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Final Answers
© 2000-2016   Gérard P. Michon, Ph.D.

Gravitational Waves

The general theory of relativity can be conceived only as a field theory.
It could not have [been] developed if one had held on to the view  Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro 1853-1925 Albert Einstein 1879-1955
that the real world consists of material points which move 
 under the influence of forces acting between them.
Albert Einstein,  in his last scientific paper (December 1954).
 
LIGO, in Hanford
LIGO facility in Hanford, WA

Related articles on this site:

Related Links  (Outside this Site)

Gravitational Waves.  Einstein Online  (Albert Einstein Institute)
Quantum optics:  Squeezing more out of LIGO  by  Ulrik L. Andersen  (2013)
Frans Pretorius:  Solving Einstein's field equations for violent events.
 
G-waves spotted for the first time  by  Adrian Cho  (Science, 2016-02-11).
Inside story of first G-wave detection   by  Nicola Twilley  (The New Yorker)
La nouvelle lunette de Galilée   by  Denis Sergent  (La Croix, 2016-02-18)
Six things about Gravitational Waves   by  Rhett Allain  (Wired, 2016-02-19)
 
Wikipedia :   Gravitational wave   |   First observation of gravitational waves (GW150914)

Phys 237 at Caltech  (2002)  by  Kip S. Thorne  and,  in order of appearance:  Sterl Phinney  [12,12b,13,13b,15,15b],   Alessandra Buonanno  [...14b,26]
Lee Lindblom  [17,17b],  Mark Sheel  [18,18b],  Alan J. Weinstein  [21,21b],
Phil Willems  thermal noise  [22,22b],  Erik Black  control theory  [23,23b], 
Matt Evans  [24],  Riccardo DeSalvo  seismic attenuation  [24b], 
Barry C. Barish  project management  [25,25b],  Yanbei Chen  TA  [26b], 
John Armstrong of JPL  [27,b,34,b],  Albert Lazzarini  data analysis  [28,b],
Ronald Drever  [29b],  William O. Hamilton  (LSU)  bar detectors  [30,30b,S], 
William Folkner (JPL)  LISA  [31,31b,35],  Robert Spero (JPL)  optics  [32,32b], 
Bonny Schumaker  (JPL)  disturbance reduction  [33,33b],
Marc Kamionkowski  CMB polarization  [35b].
First Term :   (1) | (2) | 3,b | 4,b | 5,b | 6,b | 7,b | 8,b | 9,b | 10,b |
11,b | 12,b | 13,b | 14,b | 15,b | 16,b | 17,b | 18,b |
Second Term :   19,b | 20,b | 21,b | 22,b | 23,b | 24,b | 25,b | 26,b |
27,b | 28,b | 29,b | 30,b,S | 31,b | 32,b | 33,b | 34,b | 35,b |
Production  (and homework solutions)  by  Mihai Bondarescu  &  Yanbei Chen.

Other Videos :

Gravitational wave astronomy   by  Martin Hendry  (TEDx Glasgow, 2014).
 
Have Gravitational Waves Been Detected?   by  Matt O'Dowd  (2015-10-22).
First Detection of GW.  Press Conference :   Part 1 & Part 2   (2016-02-11).
Live News Stream   (University of Florida, 2016-02-11).
LIGO Detects Gravitational Waves   (MIT, 2016-02-11).
Brian Greene Explains Gravitational Waves   (2016-02-11).
What will we learn from G-waves?   by  Gabriela González  (2016-02-11).
LIGO's First Detection of Gravitational Waves.   Matt O'Dowd  (2016-02-11).
Einstein's Gravitational Waves Discovered.   TDC  (2016-02-13).
 
What the discovery of gravitational waves means  by  Allan Adams  (2016-02).
Gravitational Wave Discovery [2]  Sixty Symbols  by  Brady Haran  (2016-04-21).
A New Era of Astronomy Begins.   World Science Festival  (2016-06-04).
 
LIGO Again Detects Gravitational Waves  (MIT, 2016-06-15).
We Found Gravitational Waves... Again  (DNews, 2016-06-15).
LIGO's Second Confirmation of GW.   Matt O'Dowd  (2016-07-20).
 
Golden Cubes and Gravitational Waves   eLISA  (Sixty Symbols,  2016-09-16).

 
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Relativistic Gravity  &  Gravitational Waves

(2016-02-21)   Quadrupole Moment in a Mass Distribution
Changing quadrupole moments generate G-waves  (Einstein, June 1916).

Come back later, we're still working on this one...

Electrodynamic dipoles   |   Electrostatic multipoles   |   Simple gravitational waves

(2016-02-21)   On the energy radiated away by gravitational waves.
First experimental proof of the existence of gravitational waves  (1974).

The key experimental discovery was made in 1974 by  Joseph Taylor  and his graduate student  Russell Hulse  (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)  using the 300-m radiotelescope at Arecibo  (Puerto Rico).  They shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in physics for that.

Come back later, we're still working on this one...

1993 Nobel Prize in Physics   |   Russell A. Hulse (1950-)   |   Joseph H. Taylor, Jr. (1941-)

(2016-02-20)   PDH Technique   (1983)
Optical stabilization of the frequency of  laser  light.

Robert Pound
Robert Vivian Pound
1919-2010		 Ron Drever
Ron Drever
b. 1931		 John Lewis Hall
Jan Hall
b. 1934

The interferometric detection of gravitational waves wouldn't have been possible without this.

Come back later, we're still working on this one...

PDH Technique   |   Robert Pound (1919-2010)   |   Ronald Drever (b. 1931)   |   Jan Hall (b. 1934, Nobel 2005)

(2016-02-20)   LIGO
Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory

LIGO has become the largest and most ambitious project ever funded by the National Science Foundation  (NSF).  It was originally founded in 1992 by:

On February 11, 2016, LIGO made public its first detection of gravitational waves  (dubbed GW150914)  which had occurred on 14 September 2015  at 09:50:45.39 UTC  (i.e., GPS time 1126259462.39).  That was less than two days after the upgrade to Advanced LIGO detectors.

The first person to notice the event was  Marco Drago,  a 32-year-old Italian postdoc who happened to be viewing the LIGO data remotely on his computer at the  Albert Einstein Institute,  in Hannover, Germany, shortly before  11:00, Central European Time.  In the first few minutes, Marco didn't even know how to alert the rest of the LIGO organization.

Come back later, we're still working on this one...

Subsequently, LIGO revealed two other observations of black-hole mergers:  A candidate event on 2015-10-12 and a confirmed event on 2015-12-26.

LIGO   |   NSF

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