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This experiment not detecting gravity waves might not be too big a deal -- "Oh, there just aren't as many sources of gravity waves floating around as we thought
by repsilat 11y ago
This experiment not detecting gravity waves might not be too big a deal -- "Oh, there just aren't as many sources of gravity waves floating around as we thought."
Eventually, though, a conclusion that gravity waves don't exist would be enormous. It would completely upend mainstream theories of gravity, which all posit gravity waves (of some sort.)
In fact, I'd say the only reason we're looking for gravity waves is to tick a box -- we don't even consider the possibility that they don't occur, we just think it would be cool to have seen one.
- TTPrograms 11y agoRegarding reasons for doing this, there's the hope that more sensitive systems could function as "gravity telescopes", enabling charting the locations of massive bodies that would emit gravity waves. This could potentially allow for confirmed observations of physical regimes not accessible by experiment on Earth, much like other astronomical observatories.
- ars 11y agoHow can you do that? There is no way to block gravity, so you can not make directional observations, the waves you see are the linear sum of all the waves in the universe. Although I do wonder if an array of detectors might be able to use time differences in the arrival of the waves to differently located detectors, and some math to get some directional hints.
- neolefty 11y agoTime differences: Exactly that. Which is why having 3 or 4 synchronized detectors is necessary for narrowing down the direction of a source. (3 minimum, 4 to reduce noise.)