New gravitational wave detector picks up possible signal from the beginning of time
By Adam Mann about 12 hours ago
Bumps in detector could point to new physics.
Gravitational waves are giant ripples in the fabric of space-time. (Image credit: Shutterstock)
Two intriguing signals spotted in a small gravitational-wave detector could represent all kinds of exotic phenomena — from new physics to dark matter interacting with black holes to vibrations from near the beginning of the universe. But, because of the experiment's novelty, researchers are being cautious about claiming a discovery of any kind.
Facilities such as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) use gigantic laser-driven detectors to look for enormous ripples in the fabric of space-time known as gravitational waves. These come from the collisions of black holes and neutron stars out in the distant universe, which are events so powerful they shake space-time and send out surges with wavelengths measured in hundreds of miles.
Long before these huge observatories were built, scientists suspected that gravitational waves of such sizes existed, because they knew that black holes and neutron stars should sometimes crash together, Michael Tobar, a physicist at the University of Western Australia in Perth, told Live Science.
But there aren't any well-understood sources for gravitational waves with shorter wavelengths of between a few feet and a few miles, he added. Nevertheless, "in the universe, there's always things that we don't expect," Tobar said.
More:
https://www.livescience.com/gravitational-wave-detector-strange-bumps.html?utm_source=notification
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