Einstein & Gravatational Waves

The endless frontier. Mind, matter, consciousness

Moderator: Super Moderators

Post Reply
User avatar
voguy
Pirate
Posts: 4175
Joined: 06-01-2011 05:47 PM
Location: Moving Target (soon SA)

Einstein & Gravatational Waves

Post by voguy » 02-11-2016 07:11 PM

Sort of a game changer, and perhaps THE most important discovery in our time.

STORY

In Historic First, Einstein's Gravitational Waves Detected Directly
By Calla Cofield, Space.com Staff Writer | February 11, 2016 10:34am ET


WASHINGTON — Gravitational waves, the cosmic ripples that distort space-time itself, have been directly detected for the first time.

In a highly anticipated announcement today (Feb. 11), researchers affiliated with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) reported the detection of gravitational waves. The signal picked up by LIGO came from the collision of two black holes and was detected on Sept. 14, 2015 by LIGO's twin detectors in Livingston, Louisiana and Hanford, Washington, scientists said.

This cosmic crash sent gravitational waves streaming outward at the speed of light, causing ripples in the fabric of space-time, similar to how a dropped pebble disturbs a still pond. Researchers said the collision occurred 1.3 billion years ago between black holes that were about 29 and 36 times more massive than the sun, respectively. During the crash, about three times the mass of the sun was converted into gravitational waves in less than a second, generating a peak power output of about 50 times that of the entire visible universe, they added. [Gravitational Waves Detected by LIGO: Complete Coverage]

"Our observation of gravitational waves accomplishes an ambitious goal set out over five decades ago to directly detect this elusive phenomenon and better understand the universe, and, fittingly, Einstein's legacy on the 100th anniversary of his general theory of relativity," said LIGO Laboratory executive director David Reitze, of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, in a statement.

The detection is a milestone moment in astronomy and astrophysics. Unlike light waves, gravitational waves don't get distorted or altered by interactions with matter as they race through space; they therefore carry "pure" information about the objects and events that created them, according to LIGO researchers.

"With this completely new way of examining astrophysical objects and phenomena, gravitational waves will truly open a new window on the universe, providing astronomers and other scientists with their first glimpses of previously unseen and unseeable wonders, and greatly adding to our understanding of the nature of space and time itself," LIGO team members wrote in an online description of the project.

Gravitational waves were first predicted by Albert Einstein in his famous 1916 paper on general relativity. One of the central, and strangest, tenets of general relativity is that space and time are not separate things but rather are linked together in a single fabric: space-time. Massive objects, like stars, stretch and curve this fabric, sort of like how a bowling ball distorts a rubber sheet. These dips cause objects such as planets, and even light, to take a curved path around those more massive bodies.

Gravitational waves affect this fabric as well, causing ripplelike distortions. Previous studies have confirmed the existence of gravitational waves — which are generated by the acceleration (or deceleration) of massive objects — through indirect methods, but the LIGO find is the first direct detection of this enigmatic phenomenon.

"The description of this observation is beautifully described in the Einstein theory of general relativity formulated 100 years ago and comprises the first test of the theory in strong gravitation," LIGO team member Rainer Weiss, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), said in a statement. "It would have been wonderful to watch Einstein's face had we been able to tell him."

LIGO can only spot relatively strong gravitational waves, which are created by dramatic events, such as two black holes swirling around each other and then colliding, or a merger of superdense stellar corpses called neutron stars. The detector can also find gravitational waves generated by an exploding star, known as a supernova, LIGO team members have said.

Spotting these space-time ripples is a serious challenge. As a gravitational wave passes through Earth, it squishes space in one direction and stretches it another direction. LIGO looks for that warping of space-time using two "L"-shaped detectors; one is in Livingston, Louisiana, and the other is in Hanford, Washington.

Each arm of each detector is 2.48 miles (4 kilometers) long. Near the point where the two arms meet, a pulse of laser light is released down each arm simultaneously. The pulses travel down an arm, bounce off a mirror at the far end and come back near the starting point, at the crux of the "L."

