Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger

One hundred years ago, Albert Einstein predicted in his general theory of relativity the existence of gravitational waves. These ripples in spacetime propagate at the speed of light and are generated by changes of the mass quadrupole moment of the source over ...

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LISA – Hunting waves in space

This article reflects the situation in 2010. A more up-to-date text from 2024 can be found here. The possibility of extremely large structures, and the absence of Earth tremors - seismic vibrations - these are two convincing reasons for sending a ...

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Catching the wave with light

Gravitational waves, disturbances in the fabric of spacetime that travel at the speed of light in a wave-like manner, are among the most fascinating predictions of general relativity. Correspondingly great is the desire to detect these waves directly. The ...

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Small vibrations

A gravitational wave passing through a solid body, say, through a solid metal cylinder, acts on that body's atoms as a kind of time-dependent tidal force. This force rhythmically squeezes the body in one direction while stretching it in an orthogonal ...

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