Cosmic Explorer: A next-generation gravitational-wave observatory in the United States

Gravitational-wave discoveries by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and Virgo have opened a new window on the universe. In the coming decade, next generation observatories will extend humanity's gravitational-wave reach to the edge of the observable universe. This talk will focus on the US effort to build a next generation gravitational-wave observatory known as Cosmic Explorer. Cosmic Explorer will peer deeply into the universe's dark side—observing gravitational waves from remnants of the first stars, the most extreme matter in the universe, and the nature of the universe's most strongly warped spacetime—and will open a wide discovery aperture to the novel and unknown.