WATCH THE VIDEO AT THE STORY LINK
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." - Thomas Jefferson

User avatar
voguy
Pirate
Posts: 4175
Joined: 06-01-2011 05:47 PM
Location: Moving Target (soon SA)

Re: Einstein & Gravatational Waves

Post by voguy » 02-11-2016 07:35 PM

Here is another VERSION of the story.
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." - Thomas Jefferson

User avatar
voguy
Pirate
Posts: 4175
Joined: 06-01-2011 05:47 PM
Location: Moving Target (soon SA)

Re: Einstein & Gravatational Waves

Post by voguy » 02-11-2016 07:47 PM

The sound of gravitational waves.

STORY & SOUND
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." - Thomas Jefferson

User avatar
Fan
Lady with a
Posts: 5306
Joined: 05-09-2011 02:18 PM
Contact:

Re: Einstein & Gravatational Waves

Post by Fan » 02-12-2016 07:07 AM

it is pretty exciting stuff, for such a boring subject :) I studied relativity lots and we discussed whether this could ever been experimentally verified, and how etc...
The heartbreaking necessity of lying about reality and the heartbreaking impossibility of lying about it.

― Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle

User avatar
Doka
Pirate
Posts: 7958
Joined: 09-02-2009 08:15 PM

Re: Einstein & Gravatational Waves

Post by Doka » 02-12-2016 10:49 AM

Fan wrote:it is pretty exciting stuff, for such a boring subject :) I studied relativity lots and we discussed whether this could ever been experimentally verified, and how etc...

GRAVWAVE LLC MISSION STATEMENT

This Co has been in existance since 2000, Including Buzz Aldren. If you will notice they call themselves "Scientific Investigaters".
http://www.gravwave.com/mission-statement.htm



Fan, a question? I really don't have a problem with believing that it is highly possible that they have a working proto-type. But can't prove it by current scientific method. What do you reason should be done to help solve this conundrum.?
KARMA RULES

Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities, Can Make You Commit Atrocities': Voltaire

User avatar
Doka
Pirate
Posts: 7958
Joined: 09-02-2009 08:15 PM

Re: Einstein & Gravatational Waves

Post by Doka » 02-13-2016 09:41 AM

Doka wrote:
Fan wrote:it is pretty exciting stuff, for such a boring subject :) I studied relativity lots and we discussed whether this could ever been experimentally verified, and how etc...

GRAVWAVE LLC MISSION STATEMENT

This Co has been in existance since 2000, Including Buzz Aldren. If you will notice they call themselves "Scientific Investigaters".
http://www.gravwave.com/mission-statement.htm



Fan, a question? I really don't have a problem with believing that it is highly possible that they have a working proto-type. But can't prove it by current scientific method. What do you reason should be done to help solve this conundrum.?


Skip the question!! I am trying to do "Apples And Oranges" here! :oops:
KARMA RULES

Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities, Can Make You Commit Atrocities': Voltaire

User avatar
Fan
Lady with a
Posts: 5306
Joined: 05-09-2011 02:18 PM
Contact:

Re: Einstein & Gravatational Waves

Post by Fan » 02-13-2016 09:56 AM

Well, first they have to actually have something working. Then they have to submit it for peer review.
The heartbreaking necessity of lying about reality and the heartbreaking impossibility of lying about it.

― Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle

User avatar
Fan
Lady with a
Posts: 5306
Joined: 05-09-2011 02:18 PM
Contact:

Re: Einstein & Gravatational Waves

Post by Fan » 02-13-2016 09:58 AM

science doesn't have a problem investigating seemingly impossible things, that is how new knowledge comes about, ie: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/scien ... 46865.html
The heartbreaking necessity of lying about reality and the heartbreaking impossibility of lying about it.

― Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle

Post Reply

Return to “Quantum Physics/Edge Science”