#1
|
|||
|
|||
LIGO and LISA
http://www.space.com/scienceastronom...ts_030407.html
Looking for gravity waves is like looking for ET's it seems. If these waves aren't detected within 20 years it will be a huge blow to relativity. |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
LIGO and LISA
On Feb 22, 5:11 am, "TMA" wrote:
http://www.space.com/scienceastronom...ts_030407.html Looking for gravity waves is like looking for ET's it seems. If these waves aren't detected within 20 years it will be a huge blow to relativity. Hardly. It is much more likely that the experimentalists cannot reach the sensitivity needed to distinguish gravity waves from thermal noise on that timescale. GR will live on until such time as a major gravitational event occurs close enough that it should be detected but was not. The signals they are looking for are unbelievably feeble. My guess is when they get the experiment sensitive enough they will see them. The behaviour of binary pulsars is exactly in line with what GR predicts. In fact it was so precisely in line with what GR predicted that the discreprancies between the first binary pulsar observed and theory was used to find an error in the computer algebra program that generates the series to compute the gravitational potential in the solar system. Regards, Martin Brown |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
LIGO and LISA
"Martin Brown" wrote in message oups.com... On Feb 22, 5:11 am, "TMA" wrote: http://www.space.com/scienceastronom...ts_030407.html Looking for gravity waves is like looking for ET's it seems. If these waves aren't detected within 20 years it will be a huge blow to relativity. Hardly. It is much more likely that the experimentalists cannot reach the sensitivity needed to distinguish gravity waves from thermal noise on that timescale. GR will live on until such time as a major gravitational event occurs close enough that it should be detected but was not. The signals they are looking for are unbelievably feeble. My guess is when they get the experiment sensitive enough they will see them. The behaviour of binary pulsars is exactly in line with what GR predicts. In fact it was so precisely in line with what GR predicted that the discreprancies between the first binary pulsar observed and theory was used to find an error in the computer algebra program that generates the series to compute the gravitational potential in the solar system. Regards, Martin Brown Yes, just like looking for ET's! |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
LIGO and LISA
On Feb 21, 9:11 pm, "TMA" wrote:
http://www.space.com/scienceastronom...ts_030407.html Looking for gravity waves is like looking for ET's it seems. If these waves aren't detected within 20 years it will be a huge blow to relativity. The above article is 4 years old. I went to a talk by one of the LIGO scientists last month, and it would seem that LIGO is now operational at Phase I. This puts it right on the edge of being able to detect fairly rare events. Phase II should greatly improve the sensitivity, and there's also a Phase III, IIRC. However, I wouldn't hold your breath waiting. It could be years before they detect something. LISA, OTOH, will be much more sensitive, but is still a decade off, if the politicians don't kill it off in order to get another jock to the moon. PJR |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
LIGO and Virgo Join Forces In Search for Gravitational Waves (Forwarded) | Andrew Yee[_1_] | News | 0 | February 18th 07 02:17 PM |
oc+ LIGO+Casmir Plates make this post Possible | G=EMC^2 Glazier | Misc | 7 | July 19th 06 03:10 PM |
LIGO Progress | Mike | Astronomy Misc | 8 | April 5th 06 04:21 AM |
LIGO test results | Ozmodium | Astronomy Misc | 14 | October 23rd 05 07:56 PM |
LIGO Interferometer Question | Mike | Astronomy Misc | 5 | March 21st 05 11:04 PM |