Gravitational waves as a research area encompass the theoretical modeling, detection, and astrophysical interpretation of ripples in spacetime predicted by general relativity and alternative gravity theories. This field integrates general relativity, numerical relativity, data analysis, and experimental physics to study compact object mergers, core-collapse supernovae, cosmological backgrounds, and potential beyond–standard-model phenomena. Research focuses on waveform modeling, parameter estimation, tests of gravity in the strong-field regime, and multi-messenger astronomy combining electromagnetic and neutrino signals. It also drives the development and operation of ground- and space-based interferometric observatories, pulsar timing arrays, and analysis pipelines for weak, transient, and stochastic signals.
The universe is a turbulent place. Stars are exploding, neutron stars collide, and supermassive black holes are merging. All of these things and many more create gravitational waves. As a result, the cosmos is filled with ...
Astronomy
Dec 5, 2024
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Researchers have shown that optical spring tracking is a promising way to improve the signal clarity of gravitational-wave detectors. The advance could one day allow scientists to see farther into the universe and provide ...
Astronomy
Dec 4, 2024
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An international study led by astronomers from Swinburne University of Technology has created the most detailed maps of gravitational waves across the universe to date.
Astronomy
Dec 2, 2024
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NASA has revealed the first look at a full-scale prototype for six telescopes that will enable, in the next decade, the space-based detection of gravitational waves—ripples in space-time caused by merging black holes and ...
Astronomy
Oct 22, 2024
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A recent study in Physical Review Letters explores the effects of ultralight dark matter in extreme-mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs), which could be detected by future space-based gravitational wave detectors like LISA (Laser ...
The background noise of gravitational waves from orbiting white dwarf stars will be stronger than the noise from binary black holes. This is what two Dutch master's students and their supervisor predict in two papers in anticipation ...
Astronomy
Oct 16, 2024
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A team of researchers at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), in the U.S., has developed what they describe as a squeezed light system to improve detection sensitivity.
When three massive objects meet in space, they influence each other through gravity in ways that evolve unpredictably. In a word: Chaos. That is the conventional understanding. Now, a researcher from the University of Copenhagen ...
Astronomy
Oct 10, 2024
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A new study published in Physical Review Letters (PRL) proposes using gravitational wave detectors like LIGO to search for scalar field dark matter.
In a paper published in Physical Review Letters this week, physicists from Amsterdam and Copenhagen argue that close observations of merging black hole pairs may unveil information about potential new particles. The research ...
General Physics
Sep 17, 2024
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