Gravitational Waves

Gravitational waves are oscillations in space-time. As bodies move, the curvature of space-time changes, and these changes travel through space as gravitational waves (like ripples in a pond). The waves change the distance between objects. Through extremely precise measurement of these distance changes, gravitational waves can be detected. Gravitational waves were first predicted in 1916, but could only be observed in 2015 with the LIGO and VIRGO experiments.

Gravitational waves allow us to study the universe, especially objects that do not emit light, such as black holes. Until now, scientists have used almost only electromagnetic radiation (e.g. visible light) to study the universe. Gravitational waves have nothing to do with electromagnetic radiation. They differ from light as much as hearing differs from seeing. With the help of gravitational waves, we can therefore obtain information about their source that is complementary and independent of electromagnetic signals.

More about our model, gravitational waves observations and Nobel Prize

Research on Gravitational waves at the University of Zurich