79 - NanoGRAV's Big Gravitational Wave Discovery (Ft. Chiara Mingarelli)
Mar 18, 2024
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The podcast explores NanoGRAV's groundbreaking discovery of gravitational waves using pulsars, delves into the rarity and significance of gravitational waves from supermassive black hole mergers, discusses the unique nature of gravitational waves generated by these mergers, explores the utilization of pulsar timing arrays by NanoGRAV, and speculates on future breakthroughs in gravitational wave science including detecting supermassive black hole binary systems and the true nature of dark matter.
NanoGRAV discovered low frequency gravitational waves from supermassive black hole mergers using pulsars.
Pulsar timing arrays like NanoGRAV track gravitational wave effects on pulsar pulses to detect black hole mergers.
The discovery of gravitational wave background by NanoGRAV opens possibilities for studying cosmic mergers and universe evolution.
Deep dives
Exploring Nanograph's Detection of Gravitational Waves from Pulsars
Nanograph, a consortium of astronomers, recently announced a significant discovery of a background of low frequency gravitational waves originating from slowly merging supermassive black holes. These massive entities, ranging from a hundred million to a billion solar masses, create strong gravitational waves that Nanograph was able to detect using pulsars distributed across the Milky Way. The detection of these low frequency gravitational waves introduces a new method to study the universe's most enormous black holes.
The Unique Role of Pulsar Timing Arrays vs. LIGO
Pulsar timing arrays, like Nanograph, operate by monitoring the precise regular pulses emitted by pulsars, acting as natural cosmic clocks. The method involves observing how gravitational waves alter the arrival times of these pulses, indicating variations in the distances between Earth and pulsars caused by merging supermassive black holes. This approach differs from LIGO, a ground-based detector that focuses on higher frequency gravitational waves from smaller-mass black hole mergers.
Gravitational Wave Background and Potential Exotic Sources
Nanograph's discovery of a gravitational wave background suggests a superposition of signals from cosmic mergers of supermassive black holes. Alternative theories, such as quantum fluctuations from the early universe and cosmic strings, pose intriguing possibilities as additional sources. Determining the precise origin of the gravitational wave background could potentially reveal insights into the universe's evolution since its inception.
Future of Gravitational Wave Science: LISA and Beyond
The future of gravitational wave science holds exciting prospects, including the deployment of the space-based gravitational wave detector LISA, designed to detect lower frequency signals from smaller black hole mergers. Additionally, advancements in ground-based detectors like LIGO's potential Cosmic Explorer or Einstein Telescope could enhance our ability to observe neutron stars merging. Predicting the field's trajectory beyond a few decades remains a realm of speculation, with the potential for paradigm-shifting discoveries and a deeper understanding of fundamental physics.
Innovative Insights and Paradigm Shifts in Gravitational Wave Research
The evolution of gravitational wave research may lead to profound insights into the unification of general relativity and quantum mechanics, particularly in the context of black holes. Anticipated developments in testing the boundaries of physics, potential discoveries related to dark matter, and the exploration of experimental evidence for unifying gravity and quantum mechanics present exciting possibilities for the future of gravitational wave science.
Last year, an experiment called NanoGRAV made a surprising discovery of gravitational waves using pulsars around the universe. Special guest Chiara Mingarelli explains.
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