The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Rainer Weiss, Barry Clark Barish, and Kip Thorne for their groundbreaking work in the discovery of gravitational waves through the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) experiment. In this blog post, we will delve into the principles behind LIGO and the profound implications of its findings. The Origin of the Laser Interferometer Experiment: To appreciate the significance of LIGO's breakthrough, it is essential to revisit the origins of the laser interferometer concept. In 1887, renowned scientists Albert A. Michelson and Edward W. Morley designed an ingenious experiment to investigate the existence of an "ether." At that time, researchers believed that light, a fundamental electromagnetic wave, propagated through the hypothetical "ether" medium. The Michelson-Morley experiment involved a light source emitting a coherent beam of light, which passed through a beam splitter at the center. This ...
Unveiling Nature's Secrets through Physics' Lens.