You may have seen the headline: “Scientists discover gravitational waves.” While the average Joe may not understand what gravitational waves are, they’re a big deal. I hope to convince you why, even though we might not live to see the results.
At the moment, the discovery is only useful for astronomers. But we can imagine what the future might hold.
Gravitational waves go back to Einstein. He first predicted their existence about one hundred years ago when he explained how gravity works with his general theory of relativity.
In theory, a whirling mass, such as two black holes, will emit waves through the fabric of spacetime that ripple throughout the universe.
These waves expand and contract the space they pass through, ever so slightly. As the wave recently detected by scientists passed, it expanded the earth by about the width of an atomic nucleus.
In order to detect a gravitational wave, scientists built two interferometers, a device that uses lasers to measure a distance to within one ten-thousandth the width of a proton, wrote Adrian Cho of Science magazine.
This high-precision instrument — basically a giant ruler — detects minute changes in the size of space within the device as gravitational waves pass through it.
You’re probably thinking: big whoop. What will this ever be useful for? For the moment, only astronomy. Astronomers have only been able to see the universe using images of electromagnetic radiation such as light and x-rays. But now, scientists have a way to “hear” some of the universe’s deepest, darkest secrets.
The recent gravitational wave detection is the first direct evidence that shows black holes exist, said Alexandra Witze of the newspaper Nature. Until now, their existence has only been inferred by their effect on visible objects.
Now, scientists can listen to the whispers left behind by some of the most massive and catastrophic phenomena in the universe. But this extends beyond black holes.
Gravitational waves could soon allow us to peer into the workings of neutron stars and other systems that are too bright for us to learn about them using visible light.
Beyond these applications to astronomy, science has finally proven Einstein correct, and we can move forward knowing that he successfully figured out one of the universe’s most well-kept secrets.
Now that we know the universe to be made of a flexible fabric, or spacetime, it’s conceivable that one day we may use this knowledge to develop futuristic space travel technology. Think warp speed.
Scientists remain skeptical of “Star Trek” ever becoming a reality, since the conditions required to warp spacetime and produce gravitational waves, as far as we know, only exist in some of the most violent places in the universe.
One day, however, we may finally use this knowledge to harness gravity and use that technology to finally reach for the stars.
jaykgold@indiana.edu
@JayKeche
