University of Florida scientists’ role essential to LIGO discovery
For the first time, scientists have observed ripples in the fabric of spacetime called gravitational waves, arriving at the earth from a cataclysmic event in the distant universe. This confirms a major prediction of Albert Einstein’s 1915 general theory of relativity and opens an unprecedented new window onto the cosmos.
Gravitational waves carry information about their dramatic origins and about the nature of gravity that cannot otherwise be obtained. Physicists have concluded that the detected gravitational waves were produced during the final fraction of a second of the merger of two black holes to produce a single, more massive spinning black hole. This collision of two black holes had been predicted but never observed.
http://news.ufl.edu/articles/2016/02/gravitational-waves-detected-100-years-after-einsteins-prediction.php
A critical meeting took place in February 1996, when Mitselmakher, Reitze, Tanner and Whiting visited the LIGO laboratory to discuss whether and how UF could contribute to the initial LIGO detectors, then beginning their construction. The outcome of this discussion was that the University of Florida took responsibility for the Input Optics (IO) of LIGO, one of the most complex and diverse systems in the entire interferometer. In doing so, Florida was the first institution outside the original Caltech-MIT collaboration to have an essential role in LIGO.
Zinhead
February 16, 2016, 12:12am
2
Thanks for posting. The video was enlightening.
saismom
February 16, 2016, 4:40pm
3
@Gator88NE My daughter was at the UF press conference for a few minutes. She said it was very, very exciting. WE toured the UF LIGO experiments (complete with goggles and booties in the basement of the physics building!) last spring when she was still trying to decide between UF and Georgia Tech and we were very impressed that UF actually had a presence at LIGO whereas Georgia Tech just did computation work, rather than hands on experimental work.