The Discovery of Gravitational waves.

Hello Friends,

Yesterday a major scientific breakthrough occurred with thediscovery of Gravitational Waves. Gravitational Waves, which were the last unobserved prediction of Albert Einstein, are much celebrated The General Theory of Relativity. Through his General Relativity Equations,Einstein proposed the existence of these waves in the year 1916, exactly 100 years ago.

Now let’s learn the Fundamentals of Gravitational Waves.

Gravitational waves are small ripples in space-time that are believed to travel across the universe at the speed of light. They are like tiny waves on a lake — from far away; the lake’s surface looks glassy smooth; only up very close can the details of the surface be seen.

Sir Isaac Newton, renowned scientist, visualized gravitational force as a pulling force between objects, Albert Einstein opined it to be a pushing force due to the curvature of four dimensional space-time fabrics. The curvature of space-time stems from the dent heavy objects produce on space-time fabric, which can be compared to the dent one could see on a plastic sheet when a massive ball is placed.

Scientists have been trying to detect them using two large laser instruments in the United States, known together as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), as well as another in Italy.

LIGO is a highly sensitive instrumentthat is being used to detect the weak pulses of Gravitational Waves.

LIGO operates two gravitational wave observatories in unison: the LIGO Livingston Observatory in Livingston, Louisiana, and the LIGO Hanford Observatory, on the DOE Hanford Site, located near Richland, Washington.

The twin LIGO installations are located roughly 3,000 km. Having two detectors is a way to sift out terrestrial rumblings, such as traffic and earthquakes, from the faint ripples of space itself.

The LIGO work is funded by the National Science Foundation, an independent agency of the U.S. government.

Importance of Gravitational Waves Study:

Discovery of gravitational waves would represent a scientific landmark, opening the door to an entirely new way to observe the cosmos and unlock secrets about the early universe and mysterious objects like black holes and neutron stars.

Prior Claims of Gravitational Waves Discovery:

Although, physics supports the existence of gravitational waves, the strength of such waves even due to astronomically heavy bodies is awfully weak to be detected.

On March 17, 2014, Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics erroneously claimed discovery of gravitational waves. The Harvard group, working at BICEP2 (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization) telescope, had reported that they had observed a twist in the polarization of ancient light that goes back to the time of the big bang. But within a month, studies pointed out flaws in the study.

Indian Contribution:

Indian Scientists from Inter-University for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) and the Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bangalore, have made significant contribution in the analysis of the LIGO data along with the global group of scientists.

As many as 34 Indian scientists are contributing authors in the landmark paper about the discovery that has been published online in the journal Physical Review Letters.

And among the Indian Consortium of Scientists were Bala Iyer, a theoretical Physicist and P. Ajith of the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Bangalore.

Way Ahead in India:

After Yesterday’s phenomenal discovery of Gravitational Wave, PM Narendra Modi expressed his wishes to the global Scientist who have contributed to this. And also Mr. Modi approved the project to have a Gravitational Wave detector in India, which has been pending for several years.

Source: The Hindu

Thanks

Team-Sandeep Giri.