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TWDeac Batsignal

If this is confirmed via Planck data in the next few months, no one else will have a shot at the Nobel prize. It gives us a glimpse into the first moments of the big bang and lends significant credence to inflationary theory. This rivals and could potentially surpass the discovery of the Higgs particle as the greatest discovery in physics in years.
 
In laymens terms how has this been identified as "waves of gravity" similar to what first occurred, and why is this not currently expanding so rapidly that we are able to detect it to begin with?
 
palmab03 said:
In laymens terms how has this been identified as "waves of gravity" similar to what first occurred, and why is this not currently expanding so rapidly that we are able to detect it to begin with?
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These are the primordial gravitational waves that have existed since the big bang. They started off as tremendously tiny waves generated by small fluctuations in spacetime(Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle) that were then magnified into enormous sizes during the inflationary epoch. We are just now developing technology that allows us to detect them because at this energy they are almost infinitesimally small. To give you an idea, here is an excerpt from LIGO's wiki page. Keep in mind, this detector is designed to find much younger gravitational waves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligo

Based on current models of astronomical events, and the predictions of the general theory of relativity, gravitational waves that originate tens of millions of light years from Earth are expected to distort the 4 kilometer mirror spacing by about 10−18 m, less than one-thousandth the charge diameter of a proton. Equivalently, this is a relative change in distance of approximately one part in 1021.
 
palmab03 said:
Do they move or expand now or are they static?
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They are expanding with our universe. I expect we'll always be able to detect them as our detection systems get more sensitive.

It's extremely important because, similar to our ability to determine characteristics of an earthquake by seismic waves, we get a glimpse into the early universe with these waves. A place that was somewhat mysterious to us up until this point. Our telescopes cannot see back past about 380,000 years after the big bang. Before that time, the universe was essentially a big ball of reflective plasma.
 
TW, how does this impact current String Theory or Brane theory? Confirm? Contradict? Other?
 
This is pretty cool. It's the video of someone going to the house of the guy who first theorized this stuff and telling him that it's been discovered.

 
What do you think tw?
morning_picdump_553_640_56.jpg
 
Didn't know where else to put this, but there is a sizable meteor shower that will be visible tonight throughout North America. It should peak between 2:00AM and 4:00AM on the East Coast. Meteors should originate from near Polaris and the Big Dipper. Streaming video also available here.
 
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