Discovery of Gravitational Waves

Discovery of Gravitational Waves
Author: Mohamed Shahul Hameed
Student ID: 21547708
Date Submitted: 25/03/2023
Word count: 836

In 1915, Albert Einstein proposed in his ground-breaking Theory of General Relativity that
the fabric of spacetime is dynamic rather than static which means that it can warp and
ripple (Einstein, 1918). He called these ripples “gravitational waves” and theorised that
they come from celestial objects such as black holes, stars and planets (Einstein, 1918).
September of 2015, the first gravitational wave was discovered, solidifying Einstein’s
theory as correct.
Einstein explained that an object

with a mass will warp the
spacetime around it, dipping the
spacetime below the mass
creating a gravitational field that
controls the objects nearby, this is
what causes gravity to arise
(Einstein, 1918). The waves are
created by astronomical
processes, such as massive Figure 1. – Illustration of Gravitational Waves
Source: Figure reproduced from Baird, Charles W November 6, 2018.
objects accelerating, causing
ripples to form and propagate outwards from the object through spacetime. When two
black holes orbit each other rapidly and then merge, they produce the largest
gravitational waves ("Can Gravity Form Waves?"). A neutron star and black hole orbiting
each other or two neutron stars orbiting each other can also produce large gravitational
waves ("Can Gravity Form Waves?"). To help visualise this concept, imagine a pebble
being dropped on to a pond, the ripples formed from the impact is like how gravitational
waves transverse through spacetime, while carrying information about the process that
formed it.
As gravitational waves transverse, they distort spacetime around them, stretching and
squeezing it, these gravitational eècts are only observed by celestial objects such as
stars, planets and moons (Einstein, 1918). The relationship between the mass of an
object and the eèct of the gravitational wave is directly proportional, meaning larger
masses produce more pronounced gravitational eècts. This is why we don’t see
gravitational eècts in day-to-day life, the masses we interreact with are of small scale
to have any eèct on other objects.
Gravitational waves are very diìcult to detect, very sensitive equipment must be used to
detect them. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory or LIGO used the
patterns produced by the collision of laser beams to reveal minute changes that would
be caused by a passing gravitational wave (LIGO Lab - Caltech, MIT). The detector
consisted of two L-shaped lasers paired with a set of two arms lined perpendicular to
each including a mirror at the end of each arm (LIGO Lab - Caltech, MIT). A laser beam is
fired through each arm. In one arm, the beam is fired with a wave pattern out of phase
and the other arm firing a wave pattern in phase. The beams bounce o` the mirror and
come back towards the detector colliding with each other, this results in the waves
cancelling each other and producing a wave pattern called an interference pattern (LIGO
Lab - Caltech, MIT).
The detection of gravitational waves posed many challenges due to their weak
interactions, vast propagation distances, and interference eècts. Overcoming these
obstacles required precise and very sensitive instruments and technological
advancements.
On September 14, 2015, the interaction between two black holes orbiting each other
billions of light years away, gave rise to gravitational waves which were detected by LIGO
("The LIGO Observatories"). The waves when passing though Earth stretched and
squeezed the spacetime around it. The stretching and squeezing caused the arms to
change lengths, so one beam may have had to travel further or less. This results in the
wave pattern changing and in turn when the beams collide together, a new interference
pattern is detected. This is how the first gravitational wave was detected finally
confirming Einstein’s century old theory.
The discovery of gravitational waves was revolutionary, opening a whole new perspective
as to how we observe, explore and understand the universe. For centuries astronomers
have been using electromagnetic waves such as visible light, radio waves and X-rays to
gain an understanding of the universe. We have learnt that most of the universe is made
up of things we cannot see through the electromagnetic spectrum such as dark matter
and dark energy which make up 85% of the Universe (Space.com, "How Much of the
Universe Is Dark Matter?"). Gravitational waves could help us make sense of dark matter
and dark energy, oèring insight into their distribution, behaviour and influence on
cosmic structures and one day perhaps help detect it. Black holes, neutron stars and
other astrophysical phenomena have extreme gravitational fields, violent interactions
and emit large amounts of gravitational waves making them the focus for gravitational
wave observatories. Astronomers can observe their collisions and interactions to gain
information about their properties and have a deeper understanding of them.
The great discovery of gravitational waves has opened a new era of exploration and
discovery in astrophysics, oèring a new tool to unravel the mysteries of the universe and
gain a deeper understanding of celestial objects and their interactions. This discovery
has helped us refine our understanding of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. As we
continue to refine our gravitational wave detectors, the hidden parts of the universe may
become visible to us in dièrent ways.
References
Baird, Charles W. "Can Gravity Form Waves?" West Texas A&M University, November 6,
2018. Accessed March 21, 2024.
https://www.wtamu.edu/~cbaird/sq/2018/11/06/can-gravity-form-
waves/#:~:text=The%20largest%20gravitational%20waves%20are,each%20othe
r%2C%20immediately%20before%20merging.
Einstein, Albert. "Über Gravitationswellen." Königlich Preußische Akademie der

Wissenschaften (Berlin), Sitzungsberichte (1918): 154-167.
"Einstein's Messengers: Gravitational Waves." LIGO Lab - Caltech, MIT. Accessed March
21, 2024. https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/gravitational-waves.
"Einstein's Theory of General Relativity." NASA. Accessed March 21, 2024.

https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-is-
general-relativity-k4.html.
"The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory." Nobel Prize. Accessed

March 21, 2024. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2017/summary/.
"The LIGO Observatories." LIGO Lab - Caltech, MIT. Accessed March 21, 2024.
https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/ligos-ifo.
Space.com. "How Much of the Universe Is Dark Matter?" Accessed March 21, 2024.
https://www.space.com/how-much-of-universe-is-dark-matter.

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Discovery of Gravitational Waves

Author: Mohamed Shahul Hameed

Student ID: 21547708

Date Submitted: 25/03/2023

Word count: 836

Einstein explained that an object

Einstein, Albert. "Über Gravitationswellen." Königlich Preußische Akademie der

"Einstein's Theory of General Relativity." NASA. Accessed March 21, 2024.

"The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory." Nobel Prize. Accessed

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