Wrinkling in Space: Gravity wave

Today, more and more scientists / astrophysicists are preoccupied with this topic, as evidence of its existence was found in 2015. The phenomenon was first heard from Albert Einstein nearly 100 years ago. Still, what the gravitational wave is?

The gravitational wave is an invisible wave phenomenon on the “fabric” of space-time, created by a powerful, sometimes aggressive space event. For example, it could be caused by the destruction of a larger star called a supernova, the orbit of two larger stars at high speed (these can be called twin stars), or the circling and merging of two black holes. According to the present position, the gravitational wave "travels" in space at the speed of light (299,792,458 m / s).

Although Einstein himself did not find a sign of a gravitational wave physically, he did find it mathematically.

Formula:

where

• dE / dt - time derivative of energy

• G - the Newtonian gravitational constant

• c - the speed of light

• R - distance between two bodies

• m (1,2) - mass of the first and teh second body

Evidence for the existence of the gravitational wave was first found in 1974, although this is only indirect data. Two scientists at the Arebico Radio Observatory in Puerto Rico have become aware of a double pulsar. These stars (pulsars) had a large mass and circulated around each other. Believing that it could be a great evidence for Einstein's theory of general relativity , they began to observe this phenomenon. This was achieved by observing the distance between the pulsars as a result of the change in time and how the orbit of the stars changes as a result of the other. It was found that the pulsars were getting closer to each other, moreover, in the way “predicted” (calculated) by the general theory of relativity. Since then, several astronomers have discovered binary pulsars that converged on a similar principle.

The direct discovery was not long ago, more precisely on September 14, 2015, when we also physically detected a gravitational wave. This was achieved using the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory). This is what it looks like externally and structurally:

Direct evidence of the existence of a gravitational wave is of great importance, both in research and in everyday life. In space exploration, we have so far been able to learn about the universe with the help of light, and even with this we can realize the origin of the world. It also allows us to better understand gravity. This is important because there are diseases that are directly or indirectly related to gravity, so they may be curable.