The Sound of Gravitational Waves

While Einstein was imagining the universe, he discovered that time and space interacted with each other. Time and space were dynamic concepts. They could stretch, contract, and were not independent. Without moving objects, they could not exist.

On September 14, 2015, scientists discovered that something was vibrating the L-shaped antennas installed in the US states of Washington and Louisiana. They also found that this thing was making an extremely high-pitched sound.

Einstein, based on the theory of relativity, said that the force of gravity spreads waves. He stated that objects and energy in the universe change the geometry of the universe. He likened the change of the geometry of the universe by objects with energy to a person collapsing the middle of a bed with their body weight. He explained that this collapse creates the force of gravity.

On September 14, 2015, scientists at the observatory called LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) physically proved that it is the force of gravity that makes the L-shaped antennas vibrate and even make sound. Thus, Einstein's theory was proven after 100 years.

The displacement or movement of objects in the universe created effects such as the extension or contraction of space-time. Just like when a person lying in a bed turns right or left or moves, the relevant areas of the bed are compressed and collapsed. Einstein claimed that the movements and collisions of objects in the universe caused the compression or collapse of areas on their surfaces, causing a wave to spread. However, in a conversation he had with Karl Schwarzschild, who discovered the existence of black holes, in 1916, he said that there were no waves. He later changed his mind. Einstein had put forward the idea of gravitational waves, but it was not possible to prove it until 2015.

Physicists find that gravitational waves compress space in one direction and stretch it in the other. Joseph Weber's experiments in 1969 would lead him to claim that gravitational waves exist. This claim would encourage and motivate many physicists to study gravitational waves for years. In fact, Joseph H. Taylor and Russell A. Hulse found in 1978 that stars that had broken away from dead stars and had a very high density of matter (neutron stars) were orbiting each other and thus emitting electromagnetic radiation waves. This work was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1993.

Dr. Thorne from Caltech and Dr. Weiss from MIT had to share a hotel room in Washington in 1975. They discussed gravitational waves until the morning. Dr. Thorne contacted Dr. Drever from Glasgow University. Studies on gravitational waves began. Years of studies and discussions led to the formation called Initial LIGO coming to life in 2000. Studies under Initial LIGO lasted 10 years, but after 2010, the equipment to be used for the experiments was changed. Higher-tech equipment that could make sensitive measurements was provided. L-shaped antennas were installed.

The L-shaped antennas installed in Hanford, Washington and Livingstone, Louisiana have 2.5 miles of arm length. They are made of cement and steel and are hollow. There are mirrors at the ends of the antenna arms and they are shielded from all surrounding noise. Lasers are used to measure the change in the length of the antenna arms caused by gravitational waves. The lasers are sensitive enough to measure a change in length of 1/10,000 of the diameter of a proton. In other words, we are talking about a change so small that even the most powerful microscope cannot see it.

LIGO is trying to prove that neutron stars approach each other under the effect of waves created by their orbits, by Joseph H. Taylor and Russell A. Hulse, and start to orbit each other at increasing speeds, and eventually collide, causing a gamma-ray burst. The neutron stars approaching each other causes them to orbit each other hundreds of times per second. The formations called black holes are already formed as a result of dead stars orbiting each other, approaching each other at increasing speeds, eventually colliding, and attracting other dead stars with their increasing gravitational force. If LIGO can physically prove the existence of gravitational waves, it will also prove the 1978 study and therefore Einstein's theory.

On September 14, 2015, the lasers receive a signal. They record a very subtle sound, and one of the mirrors at the end of the antenna arms moves with a movement of 4/1000th the diameter of a proton.

The world of science has discovered that 1.2 billion years ago, there were two black holes orbiting each other. One was 36 times the size of the Sun, the other 29 times. They approached each other by orbiting each other. They approached each other at a speed half the speed of light, toward a collision. Before the collision, they were orbiting each other 250 times per second. Let's repeat, one was 36 times the size of the Sun, the other 29 times. Only 1 second, and these two enormous masses rotated 250 times! They collided in 1/5 of an Earth second, creating a new black hole 62 times the size of the Sun.

Einstein understood that the concepts of time and space were not independent of the objects in the universe, as it was for Galileo and Newton. With his theory of relativity, he said that the movements of objects in the universe determined time and space. Then, he proposed that gravitational waves existed. It took humanity a century to prove it.

It all started when Einstein happened to watch a man fall from a roof. The man was saved by chance. Because the ground where he fell was softened by a pile of garbage. He probably got up after a while. He was under the influence of fear and shock for a while, but he walked away from where he fell. He probably never knew that a man named Albert Einstein was watching him. He probably never knew about the scientific inspiration wave that his own fall sent to Einstein's brain. He had a big responsibility in all that I have explained above and in my previous article, and he may have died without even realizing what he caused.

Science is exciting. What could be better than discovering and understanding? For this, we need to question. We need to be curious. We need to break taboos. We need to be non-traditional. Let's know as much as we can. If we are going to believe in something, let's believe it because we can understand it. Not because it is necessary or because it is inherited from our family.