Gravitational Waves
In
2017, the Nobel Prize for physics was awarded to Kip Thorne, Rainer Weiss and
Barry Barish for their work towards the first-ever detection of gravitational
waves by conceptualizing the Laser Interferometer Gravitational
Wave-Observatory (LIGO) in the early 1970s. Gravitational waves are simply
defined as invisible "ripples" in space that squeeze and stretch
everything in their path at the speed of light, much like the ripples in a
pond when a stone is tossed in.
Einstein
hypothesized this in his theory of general relativity, which, in simple terms,
states that space and time are two aspects of space-time, which curves
when there is gravity, matter, energy, and momentum. He predicted that two
large bodies (Such as black holes or stars) orbiting or colliding into each
other could cause gravitational waves in space-time.
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Two stars orbit each other, creating 'ripples' also known as gravitational waves
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Both observatories work in unison and are highly
sensitive. The detection of gravitational waves cannot be confirmed with
only one observatory, as there are massive amounts of data being received from
all over the universe at any given time. So, when both observatories receive
the same specific signal, it can be verified that the signal is indeed a
gravitational wave.
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LIGO
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So how
do we detect them? This is where LIGO comes in. LIGO has the ability to detect
gravitational waves from a whopping 1 BILLION cubic light-years of space, all
the while receiving massive amounts of data. To be able to detect these
gravitational waves, two observatories on opposite sides of the USA were made,
with each observatory working in the following way: A laser beam is split
down two 4-kilometer long arms containing a mirror at the end. The laser beams
reflect back off of the mirrors and come back to converge at the base of the
arms. Both beams cancel each other out, and no light is detected. The passage
of a gravitational wave would alter the length of the arms by extremely small
distances, causing the light beams to travel minutely different distances. This
mismatch would be measurable with a light detector.
Cool right!? If you're fascinated by this, I suggest you take
the time to learn some more from these sites:
What do
you think about gravitational waves? Please leave any feedback (or praise :) )
in the comments!
Email
me at: bparth@tisb.ac.in
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