Observatories, experiments and techniques are being developed to spot ripples in space-time at frequencies that currently can’t be detected. Observatories, experiments and techniques are being developed to spot ripples in space-time at frequencies that currently can’t be detected.
Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser . In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.Two black holes orbiting around each other generate gravitational waves of increasing frequency. New instruments and techniques could watch this merger for weeks or even years.
Gravitational waves sweeping the Galaxy would change the distance between Earth and each pulsar, creating anomalies in detected pulsar frequencies from one year to the next. Observations of a collection or array of pulsars — called a pulsar timing array — should be able to detect changes induced by gravitational waves with frequencies of just nanohertz, as might be produced by pairs of supermassive black holes, for example.
The problem is, no one knows whether that energy scale was large enough to have left a noticeable mark. “Inflation predicts the B modes, but we don’t know if it’s big enough to be detected,” says Marc Kamionkowski, a theoretical astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. But if the leading models are right, either the Simons Observatory or CMB-S4 should eventually find it, he says.
To detect gravitational waves, physicists plan to drop two or more sets of atoms at different heights inside the same vertical pipe, and to measure the time it takes for a laser pulse to travel from one set of atoms to the next, says Hogan. The passage of gravitational waves would result in light spending either slightly less or slightly more time travelling between them — a variation smaller than one part in 100 billion billion.
The LSD is designed to be sensitive to gravitational waves with frequencies of around 100 kHz. This prototype might already have a shot at detecting some, if the team can keep experimental noise in check — and provided that such waves exist. “Depending how optimistic you are, we may be able to measure a real signal in that band even with a 1-m instrument,” Geraci says. Future versions could be scaled up to 100-m-long arms, he adds, which would increase their sensitivity.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Georgia Tech Makes the Top Five For Five Star Offensive Tackle Josh PettyGeorgia Tech has been pushing hard for 2025 five star offensive tackle Josh Petty and in his final five schools that he released on social media this morning, t
Read more »
Kentucky five-star target makes change to his top five schoolsKentucky basketball is after a talented recruit.
Read more »
Rivals Five-Star: Five Programs That Should Be PleasedMichigan commit Avery Gach earned Offensive Line MVP honors at the Rivals Five-Star on Wednesday.
Read more »
Five Things That Have Gone Totally Awry for the Astros This SeasonThe Astros are 6-31 against teams over .500 this season. Take that number in for a moment. It is an astounding record considering we are talking about a team that has gone to the ALCS seven straight years including 2023. But, here we are as the end of May rolls...
Read more »
Five ways to respond to Alito’s contemptuous letterThe latest Supreme Court controversy makes clear that it’s past time to rein in this institution.
Read more »
Five-Star Texas Targets Kaliq Lockett & Dakorien Moore Open Up About Joining ForcesThe Texas Longhorns continue to trend for three five star receivers in the 2025 class in Dakorien Moore, Jaime Ffrench and Kaliq Lockett
Read more »