There are currently a number of observations (e.g. dark matter, galactic rotation curves) that suggest that Einstein’s theory of general relativity (GR) may either be incorrect or incomplete. As a consequence, there is a large effort within the theoretical community regarding the development of extensions of GR, or full alternative theories of gravity. During its first science run, the Advanced LIGO detectors observed the inspiral and merger of binary black holes. This is the first time that true strong field dynamics have been tested. A major outcome of these detections is that they seem to agree with the predictions of GR to an extremely high level of confidence. In this presentation, we will review these results and discuss their implications.

In the second part of the presentation, I will present the activities of the compact binary coalescence (CBC) group within the LIGO-Virgo collaboration, and illustrate why now might be a good time to become a member of this group.