© Gary Cameron / ReutersDr. Kip Thorne of Caltech
Over 100 years ago, Albert Einstein predicted that gravitational waves would one day be detected from Earth, when he published his theory of general relativity in 1915. Then in February 2016, physicists using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) did just that. Science magazine has dubbed their work the "breakthrough of the year."
Einstein's theory states that large objects can alter the fabric of space and time, just as a rock causes ripples when dropped into a pool of water. Gravitational waves, or the ripples in spacetime, would be created when two massive objects, such as black holes or neutron stars, came into contact.
In February, the LIGO scientists detected the gravitational waves while monitoring the emergence of two black holes 1.3 billion light years away, with a combined mass 62 times that of the Earth's sun, according to the Space Reporter.
"These waves are extremely weak, very feeble," said Shaon Ghosh, postdoctoral research associate at the University of Wisconsin, in an interview with RT's Anya Parampil. "To observe them, you need extremely sensitive detectors like the ones we have built in LIGO."
Until February, the existence of gravitational waves was based merely on indirect evidence, but now there is direct evidence. And no wonder scientists are excited, as there have been efforts to detect these waves since 1972, when the first optical interferometer was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"This opens a new window for astronomy," Ghosh said. "Whenever we talk about astronomy, we talk about observing the universe with light, say visible light or x-rays or radiowaves, but this opens up a new way of looking at the universe."
"It lets us look at the parts of the systems or physical phenomena that doesn't emit light," Ghosh added.
"We will also be able to tell how many black holes are there in the universe, in our local universe, how often the systems coalesce and how energetic the systems are," he continued.
It makes me sad to see these stand-ins for the lack of success in solar energy, wind energy, and the colossal failure saddling the living with irremediable radioactive nuclear waste. You can be sure the elites will not be burdened with close proximity with the above as island living will constitute their future and the radioactive pollutants will acquire the same stature as HE WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED.
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But now that we understand what was being detected was resonance with electrons in the mirrors, the experiment looks even sillier. Why? Because it turns out that the separation wasn't causing the fringe anyway. The fringe wasn't cause by any spatial separation of the mirrors, it was caused by the lasers interacting with electrons in the two mirrors in slightly different ways. That difference in interaction had nothing to do with the position of the mirrors relative to one another, it had to do with the position of each mirror relative to the laser hitting it. In mirror A, the laser was targeting a given electron more perfectly than in mirror B, causing more motion in mirror A than mirror B. The difference in those two motions then caused the fringe effect, or the waves being thrown out of synch.