Sylvain
10-11-2010, 12:49 PM
Hi all,
I was reading the latest edition of Sky & telescope - another fascinating issue this month - and the article about the double pulsar got me thinking.
Michael Kramer, the author, talks about the LIGO detectors facilities which main goal is to record or "catch" a passing gravitational wave. Doing so would be something huge in itself, no doubt about that! But then what? What could we do with the record of a passing gravitational wave? What would be involved in attempting to recreate it - if this can even be considered? What knowledge could we draw from this?
I know it is always good to know things even if they cannot be used right away and will only find a practical application in 50 or 100 years, but do you think discovering a gravitational wave would in itself trigger more discoveries and significant advancement in this field of research?
I believe that this area of research could very well be the next big breakthrough in modern physics and I certainly hope to witness the discovery of the first gravitational wave!
More info about LIGO here - amazing piece of technology!
http://www.ligo-la.caltech.edu/LLO/overviewsci.htm
Cheers :thumbsup:,
Sylvain
I was reading the latest edition of Sky & telescope - another fascinating issue this month - and the article about the double pulsar got me thinking.
Michael Kramer, the author, talks about the LIGO detectors facilities which main goal is to record or "catch" a passing gravitational wave. Doing so would be something huge in itself, no doubt about that! But then what? What could we do with the record of a passing gravitational wave? What would be involved in attempting to recreate it - if this can even be considered? What knowledge could we draw from this?
I know it is always good to know things even if they cannot be used right away and will only find a practical application in 50 or 100 years, but do you think discovering a gravitational wave would in itself trigger more discoveries and significant advancement in this field of research?
I believe that this area of research could very well be the next big breakthrough in modern physics and I certainly hope to witness the discovery of the first gravitational wave!
More info about LIGO here - amazing piece of technology!
http://www.ligo-la.caltech.edu/LLO/overviewsci.htm
Cheers :thumbsup:,
Sylvain