3 ms·

So as I was trying to imagine this I came up with an example that I think fits, can someone confirm my thoughts? My idea is a square piece of fabric (space).

So as I was trying to imagine this I came up with an example that I think fits, can someone confirm my thoughts? My idea is a square piece of fabric (space). You cut a single strand of fabric somewhere, which is the origin of the wave event. This affects the whole fabric as the destruction ripples throughout, and also results is a permanent scar/distortion on the fabric as a whole.

TheOtherHobbes 5y ago
My understanding was more that spacetime isn't perfectly elastic, so when it's distorted by a gravitational wave it stores the equivalent of a gravitational charge - a bit like a piezoelectric crystal that stays very slightly permanently polarised after you stop squeezing it. This would be amazing if true because spacetime would be rough on very tiny scales because of all the waves that passed through it. Speculating wildly, this might even have observable quantum-level effects.
- akomtu 5y ago
  Offtopic. This would be a precursor for the typical generator in the future: a stone on a rope inside a stone cavity that resonates with gravity waves, converts the piezoelectric tension of spacetime into vibration, heats up as a result and boils a rusty cup of water.