Since the book is aimed at explaining the physical ideas behind the design of LIGO, it stands the test of time. All of the necessary ideas are developed in the book. It assumes that the reader has a basic knowledge of physics, but no special familiarity with gravitational waves, with general relativity, or with the special techniques of experimental physics. This book aims to communicate the basic logic of interferometric gravitational wave detectors to students who are new to the field. Many people will want to understand more about what a gravitational wave is, how LIGO works, and how LIGO functions as a detector of gravitational waves. Gravitational waves have given us new eyes to our Universe, allowing us to “see” things like black holes and neutron stars crashing together – because we can finally detect the tiny ripples they create.LIGO's recent discovery of gravitational waves was headline news around the world. It’s an insanely small change we needed to detect, but thankfully clever scientists and engineers figured out a way to do it, and you can learn more about these detectors in the video below. The difference in the distance we’re looking for is 1,000 times smaller then a really tiny particle called a proton. Unfortunately for us it isn’t something that is easy to measure. The trick to knowing if space has been squeezed or stretched is to measure it in two directions, and calculate the difference. If space is stretched out, the light has to travel a little bit farther, and takes longer. If we tried to measure it with something like a ruler, the ruler would appear to be the same length because the numbers on the ruler would also be stretched or squeezed, and wouldn’t change.īut scientists have a trick: they can use light, because light can only travel a certain distance over a certain time. When a gravitational wave passes through Earth, it squeezes or stretches the whole planet in the direction it travels. Not only have we detected gravitational waves, but we’ve detected 90 unique events! This is one of the biggest achievements in physics, and how they did it was nothing short of amazing.Ĭurious Kids: what is cosmic microwave background radiation?
If two very dense objects (like black holes) orbit each other closely, they warp space and send out gravitational waves. But we are now able to measure gravitational waves, which are ripples in the fabric of the Universe predicted by Albert Einstein. I would love to know what he would think today. Until recently, the only way to observe the Universe was from light received by telescopes. When first predicted by Einstein, he doubted if we’d ever be able to detect them because of how teeny tiny they should be.
#GRAVITATIONAL WAVES DISCOVERY FOR KIDS FULL#
Our Universe is likely full of these tiny waves, like an ocean with waves moving in all different directions.īut unlike the ocean, gravitational waves are incredibly small and won’t be rocking Earth about. These ripples are what we call gravitational waves.
Everything is always moving, and when objects speed up through space-time, they can create small ripples, just like a pebble in a pond. We know that in the Universe, nothing stands still. This is what Einstein’s famous equations helped to explain – how we can expect space-time to move under different conditions.
If a heavy thing like a bowling ball stretches the trampoline, a marble will roll towards it in a circle. That’s all gravity is: the distortion of the space-time fabric, affecting how things move. Now, if we tried to roll a marble across the trampoline, it would roll inwards and around the bowling ball. Imagine you place a heavy bowling ball in the centre of a trampoline – its mass bends the fabric, and it creates a dip. A trampoline is a great way for us to picture this on a flat surface. Without it we wouldn’t have a Universe, and that wouldn’t be very fun.Ĭurious Kids: is it possible to see what is happening in distant solar systems now?Ĭurved space-time is responsible for the effects of gravity. You can think of space-time like the fabric of the Universe. But Einstein suggested that gravity was the bending of something called space-time. Until 1916 there had been many theories to try and explain what gravity was and why it exists. Gravity is the force that keeps us on Earth, and Earth orbiting around the Sun.
#GRAVITATIONAL WAVES DISCOVERY FOR KIDS HOW TO#
This is the year famous physicist Albert Einstein published his general theory of relativity.Įinstein had figured out how to explain gravity within the Universe using maths. To answer this we have to travel back in time, to the year 1916. What are gravitational waves? – Millie, age 10, Sydney
0 kommentar(er)
