March Post: LIGO Again

This month was very great for me as I heard from many great colleges, and that I got into my dream school - Berkeley! I spent considerable time looking at the physics facilities that they offered.

One of the most famous facilities that I mentioned throughout my lessons as well as planned for my final presentation, is LIGO. I researched the following information of this detector.

One of the most sensitive detectors in human history is NSF's Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). Located in two separate facilities nearly a continent apart, the LIGO interferometers can detect vibrations far smaller than an attometer (1,000,000,000,000,000,000th of a meter). More than 900 scientists, engineers and others support the effort — some having been involved for more than twenty years — all contributing to a single goal: detection of gravitational waves, ripples in space-time predicted by Albert Einstein that have yet to be directly detected.

A very helpful video that explains this visually is below.

http://www.space.com/28496-gravitational-wave-detector-ama.html

Blog 18: Fourth Interview Questions

Content: Post 20 open-ended questions you want to ask an expert in the field concerning your senior project. The focus of your questions should be on your answer to your EQ.

1. What are the possible outcomes and benefits of the discovery of gravitational waves?
2. Why is studying the universe and black holes so important when we have a lot of problems here on Earth?
3. Using our current forms of detection, when do you predict the first real evidence of gravitational waves? Why?
4. What would it mean if gravitational waves simply do not exist? 
5. What are the implications if we could never detect gravitational waves in the future?
6. What would be the ideal interferometer to detect gravitational waves? 
7. Do you believe that LIGO could ever detect the waves? 
8. What is the most important data that an interferometer could find to prove that the waves exist?
9. What are the benefits that interferometers have that other forms of detection don't?
10. What exactly is a Pulsar Timing Array in your own words, and how does it essentially work?
11. What would happen to Pulsar Timing Arrays if in fact the gravitational waves do not affect the pulsar pulses?
12. How can we detect the perturbations from the pulsar?
13. Why are Weber Bars so unpopular currently by detection scientists?
14. Could Weber Bars ever work in situations that interferometry could not?
15. Why are some Weber Bars still used?
16. What are your predictions of the use/interaction of gravitational waves?
17. Could we be able to, in a way, "control" gravity particles if this discover is found?
18. Are we getting nearer to detection than before? Or have we barely made progress?
19. What do you think of the supposed detection by BICEP2 last year?
20. What is the best advice you can give me since I am interested in potentially pursuing this career in trying to find gravitational waves?

Blog 17: Third Answer

1.) EQ 

- What is the best solution for detecting gravitational waves?

2.) Answer #3 (Write in a complete sentence like a thesis statement)*

- Weber Bars could detect gravitational waves with their use of heavy aluminum cylinders to see any change in frequency, disregarding "background noise".

3.) 3 details to support the answer (a detail is a fact and an example)

• These massive aluminium cylinders vibrated at a resonance frequency of 1660 hertz and were designed to be set in motion by gravitational waves predicted by Weber. 
• Because these waves were supposed to be so weak, the cylinders had to be massive and the sensors had to be very sensitive.
• These sensors are capable of detecting a change in the cylinders' lengths by about 10⁻¹⁶ meters.

4.) The research source (s) to support your details and answer

- Lindley, David. "A Fleeting Detection of Gravitational Waves." Physics -. American Physical Society, 22 Dec. 2005. Web. 05 Mar. 2015. <http://physics.aps.org/story/v16/st19>

5.) Concluding Sentence

- My 3rd answer differs from my first two since Weber Bars are much more restrictive and crude compared to the others, but can still work given the right conditions.