Gravity Waves Can Propagate Through The Earth?

rbpeake
rbpeake
Joined: 18 Jan 05
Posts: 266
Credit: 967943721
RAC: 1205548
Topic 189685

I am sure I probably missed the answer to this question somewhere, but it seems if gravity waves are a distortion of space/time, then they probably can pass through the solid planet Earth without much if any problem.

My question is therefore, gravity waves can be detected coming from both the "up" and the "down" direction relative to the fixed location of the detectors?

Thank you much!

Chipper Q
Chipper Q
Joined: 20 Feb 05
Posts: 1540
Credit: 708571
RAC: 0

Gravity Waves Can Propagate Through The Earth?

Hi, Bob -

GWs definitely propagate through the earth with no problem; also through all the dust that obscures most electromagnetic observations, and hence should provide a most excellent view of the cosmos.

So GWs are arriving at the detectors from all directions. One way to determine the direction of origin is to carefully correlate the data from multiple detectors, using the known distance between detectors. In the E@H screen-saver application, these are displayed as the red, green, and blue orthogonal arms on the surface of the sphere...

BTW, impressive RAC – good work!

Respectfully,
Chip

rbpeake
rbpeake
Joined: 18 Jan 05
Posts: 266
Credit: 967943721
RAC: 1205548

RE: Hi, Bob - GWs

Message 15211 in response to message 15210

Quote:

Hi, Bob -

GWs definitely propagate through the earth with no problem; also through all the dust that obscures most electromagnetic observations, and hence should provide a most excellent view of the cosmos.

So GWs are arriving at the detectors from all directions. One way to determine the direction of origin is to carefully correlate the data from multiple detectors, using the known distance between detectors. In the E@H screen-saver application, these are displayed as the red, green, and blue orthogonal arms on the surface of the sphere...

BTW, impressive RAC – good work!

Respectfully,
Chip

Thank you!

I read your profile, and just as a thought about something I read awhile ago, namely that mathematics may be a very human construct, and that other "intelligent" beings from somewhere elsewhere might not identify/use math as such. I agree with you, math certainly seems a practical way to understand the universe, but others might have other points of view. Just a random thought, really.

Chipper Q
Chipper Q
Joined: 20 Feb 05
Posts: 1540
Credit: 708571
RAC: 0

RE: I read your profile,

Quote:
I read your profile, and just as a thought about something I read awhile ago, namely that mathematics may be a very human construct, and that other "intelligent" beings from somewhere elsewhere might not identify/use math as such.

Our understanding of math evolves as we do. And extraterrestrial pi, by any other name, would compute as sweetly. Ask a mathematician what would happen to the value of pi, if the value of the 'fine structure constant', alpha (a dimensionless number), were to change from ~1/137 to ~1/139; then ask a physicist what would happen to reality as we know it. In an admittedly vague way, the difference between their answers alludes to the opinion in my profile...

Quote:
math certainly seems a practical way to understand the universe, but others might have other points of view.

I hope so! It's been said that truth has lots of sides to it. I figure the more sides you can count accurately, the deeper is your appreciation of the beauty of nature - although neither the last nor first word on the matter, the following quote, from The Character of Physical Law (ISBN 0-679-60127-9), Chapter 2, “The Relation of Mathematics to Physics”, in the last 3 paragraphs, Feynman so eloquently puts it:

Quote:

To summarize, I would use the words of Jeans, who said that 'the Great Architect seems to be a mathematician'. To those who do not know mathematics it is difficult to get across a real feeling as to the beauty, the deepest beauty, of nature. C. P. Snow talked about two cultures. I really think that those two cultures separate people who have and people who have not had this experience of understanding mathematics well enough to appreciate nature once.

It is too bad that it has to be mathematics, and that mathematics is hard for some people. It is reputed – I do not know if it is true – that when one of the kings was trying to learn geometry from Euclid he complained that it was difficult. And Euclid said, 'There is no royal road to geometry'. And there is no royal road. Physicists cannot make a conversion to any other language. If you want to learn about nature, to appreciate nature, it is necessary to understand the language that she speaks in. She offers her information only in one form; we are not so unhumble as to demand that she change before we pay any attention.

All the intellectual arguments that you can make will not communicate to deaf ears what the experience of music really is. In the same way all the intellectual arguments in the world will not convey an understanding of nature to those of 'the other culture'. Philosophers may try to teach you by telling you qualitatively about nature. I am trying to describe her. But it is not getting across because it is impossible. Perhaps it is because their horizons are limited in this way that some people are able to imagine that the center of the universe is man.

Of course, in the line right before these words, Feynman also cautioned, “ - and it is not good to be too prejudiced about these things.”

Thanks for noticing, Bob, and for the kind remarks.

hockeyguy
hockeyguy
Joined: 29 Aug 05
Posts: 85
Credit: 15622
RAC: 0

What exactly is a gravity

What exactly is a gravity "wave"? Is it just gravity? I never thought of gravity as objects moving in a wave, like light. If gravity does travel in a wave, what is this wave made up of?

Tom Awtry
Tom Awtry
Joined: 18 Jul 05
Posts: 100
Credit: 520861
RAC: 0

RE: What exactly is a

Message 15214 in response to message 15213

Quote:
What exactly is a gravity "wave"? Is it just gravity? I never thought of gravity as objects moving in a wave, like light. If gravity does travel in a wave, what is this wave made up of?

As a possible suggestion on gravity waves and LIGO, and how LIGO is attempting to detect these waves of gravity, you may want to start by reviewing this fairly concise and informative URL, posted here

________________

Regards,
Tom

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.