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<\/figure>\nA Momentous Breakthrough<\/h2>\n
\u201cThis is a really big deal,\u201d says Favata. \u201cNeutron star collisions are one of the key sources that LIGO was hoping to observe \u2013 and now we have. It\u2019s also the loudest source that our network of detectors has found so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Favata, the discovery has resolved a persistent mystery as to the origin of short-duration gamma ray bursts (GRBs). \u201cIt\u2019s long been suspected that these GRB\u2019s are due to the collision of two neutron stars, but that hasn\u2019t been confirmed until now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new observations also resolve long-standing speculation as to how heavy elements, such as gold and lead, are produced. A by-product of the collision of the two neutron stars, these elements are distributed throughout the universe.<\/p>\n
Equally important, Martin says, \u201cThe discovery involved lots of electromagnetic astronomers, all working together with LIGO\/Virgo. Making joint observations with these partners has been a key goal for LIGO.\u201d<\/p>\n
Confirming Einstein’s Theory of Relativity<\/h2>\n
On August 17, LIGO and Virgo detectors registered gravitational waves \u2013 or ripples in the geometry of space and time \u2013 at roughly the same time that NASA’s Fermi space telescope detected a burst of gamma rays. The discovery prompted follow-up observations by telescopes around the world.<\/p>\n
Together, the gamma-ray measurements and gravitational-wave detections provide further confirmation of Einstein’s theory of relativity, which predicted that gravitational waves travel at the speed of light. In 2015, LIGO\u2019s detection of gravitational-wave signals resulting from the merger of two black holes first validated Einstein’s theory and ushered in the new field of gravitational-wave astronomy. Earlier this month, LIGO founders Rainer Weiss and Kip Throne, as well as early LIGO Principal Investigator Barry Barish, received the\u00a02017 Nobel Prize in Physics<\/a>.<\/p>\n As part of the approximately 1,200-member LIGO team, Favata and Martin helped contribute to its successes.<\/p>\n Martin helped to design and install various components of the upgrade to the detectors \u2013 called Advanced LIGO. \u201cMy role in the discovery was to help build the upgrade that enabled the recent discoveries,\u201d she explains. \u201cMy current role is to develop and design optical components and instrumentation for future detectors. This will increase the sensitivity and allow us to observe even more distant events or sources that are currently too weak to detect.\u201d<\/p>\n Favata helped develop some of the gravitational-wave models used to analyze neutron star collisions. He and Martin are also actively involved in education and outreach efforts on behalf of LIGO. These include the\u00a0www.soundsofspacetime.org<\/a>\u00a0website, which is being updated with sounds from the new detections, as well as informative exhibits of LIGO science. Both professors work closely with a team of eight students on experimental, theoretical and educational aspects of gravitational physics. The team is comprised of undergraduates Valerie Avendano, Kevin Chen, Lita de la Cruz, Xavier Euceda, Nicholas Provost, Kevin Santiago, and graduate students Joseph DeGaetani and Matthew Karlson.<\/p>\n \u201cThis detection opens the window of a long-awaited \u2018multi-messenger\u2019 astronomy,\u201d says Caltech\u2019s David H. Reitze, executive director of the LIGO Laboratory. \u201cIt’s the first time that we’ve observed a cataclysmic astrophysical event in both gravitational waves and electromagnetic waves \u2013 our cosmic messengers. Gravitational-wave astronomy offers new opportunities to understand the properties of neutron stars in ways that just can\u2019t be achieved with electromagnetic astronomy alone.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more about the science behind LIGO\u2019s gravitational waves research and discoveries in\u00a0Listening to the Universe<\/em><\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0a recent article in the Fall 2017 issue of\u00a0Insights<\/em>, the Research Chronicle of the College of Science and Mathematics.<\/p>\n More details are available at\u00a0ligo.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n LIGO is funded by the\u00a0NSF<\/a>, and operated by\u00a0Caltech<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0MIT<\/a>, which conceived of LIGO and led the Initial and Advanced LIGO projects. Financial support for the Advanced LIGO project was led by the NSF with Germany (Max Planck Society<\/a>), the U.K. (Science and Technology Facilities Council<\/a>) and Australia (Australian Research Council<\/a>) making significant commitments and contributions to the project.<\/p>\n More than 1,200 scientists and some 100\u00a0institutions<\/a>\u00a0from around the world participate in the effort through the\u00a0LIGO Scientific Collaboration<\/a>, which includes the GEO Collaboration and the Australian collaboration OzGrav. Additional partners are listed at\u00a0http:\/\/ligo.org\/partners.php<\/a><\/p>\n The Virgo collaboration consists of more than 280 physicists and engineers belonging to 20 different European research groups: six from\u00a0Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique<\/a>\u00a0(CNRS) in France; eight from the\u00a0Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare<\/a>(INFN) in Italy; two in the Netherlands with\u00a0Nikhef<\/a>; the MTA Wigner RCP in Hungary; the POLGRAW group in Poland; Spain with the University of Valencia; and the European Gravitational Observatory, EGO, the laboratory hosting the Virgo detector near Pisa in Italy, funded by CNRS, INFN, and Nikhef.<\/p>\nContributing to a Groundbreaking Discovery<\/h2>\n
About LIGO\/Virgo<\/h2>\n