NASA developing atomic optics to detect gravity waves
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Broadband laser system used to detect gravity waves (Photo: NASA/Pat Izzo)
Goddard physicist Babak Saif with the broadband laser system (Photo: NASA/Pat Izzo)
Artist's concept of the cataclysmic merging of a binary star system generating gravity waves (Image: NASA)
Drop tower at Stanford University used to test the broadband laser system (Photo: Stanford University)
Article Summary
Gravity waves are the big ticket item of physics. Predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916 as part of his general theory of relativity, these waves could help scientists solve many mysteries about the origin of the universe – if they could detect them. In an attempt to do this, researchers at Stanford University and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center are developing a new atomic interferometry technique that may be sensitive enough to record gravity waves for the first time.
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