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This is the universe as we
imagine it... objects floating quietly in space.
This is the universe as scientist think it actually behaves.
Objects in space affected ever so slightly by gravitational waves.
Ripples in space-time caused for example by
the merger of two black holes. The trick
is to actually measure these gravitational ripples and to do that
you need remarkably precise measuring instrument.
You need an atom interferometer. Babak Saif: gravitational wave detection.
This new carrier would allow us to go
way further back in time and we're looking at the Big ***,
and it really increases our knowledge of cosmology. Theory says these
ripples form when big objects like galaxies and stars move in the
universe. Long since predicted by Einstein's general theory of
relativity, they've never been directly detected. Optical
interferometry -that is visible light measurements- could do the job, but
previous mission concepts were very expensive. A ground
based observatory called advanced LIGO may one day detect
gravity waves. So why atom interferometry?
Mind-boggling precision, by blasting rubidium atoms
with carefully calibrated lasers to super-chill them right above absolute
zero, a change in position of so much as a trillionth of a
meter -a picometer- will show up, thus adding
evidence to the theory. So: cutting edge science
or ***-*** technology? Both, it turns out.
Atom interferometry may be the best way to probe some of the most
essential questions in astrophysics. But the new tools
being built by The Goddard Space Flight Center and Stanford University will have
other applications, too. For example, they could more precisely
track speed, orientation, and inertial changes in one of these...
or help NASA scientists figure out what asteroid
like this are made of.