Marcus Strom, in the Sydney Morning Herald today, reports that
Professor David Reitze, whose team announced the discovery of
gravitational waves last year, is currently in Australia and is
lobbying the government to consider Australia building an advanced
gravitational wave detector here.
Reitze is rumoured to be in the running for this year's Nobel Prize in Physics.
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Originally Posted by Marcus Strom, SMH
"By probing the strong field regime using gravitational waves, we might see hints that general relativity isn't quite right and this will point a way towards a more fundamental understanding of gravity," he said.
This could help unite our theories of gravity with electromagnetic and nuclear forces and ultimately with quantum mechanics.
There are also technological spin-offs in terms of metrology and optics.
"The CSIRO broke world records in optical flatness with the mirrors it produced for us," Professor Reitze said, adding that LIGO requires the most stable lasers in the world, which will have use far beyond astronomy.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Marcus Strom, SMH
It won't be cheap. LIGO has cost US taxpayers more than one billion dollars over 40 years.
In the last round of Australian Research Council funding, a consortium led by Swinburne University was successful in gaining $31.3 million in federal funding to establish OzGrav – a centre of excellence for gravitational wave discovery.
The director of OzGrav, Professor Matthew Bailes, said: "There are geometric reasons why it makes sense to have a detector in the southern hemisphere."
Professor David McClelland at the Australian National University was the Australian spokesperson for the LIGO discovery last year. He is working on the quantum squeezing of light that should help optimise gravitational wave detection.
He said: "Preliminary studies show that Australia is the best place to build the first [next generation] facility. [Given the cost] that would prove difficult, but we are talking about a facility which is some 12 to 15 years in the future."
Professor Reitze said: "I'm having some discussions with some government officials to try to assess the interest and budgets."
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Article here :-
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci...12-gvj8hl.html