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Observation of Gravitational Waves
Observation of Gravitational Waves
Observation of Gravitational Waves
Here T is the stress energy tensor and G is the Einstein curvature tensor, c is the
speed of light and G is Newton’s gravitational constant. The coupling coefficient c4/
(8πG) is an enormous number, of order 1043. This expresses the extremely high
stiffness of space which is the reason that the Newtonian law of gravitation is an
excellent approximation in normal circumstances, and why gravitational waves have
a small amplitude, even when their energy density is very high. The existence of
gravitational waves is intuitively obvious as soon as one recognizes that space-time
is an elastic medium. Figure 3: The gravitational-wave event GW150914 Figure 4: The inset images show numerical relativity
observed by the LIGO [A] Hanford (H1, left column models of the black hole horizons as the black holes
panels) and [B] Livingston (L1, right coalesce. Bottom: The Keplerian effective black hole
Detection of GWs -LIGO column panels) detectors. Times are shown relative to separation in units of Schwarzschild radii (RS ¼
LIGO is the world's largest gravitational wave observatory and one of the world’s most sophisticated September 14, 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC. 2GM=c2) and the effective relative velocity given by
physics experiments. Comprised of two giant laser interferometers located thousands of kilometers apart, the post-Newtonian.
one in Livingston, Louisiana and the other in Hanford, Washington, LIGO uses the physical properties of Our results indicate that GW150914 was produced by the merger of two black holes with masses of
light and of space itself to detect gravitational waves – a concept first proposed in the early 1960’s and about 36 times and 29 times the mass of the Sun respectively, and that the post-merger black hole had
the 1970’s. a mass of about 62 times the Sun’s mass. Finally, our results indicate that the GW150914 occurred at
a distance of more than one billion light years. These graphs imply that the two components were
only a few hundred kilometers apart just before they merged, i.e. when the gravitational wave
frequency was about 150 Hz. Black holes are the only known objects compact enough to get this
close together without merging. Based on our estimated total mass for the two components, a pair of
neutron stars would not be massive enough, and a black hole-neutron star pair would have already
merged at a lower frequency than 150 Hz.
Is GW150914 was a REAL EVENT?
Conclusion
• The first direct detection of gravitational waves and the first observation of a binary black
hole merger are remarkable achievements.
Figure 1: Simplified diagram of an Advanced LIGO detector • The next decade will see further improvements to the Advanced LIGO detectors and
extension of the global detector network to include Advanced Virgo in Italy, KAGRA in
Key enhancements to the basic design: an optical cavity that reflects the laser light back and
Japan, and a possible third LIGO detector in India.
forth many times in each arm, multiplying the effect of the gravitational wave on the phase of
the laser light; a power recyclying mirror that increases the power of the laser in the References:
interferometer as a whole; a signal recycling mirror that further optimizes the signal extracted • B. P. Abbott et al., Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger, PRL 116,
at the photodetector. 061102 (2016)
These enhancements boost the power of the laser in the optical cavity by a factor of 5000, and • L Ju, D G Blair and C Zhao, Detection of gravitational waves, Rep. Prog. Phys. 63 (2000) 1317–1427
increase the total amount of time that the signal spends circulating in the interferometer. • Kostas D. Kokkotas, Gravitational waves physics, Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology,
3rd Edition, Volume 7 Academic Press, (2002)