Observation of Gravitational Waves

Prince George, 513CH1070

Department of Chemical Engineering, NIT Rourkela
Abstract
For the first time, scientists have observed ripples in the fabric of space-time called gravitational waves, arriving at the earth from a cataclysmic event in the distant
universe. This confirms a major prediction of Albert Einstein’s 1915 general theory of relativity and opens an unprecedented new window onto the cosmos. On
September 14, 2015, the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) simultaneously observed a transient gravitational-wave
signal. It matches the waveform predicted by general relativity for the in-spiral and merger of a pair of black holes and the ring down of the resulting single black hole.
These observations demonstrate the existence of binary stellar-mass black hole systems. This is the first direct detection of gravitational waves and the first observation
of a binary black hole merger. The inference obtained from these observations can expand our understanding of the universe within the Planck's limit.

Introduction LIGO Observations

Gravitational waves are 'ripples' in the fabric of space-time caused by some of the most
violent and energetic processes in the Universe. Albert Einstein predicted the existence
of gravitational waves in 1916 in his general theory of relativity. Einstein's
mathematics showed that massive accelerating objects (such as neutron stars or black
holes orbiting each other) would disrupt space-time in such a way that 'waves' of
distorted space would radiate from the source (like the movement of waves away from
a stone thrown into a pond). Furthermore, these ripples would travel at the speed of
light through the Universe, carrying with them information about their cataclysmic
origins, as well as invaluable clues to the nature of gravity itself.
The strongest gravitational waves are produced by catastrophic events such as
colliding black holes, the collapse of stellar cores (supernovae), coalescing neutron
stars or white dwarf stars, the slightly wobbly rotation of neutron stars that are not
Figure 2: The gravitational wave event GW150914 observed by the LIGO Hanford (H1, left panel) and LIGO
perfect spheres, and the remnants of gravitational radiation created by the birth of the Livingston (L1, right panel) detectors.
Universe itself. The two plots show how the gravitational wave strain (see below) produced by the event in
each LIGO detector varied as a function of time (in seconds) and frequency (in hertz, or
Nature of GWs number of wave cycles per second). Both plots show the frequency of GW150914 sweeping
In Newtonian physics space-time is an infinitely rigid conceptual grid. Gravitational sharply upwards, from 35 Hz to about 150 Hz over two tenths of a second. GW150914
waves cannot exist in this theory. They would have infinite velocity and infinite arrived first at L1 and then at H1 about seven thousandths of a second later – consistent
energy density because in Newtonian gravitation the metrical stiffness of space is with the time taken for light, or gravitational waves, to travel between the two detectors.
infinite.
Conversely general relativity introduces a finite coupling coefficient between Understanding LIGO Observations
curvature of space-time, described by the Einstein curvature tensor, and the stress
energy tensor which describes the mass–energy which gives rise to the curvature. A
This coupling is expressed by the Einstein equation.
A B

Here T is the stress energy tensor and G is the Einstein curvature tensor, c is the
speed of light and G is Newton’s gravitational constant. The coupling coefficient c4/
(8πG) is an enormous number, of order 1043. This expresses the extremely high
stiffness of space which is the reason that the Newtonian law of gravitation is an
excellent approximation in normal circumstances, and why gravitational waves have
a small amplitude, even when their energy density is very high. The existence of
gravitational waves is intuitively obvious as soon as one recognizes that space-time
is an elastic medium. Figure 3: The gravitational-wave event GW150914 Figure 4: The inset images show numerical relativity
observed by the LIGO [A] Hanford (H1, left column models of the black hole horizons as the black holes
panels) and [B] Livingston (L1, right coalesce. Bottom: The Keplerian effective black hole
Detection of GWs -LIGO column panels) detectors. Times are shown relative to separation in units of Schwarzschild radii (RS ¼
LIGO is the world's largest gravitational wave observatory and one of the world’s most sophisticated September 14, 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC. 2GM=c2) and the effective relative velocity given by
physics experiments. Comprised of two giant laser interferometers located thousands of kilometers apart, the post-Newtonian.
one in Livingston, Louisiana and the other in Hanford, Washington, LIGO uses the physical properties of Our results indicate that GW150914 was produced by the merger of two black holes with masses of
light and of space itself to detect gravitational waves – a concept first proposed in the early 1960’s and about 36 times and 29 times the mass of the Sun respectively, and that the post-merger black hole had
the 1970’s. a mass of about 62 times the Sun’s mass. Finally, our results indicate that the GW150914 occurred at
a distance of more than one billion light years. These graphs imply that the two components were
only a few hundred kilometers apart just before they merged, i.e. when the gravitational wave
frequency was about 150 Hz. Black holes are the only known objects compact enough to get this
close together without merging. Based on our estimated total mass for the two components, a pair of
neutron stars would not be massive enough, and a black hole-neutron star pair would have already
merged at a lower frequency than 150 Hz.
Is GW150914 was a REAL EVENT?

“YES” real event,

with a significance of more than 5 σ

Figure 5( Right): search concluded that a noise event

mimicking GW150914 would be extremely rare – less than
one occurrence in about 200,000 years of data

Figure 1: Simplified diagram of an Advanced LIGO detector
Key enhancements to the basic design: an optical cavity that reflects the laser light back and
forth many times in each arm, multiplying the effect of the gravitational wave on the phase of
the laser light; a power recyclying mirror that increases the power of the laser in the
interferometer as a whole; a signal recycling mirror that further optimizes the signal extracted
at the photodetector.
These enhancements boost the power of the laser in the optical cavity by a factor of 5000, and
increase the total amount of time that the signal spends circulating in the interferometer.
Conclusion
• The first direct detection of gravitational waves and the first observation of a binary black
hole merger are remarkable achievements.
• The next decade will see further improvements to the Advanced LIGO detectors and
extension of the global detector network to include Advanced Virgo in Italy, KAGRA in
Japan, and a possible third LIGO detector in India.
References:
• B. P. Abbott et al., Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger, PRL 116,
061102 (2016)
• L Ju, D G Blair and C Zhao, Detection of gravitational waves, Rep. Prog. Phys. 63 (2000) 1317–1427
• Kostas D. Kokkotas, Gravitational waves physics, Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology,
3rd Edition, Volume 7 Academic Press, (2002)