Gravitational-Wave Astronomy

Gravitational-Wave Astronomy PDF

Author: Nils Andersson

Publisher: Oxford Graduate Texts

Published: 2019-11-28

Total Pages: 680

ISBN-13: 0198568037

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This book is an introduction to gravitational waves and related astrophysics. It provides a bridge across the range of astronomy, physics and cosmology that comes into play when trying to understand the gravitational-wave sky. Starting with Einstein's theory of gravity, chapters develop the key ideas step by step, leading up to the technology that finally caught these faint whispers from the distant universe. The second part of the book makes a direct connection with current research, introducing the relevant language and making the involved concepts less "mysterious". The book is intended to work as a platform, low enough that anyone with an elementary understanding of gravitational waves can scramble onto it, but at the same time high enough to connect readers with active research - and the many exciting discoveries that are happening right now. The first part of the book introduces the key ideas, following a general overview chapter and including a brief reminder of Einstein's theory. This part can be taught as a self-contained one semester course. The second part of the book is written to work as a collection of "set pieces" with core material that can be adapted to specific lectures and additional material that provide context and depth. A range of readers may find this book useful, including graduate students, astronomers looking for basic understanding of the gravitational-wave window to the universe, researchers analysing data from gravitational-wave detectors, and nuclear and particle physicists.

Gravitational-Wave Physics and Astronomy

Gravitational-Wave Physics and Astronomy PDF

Author: Jolien D. E. Creighton

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2012-01-09

Total Pages: 403

ISBN-13: 3527636048

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This most up-to-date, one-stop reference combines coverage of both theory and observational techniques, with introductory sections to bring all readers up to the same level. Written by outstanding researchers directly involved with the scientific program of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), the book begins with a brief review of general relativity before going on to describe the physics of gravitational waves and the astrophysical sources of gravitational radiation. Further sections cover gravitational wave detectors, data analysis, and the outlook of gravitational wave astronomy and astrophysics.

Nanohertz Gravitational Wave Astronomy

Nanohertz Gravitational Wave Astronomy PDF

Author: Stephen R. Taylor

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2021-11-23

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13: 1000484769

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Nanohertz Gravitational Wave Astronomy explores the exciting hunt for low frequency gravitational waves by using the extraordinary timing precision of pulsars. The book takes the reader on a tour across the expansive gravitational-wave landscape, from LIGO detections to the search for polarization patterns in the Cosmic Microwave Background, then hones in on the band of nanohertz frequencies that Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTAs) are sensitive to. Within this band may lie many pairs of the most massive black holes in the entire Universe, all radiating in chorus to produce a background of gravitational waves. The book shows how such extra-Galactic gravitational waves can alter the arrival times of radio pulses emanating from monitored Galactic pulsars, and how we can use the pattern of correlated timing deviations from many pulsars to tease out the elusive signal. The book takes a pragmatic approach to data analysis, explaining how it is performed in practice within classical and Bayesian statistics, as well as the numerous strategies one can use to optimize numerical Bayesian searches in PTA analyses. It closes with a complete discussion of the data model for nanohertz gravitational wave searches, and an overview of the past achievements, present efforts, and future prospects for PTAs. The book is accessible to upper division undergraduate students and graduate students of astronomy, and also serves as a useful desk reference for experts in the field. Key features: Contains a complete derivation of the pulsar timing response to gravitational waves, and the overlap reduction function for PTAs. Presents a comprehensive overview of source astrophysics, and the dynamical influences that shape the gravitational wave signals that PTAs are sensitive to. Serves as a detailed primer on gravitational-wave data analysis and numerical Bayesian techniques for PTAs.

Handbook of Gravitational Wave Astronomy

Handbook of Gravitational Wave Astronomy PDF

Author: Cosimo Bambi

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-07-02

Total Pages: 1895

ISBN-13: 9811643067

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This handbook provides an updated comprehensive description of gravitational wave astronomy. In the first part, it reviews gravitational wave experiments, from ground and space based laser interferometers to pulsar timing arrays and indirect detection from the cosmic microwave background. In the second part, it discusses a number of astrophysical and cosmological gravitational wave sources, including black holes, neutron stars, possible more exotic objects, and sources in the early Universe. The third part of the book reviews the methods to calculate gravitational waveforms. The fourth and last part of the book covers techniques employed in gravitational wave astronomy data analysis. This book represents both a valuable resource for graduate students and an important reference for researchers in gravitational wave astronomy.

