Editing 1642: Gravitational Waves
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{{w|LIGO}} (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) is a large-scale physics experiment designed to detect this compression/expansion, and it was LIGO who discovered the signal that caused this comic. (For a very detailed description of what the team at LIGO did and the history behind see this 90 minutes feature [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj6vV3T4ok8 Gravitational Waves: A New Era of Astronomy Begins] from the 2016 World Science Festival). | {{w|LIGO}} (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) is a large-scale physics experiment designed to detect this compression/expansion, and it was LIGO who discovered the signal that caused this comic. (For a very detailed description of what the team at LIGO did and the history behind see this 90 minutes feature [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj6vV3T4ok8 Gravitational Waves: A New Era of Astronomy Begins] from the 2016 World Science Festival). | ||
β | Two facts need to be remembered to easily understand the experiment. First, the {{w|speed of light}} (c) is constant and the speed of an object is the distance moved divided by the time taken to travel that far. Second, gravitational waves cause opposite effects (compression and expansion) in directions perpendicular to each other. At LIGO, an experiment is set up where two perpendicular long tunnels are constructed with apparatus to emit and detect laser beams. The beam from a laser is split into these two tunnels. After going through the tunnel and back again a few times the beams are brought back together. The lengths of the tunnels are set up in such a way that, in the absence of gravity waves, | + | Two facts need to be remembered to easily understand the experiment. First, the {{w|speed of light}} (c) is constant and the speed of an object is the distance moved divided by the time taken to travel that far. Second, gravitational waves cause opposite effects (compression and expansion) in directions perpendicular to each other. At LIGO, an experiment is set up where two perpendicular long tunnels are constructed with apparatus to emit and detect laser beams. The beam from a laser is split into these two tunnels. After going through the tunnel and back again a few times the beams are brought back together. The lengths of the tunnels are set up in such a way that, in the absence of gravity waves, interference between the two combined beams causes them to cancel one another out. When the gravitational wave passes through earth, the lengths of the tunnels are expected to change due to the expansion/compression effect. The incomplete interference means that the lights will not cancel each other out. This observation can be concluded as "detection of the gravitational wave passing through". |
==Explanation of observed events== | ==Explanation of observed events== |