Neutron Stars, Black Holes and Gravitational Waves

Neutron Stars, Black Holes and Gravitational Waves
Author :
Publisher :
Total Pages : 52
Release :
ISBN-10 : 1643274244
ISBN-13 : 9781643274249
Rating : 4/5 (44 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Neutron Stars, Black Holes and Gravitational Waves by : James J Kolata

Download or read book Neutron Stars, Black Holes and Gravitational Waves written by James J Kolata and published by . This book was released on 2019-04-10 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, published in 1915, made a remarkable prediction: gravitational radiation. Just like light (electromagnetic radiation), gravity could travel through space as a wave and affect any objects it encounters by alternately compressing and expanding them. However, there was a problem. The force of gravity is around a trillion, trillion, trillion times weaker than electromagnetism so the calculated compressions and expansions were incredibly small, even for gravity waves resulting from a catastrophic astrophysical event such as a supernova explosion in our own galaxy. Discouraged by this result, physicists and astronomers didn't even try to detect these tiny, tiny effects for over 50 years. Then, in the late 1960's and early 1970's, two events occurred which started the hunt for gravity waves in earnest. The first was a report of direct detection of gravity waves thousands of times stronger than even the most optimistic calculation. Though ultimately proved wrong, this result started scientists thinking about what instrumentation might be necessary to detect these waves. The second was an actual, though indirect, detection of gravitational radiation due to the effects it had on the period of rotation of two "neutron stars" orbiting each other. In this case, the observations were in exact accord with predictions from Einstein's theory, which confirmed that a direct search might ultimately be successful. Nevertheless, it took another 40 years of development of successively more sensitive detectors before the first real direct effects were observed in 2015, 100 years after gravitational waves were first predicted. This is the story of that hunt, and the insight it is producing into an array of topics in modern science, from the creation of the chemical elements to insights into the properties of gravity itself.


Neutron Stars, Black Holes and Gravitational Waves Related Books

Neutron Stars, Black Holes and Gravitational Waves
Language: en
Pages: 52
Authors: James J Kolata
Categories:
Type: BOOK - Published: 2019-04-10 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, published in 1915, made a remarkable prediction: gravitational radiation. Just like light (electromagnetic radia
Neutron Stars, Black Holes, and Gravitational Waves
Language: en
Pages: 0
Authors: Kolata James J (author)
Categories:
Type: BOOK - Published: 1901 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Neutron Stars, Black Holes, and Gravitational Waves
Language: en
Pages: 51
Authors: James J Kolata
Categories: Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2019-05-09 - Publisher: Morgan & Claypool Publishers

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, published in 1915, made a remarkable prediction: gravitational radiation. Just like light (electromagnetic radia
Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space
Language: en
Pages: 258
Authors: Janna Levin
Categories: Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2016-03-29 - Publisher: Anchor

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The authoritative story of the headline-making discovery of gravitational waves—by an eminent theoretical astrophysicist and award-winning writer. From the au
Modern General Relativity
Language: en
Pages: 625
Authors: Mike Guidry
Categories: Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2019-01-03 - Publisher: Cambridge University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Einstein's general theory of relativity is widely considered to be one of the most elegant and successful scientific theories ever developed, and it is increasi