Uncovering the Truth: Examining the Existence of Gravitational Waves

In summary, the conversation discusses the existence and detection of gravitational waves, with evidence from observations and theoretical principles. The standard understanding is that gravitational waves do exist, but their detection is indirect and relies on the assumption that rulers and measuring apparatus do not expand with the universe. However, there is a question about this assumption and its impact on the detection of gravitational waves. Some evidence, such as the Pioneer Anomaly, suggests that the standard understanding may not be entirely accurate. The conversation concludes with the belief that if nothing is detected, it would imply a flaw in the theory rather than the experiments.
  • #36
SpaceTiger said:
Our understanding of short GRBs is extremely crude and any failure to detect such a signal would almost certainly be due to a failure in those models, not in our theory of gravity. Given the high-quality data that came from PSR 1913+16, the only way you'll see astronomers/physicists seriously questioning the existence of gravitational waves is if we point our detectors at a source that we know is above our threshold of sensitivity and get no detection.
Agreed - but when (how many more years) will our theshold of detection increase in sensitivity to below the predicted signal from known sources?

Garth
 
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  • #37
Garth said:
Agreed - but when (how many more years) will our theshold of detection increase in sensitivity to below the predicted signal from known sources?
Garth

As I've stated in these forums several times, most people would be quite surprised if any of the current detectors found anything in the next few years.

Upgrades to LIGO are expected to start being built in 2008, and observations should start around 2013. These will increase the sensitivity by a factor of 10, which is expected to be sufficient to make a detection within a year or two (at worst). If nothing is found by then, people will start to worry.
 
  • #38
Stingray said:
As I've stated in these forums several times, most people would be quite surprised if any of the current detectors found anything in the next few years.
Upgrades to LIGO are expected to start being built in 2008, and observations should start around 2013. These will increase the sensitivity by a factor of 10, which is expected to be sufficient to make a detection within a year or two (at worst). If nothing is found by then, people will start to worry.
Thank you, that is what I wanted to know!

Garth
 

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