- #1
DiracPool
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We've seen the peculiar oscillating shape of the "squeeze-stretch" effect that a gravitational wave (GW) imparts on space and matter. What I am unsure of, however, is how does this wave manifest itself in three dimensions, as well as a few other questions..
1) Does it spread out spherically or, as is hinted at in many of the animations, does it send out like a ripple on the surface of a pond only in the plane of the inspiral event (in reference to the current binary black hole discovery)?
2) Take a look at this video starting at 10 seconds in:
Does that thing look creepy or what? It looks like a large intergalactic earthworm. But notice the ring structure.
3) How big is that ring? Is it the diameter of the black holes themselves? Is it composed of just that one big ring progressing through space like a tube, or does it expand out like a cone, as one might expect sound waves to after talking through a megaphone? Or, does the tube propagate in a spiral fashion as depicted later in the video above?
4) How do the rings overlap? In the earthworm depiction above, it looks just like one tube pointing in one direction. If the GW's are restricted to a plane, do we just have interference in the iconic squeeze-stretch from say two tubes that partially overlap?
1) Does it spread out spherically or, as is hinted at in many of the animations, does it send out like a ripple on the surface of a pond only in the plane of the inspiral event (in reference to the current binary black hole discovery)?
2) Take a look at this video starting at 10 seconds in:
Does that thing look creepy or what? It looks like a large intergalactic earthworm. But notice the ring structure.
3) How big is that ring? Is it the diameter of the black holes themselves? Is it composed of just that one big ring progressing through space like a tube, or does it expand out like a cone, as one might expect sound waves to after talking through a megaphone? Or, does the tube propagate in a spiral fashion as depicted later in the video above?
4) How do the rings overlap? In the earthworm depiction above, it looks just like one tube pointing in one direction. If the GW's are restricted to a plane, do we just have interference in the iconic squeeze-stretch from say two tubes that partially overlap?