Is it time to learn what a gravity wave is?

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/feb/11/gravitational-waves-discovery-ha...

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/feb/11/gravitational-waves-discovery-ha...

So if Einstein redefined gravity as warping of space-time, why do particle physicists still talk about gravitons? Or is this like the phenomenon of light being both a particle and a wave?

Is it time to learn what a gravity wave is?

Like Bob Dylan sang:

It ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe
It don’t matter, anyhow
An’ it ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe
If you don’t know by now

Make a pit in your mash; fill with the gravy; drop in a pea.

Oh, gravity!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/68332

I hope daschaich will comment here.

We can also await Matt Strassler's take on this.

JJ,
Gravitational waves would have particle and wave like properties. I think the curved space geometry is another aspect.

A particle that acts like a wave that curves space time.

Lead item on the BBC evening news - that's pretty rare for a science story.

Strictly speaking, the news is about gravitational waves, and gravity waves are a different thing altogether: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_wave

Well, I ought to refrain from spending time here until I deal with my next deadline (next week). I think the old thread you point out addresses the question reasonably well for the time being. In short, you don't need to worry about gravitons (or any other quantum particles) in the context of this news. This is convenient, since it's tricky enough trying to grok a wave of spacetime as opposed to a wave moving through spacetime, even without getting near quantum gravity.

(If you're curious, one can infer a very small maximum graviton mass from this gravitational wave observation, using this method. This maximum -- more than 27 orders of magnitude smaller than the electron mass -- is not dramatically different than previous results from other, easier studies. This is mentioned briefly on page 8 of the LIGO--Virgo publication, and also in this less-technical summary.)

Matt Strassler is "now employed outside of science", but he re-emerged to write this post.

PS. This might be useful as a quick introduction to gravitational waves.

Thanks daschaich. Good luck with your current project.

Come back when you can to check on my further confusion. : )

I was hoping this topic would be commented on. I did not know that experiments were already under way to prove gravity waves. when the radio news said that "1000 scientists worldwide" were going to try to prove the existence of gravity waves I got the image of a big circle of scientists all holding hands and concentrating.

After a brief explanation of the experiment followed I immediately wondered how fast do gravity/gravitational waves move? Gonna read the links above when time permits & if there is a good explanation of the experiment with graphics I would like a link.

::edit:: scratch the above by me, the links provided are great ...Thanks!!

The New Yorker has a nice summary:

http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/gravitational-waves-exist-heres-how-scien...

>12 AsYouKnow_Bob: thanks, and now to further expose my ignorance and increase the annoyance of those who might understand the discovery .....Does the result of this experiment give any further credence to the concept of the Alcubierre drive? - wiki link.

>2 jjwilson61: A particle is an excitation of a field (i.e. a point of higher energy, the field is usually considered at it's lowest energy). For example the Higgs particle is the lowest excitation state of the Higgs field (everything is quantized so energy levels occur in jumps).

Einstein did not consider gravity a force but a distortion of space-time. If it's not a force it doesn't have a field or associated particles.
Theoretical physicists who wish to unify Einstein theory with quantum mechanics treat gravity differently and treat it as being a field and therefore having particles i.e. the graviton.

I thought all particles have particle-wave equivalency... not just light.

So if there are gravitational waves, there are gravitons...

??

>15 LheaJLove: All particles are equivalent to waves but not the other way round. A gravity wave is a distortion in the fabric of space-time, you could think of it as like a mechanical wave.

>15 LheaJLove: Yes, but gravity waves are waves in space-time which I believe is fundamentally different than other kinds of waves.

Ah, I see what you mean. Hmph. I'll look into that.

Thanks guys.

Related to gravity waves, here is a summary of some new science research:

https://theblueanchors.com/index.php/the-electron-is-having-a-magnetic-moment-it...

There is a much more extensive discussion online today of this science experiment, but it's at the Wired magazine website and is currently paywalled.

A key gravity experiment is being built:

https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a46652275/lisa-gravitational-w...