Evidence for discovery of gravitational radiation, pp. 1320-24 in Physical Review Letters Vol. 22, No. 24, 16 June 1969. GRAVITATIONAL WAVES DETECTED?

WEBER, Joseph

Verlag: Lancaster, PA & New York, NY: American Physical Society, 1969

Beschreibung

First edition, complete journal issue in original printed wrappers, of Weber's claim to have detected gravitational waves. In 1916 Einstein used his new general theory of relativity to show that ripples in space-time could exist and would move at the speed of light. Such waves stretch and compress space and in the 1950s Weber calculated that he could detect them using large cylinders of ultrapure aluminum, about 2 meters in length and 1 meter in diameter. The stretching of space, he reasoned, would make the bars hum, vibrate, and ring with sound like jumbo tuning forks. The vibrations should measure about a 10-millionth of a nanometer about the same amount the bar would vibrate with thermal energy but Weber hoped to spot the waves by seeing multiple cylinders sing in concert. In 1969 and again in 1970 he claimed to see just such signals. In the present paper, Weber first reported the detection of such gravitational waves, coming apparently from the centre of our galaxy. Unfortunately for Weber, others failed to reproduce his signals. What s more, as Weber stuck to his guns, others argued that Weber had, unawares, manipulated the data in ways that could conjure up false signals. Still, the physicist continued to experiment with his Weber bars for decades, and researchers in Russia and elsewhere also pursued the technique. And many physicists credit Weber for kick-starting the search for gravitational waves. The quest continued with efforts such as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) project, which reported the first detection of gravitational waves in 2016. One of Weber s bars now sits as a museum piece at the LIGO site in Hanford, Washington. Large 8vo, pp. 1271-1342. Original printed wrappers (address label on rear wrapper). Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers ABE-1610045082912

Bibliografische Details

Titel: Evidence for discovery of gravitational ...

Verlag: Lancaster, PA & New York, NY: American Physical Society

Erscheinungsdatum: 1969

Einband: Soft cover

Zustand: Near Fine

Auflage: 1st Edition