Ripples in Spacetime

Ripples in Spacetime PDF

Author: Govert Schilling

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2017-07-31

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 0674971663

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A spacetime appetizer -- Relatively speaking -- Einstein on trial -- Wave talk and bar fights -- The lives of stars -- Clockwork precision -- Laser quest -- The path to perfection -- Creation stories -- Cold case -- Gotcha -- Black magic -- Nanoscience -- Follow-up questions -- Space invaders -- Surf's up for Einstein wave astronomy

Understanding Gravitational Waves

Understanding Gravitational Waves PDF

Author: C. R. Kitchin

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-09-23

Total Pages: 422

ISBN-13: 3030742075

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The birth of a completely new branch of observational astronomy is a rare and exciting occurrence. For a long time, our theories about gravitational waves—proposed by Albert Einstein and others more than a hundred years ago—could never be fully proven, since we lacked the proper technology to do it. That all changed when, on September 14, 2015, instruments at the LIGO Observatory detected gravitational waves for the first time. This book explores the nature of gravitational waves—what they are, where they come from, why they are so significant and why nobody could prove they existed before now. Written in plain language and interspersed with additional explanatory tutorials, it will appeal to lay readers, science enthusiasts, physical science students, amateur astronomers and to professional scientists and astronomers.

Gravity's Shadow

Gravity's Shadow PDF

Author: Harry Collins

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2010-08-15

Total Pages: 897

ISBN-13: 0226113795

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According to the theory of relativity, we are constantly bathed in gravitational radiation. When stars explode or collide, a portion of their mass becomes energy that disturbs the very fabric of the space-time continuum like ripples in a pond. But proving the existence of these waves has been difficult; the cosmic shudders are so weak that only the most sensitive instruments can be expected to observe them directly. Fifteen times during the last thirty years scientists have claimed to have detected gravitational waves, but so far none of those claims have survived the scrutiny of the scientific community. Gravity's Shadow chronicles the forty-year effort to detect gravitational waves, while exploring the meaning of scientific knowledge and the nature of expertise. Gravitational wave detection involves recording the collisions, explosions, and trembling of stars and black holes by evaluating the smallest changes ever measured. Because gravitational waves are so faint, their detection will come not in an exuberant moment of discovery but through a chain of inference; for forty years, scientists have debated whether there is anything to detect and whether it has yet been detected. Sociologist Harry Collins has been tracking the progress of this research since 1972, interviewing key scientists and delineating the social process of the science of gravitational waves. Engagingly written and authoritatively comprehensive, Gravity's Shadow explores the people, institutions, and government organizations involved in the detection of gravitational waves. This sociological history will prove essential not only to sociologists and historians of science but to scientists themselves.

Gravity's Kiss

Gravity's Kiss PDF

Author: Harry Collins

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2017-01-27

Total Pages: 415

ISBN-13: 0262036185

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A fascinating account, written in real time, of the unfolding of a scientific discovery: the first detection of gravitational waves.

Gravitational Waves in Physics and Astrophysics

Gravitational Waves in Physics and Astrophysics PDF

Author: M. Coleman Miller

Publisher:

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780750330503

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The direct detection of gravitational waves in 2015 has initiated a new era of gravitational wave astronomy, which has already paid remarkable dividends in our understanding of astrophysics and gravitational physics. Aimed at advanced undergraduates and graduate students, this book introduces gravitational waves and its many applications to cosmology, nuclear physics, astrophysics and theoretical physics.

Einstein Was Right

Einstein Was Right PDF

Author: Jed Z. Buchwald

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2020-10-13

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 0691211973

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An authoritative interdisciplinary account of the historic discovery of gravitational waves In 1915, Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves—ripples in the fabric of spacetime caused by the movement of large masses—as part of the theory of general relativity. A century later, researchers with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) confirmed Einstein's prediction, detecting gravitational waves generated by the collision of two black holes. Shedding new light on the hundred-year history of this momentous achievement, Einstein Was Right brings together essays by two of the physicists who won the Nobel Prize for their instrumental roles in the discovery, along with contributions by leading scholars who offer unparalleled insights into one of the most significant scientific breakthroughs of our time. This illuminating book features an introduction by Tilman Sauer and invaluable firsthand perspectives on the history and significance of the LIGO consortium by physicists Barry Barish and Kip Thorne. Theoretical physicist Alessandra Buonanno discusses the new possibilities opened by gravitational wave astronomy, and sociologist of science Harry Collins and historians of science Diana Kormos Buchwald, Daniel Kennefick, and Jürgen Renn provide further insights into the history of relativity and LIGO. The book closes with a reflection by philosopher Don Howard on the significance of Einstein's theory for the philosophy of science. Edited by Jed Buchwald, Einstein Was Right is a compelling and thought-provoking account of one of the most thrilling scientific discoveries of the modern age.