New research direction from gravitational wave discovery won the Nobel Prize

Gravitational waves can become a guiding signal for researchers to discover the moment when the universe formed and many other astronomical phenomena.

Researchers have been waiting for 100 years to confirm the existence of gravitational waves and 4 ripples that appear and are recorded. That is the expected result of scientists who spent decades designing and manufacturing the most sophisticated devices to detect tiny ripples in the space field - the time Albert Einstein predicted in the theory of relativity. General opposition in 1905, according to the Guardian.

Attractive ripples were first recognized by Earth physicists on September 14, 2015 and shocked the gravitational wave observatory with a laser interferometer in the US (Ligo) . The second ripple appeared three months later, followed by the third ripple in January this year. When the fourth ripple arrived in August, both Ligo and the second Italian observatory named Virgo recorded that moment.

Each gravitational wave is transmitted by intense collisions between two black holes more than a billion years ago. Gravity wave discovery is a worthy achievement for Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish and Kip Thorne to win the Nobel Prize in Physics . However, what makes astronomers more excited is its significance for space research.

Picture 1 of New research direction from gravitational wave discovery won the Nobel Prize
Three scientists won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics: Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish and Kip Thorne.(Photo: Guardian).

"This is a two-part story," said Sheila Rowan, director of the Institute of Attractive Research at the University of Glasgow, UK. "The first part is the work that makes the devices sensitive enough to create the first discovery, but ending this story is the beginning of another story. We are really at the threshold of finding a whole new way. to study the universe and it is extremely exciting ".

So far, astronomers have mapped the universe almost entirely by telescopes collecting light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation. Optical telescopes like Hubble allow the world to look deeply into the history of the universe, but observations are limited to about 400,000 years after the Big Bang. From that time point forward, the universe for scientists is still a dark place.

Gravitational waves are not easily blocked. Although the signal is very weak, they are difficult to obscure and future gravitational observations can allow scientists to overcome the optical limit, considering the cosmic appearance after the Big Bang. long.

"At one point, when we didn't have the detectors like now, we had hoped to be able to look at the beginning of the universe," said Rainer Weiss, a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of three scientists. Nobel Prize winner, share.

"Calculations indicate at the very early moments of the universe, as soon as the universe is formed, there is a huge amount of background radiation of gravitational waves produced. That's one of the most interesting things you who can see it because it tells you a lot about how the universe started , " Weiss said.

The earliest gravitational waves can be emitted in a fraction of a second after the Big Bang when the universe moves from a smooth, unstructured state to a rough shape, at the time of space-time field bending.

Scientists hope to discover more other phenomena sooner. Gravitational waves spread from cosmic events, causing large amounts of matter to accelerate. This happens when a star explodes but so far, all the astronomers know is a flash of light that marks the star's death. Through studying gravitational waves, scientists hope to find out for the first time the process taking place inside a collapsing star.

When the Ligo station operated, the scientists assumed that the first ripples they discovered came from a collision between two neutron stars, one of the most bizarre entities in the universe. Neutron stars form when massive stars die. They have extremely compact and crystalline shells and cores, a spoonful of neutron stars heavy across Mount Everest.

"Some supernovae exploded and ended as black holes, but others became neutron stars , " wrote Pedro Ferreira, professor of astrophysics at Oxford University, England. "What the Ligo scientists hope to see is that two neutron stars rotate around each other and merge into one. If you can track these events, you will begin to understand more about basic physics. That's great".

Other countries, including Japan and India, also plan to build their own gravitational wave detectors. The European Space Agency even intends to launch observatory radio into the 2034 universe. Carrying the name Lisa (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) , this mission will aim to detect gravitational waves weaker than the incoming waves. Earth.

"Many of us are looking forward to discovering things we have never known. We know about black holes, about neutron stars. We hope to see phenomena visible by the steam waves. lead them out, which opens a new field of science, " Weiss said.