In the next parts, the author addresses the issue of reconciliation of both infinities (quantum vacuum and Higgs field, the anti-matter enigma, the Planck scale and the quantum gravitation), the first instants of the Universe, the issues of dark energy and quantum vacuum, black holes (death of a star, black holes and galaxies, black holes as laboratories of the gravitational universe, gravitational waves (the issue of their existence, a Nobel Price for their evidence). He also addresses methods and techniques used to study the gravitational universe (interferometers, space antenna), and the issue of a prediction of the future of the Universe and of the end of time