Transcript WelcomeToWorldYear

Welcome to the World Year
of Physics
“One thing I have learned
in a long life: that all our
science, measured against
reality, is primitive and
childlike -- and yet it is
the most precious thing we
have.”
Fred Raab,
LIGO Hanford Observatory
LIGO-G050006-01-W
What is the “World Year” About?




Commemorates centennial of “annus mirabilis”, 1905,
when Einstein launched a scientific revolution
UN Resolution cites the importance of physics to the
health and welfare of the citizens of the world
US adopts “World Year” theme of “Einstein in the 21st
Century”
LIGO embodies this theme and was asked to develop
a showcase activity -> Einstein@Home
LIGO-G050006-01-W
Raab: Welcome to the World Year
2
What Happened in 1905?

Einstein, age 26, working at Swiss Patent Office in
Bern, published a series of papers that:
»
»
»
»

Laid the foundation for the quantum theory of light
Ended a millenia-old debate on whether atoms were real
Introduced a theory of space and time, called relativity
Discovered the equivalence of matter and energy, enshrined in the
world’s most famous equation, E=mc2.
These papers launched a revolution that led to most
of 20th-century science and technology
LIGO-G050006-01-W
Raab: Welcome to the World Year
3
Effects of this revolution in our
daily lives

We now understand:
» The composition of matter, how chemicals bond together and how
electricity flows in materials, so we can have modern
pharmaceuticals, medical diagnostics, materials, computers, the
internet
» How to convert matter to energy, so we can understand the
workings of the sun, how the chemical elements came about and
how to forge new ones; we have nuclear power, nuclear weapons
and the promise of nuclear fusion energy sources
» We have a theory of space and time that spans back towards the
earliest moments of time and we understand how matter and
energy warp space and time, so we can study our cosmic origins
and, using the global positioning system, we can accurately
navigate anywhere on earth to incredible accuracy
LIGO-G050006-01-W
Raab: Welcome to the World Year
4
What did Einstein do after 1905?





Perfected relativity, releasing The General Theory of Relativity in
1916. Gravity is explained as the effect of warping space and
time. New field of cosmology begins.
Space warp from the Sun detected on May 29, 1919 by
observation of the bending of starlight during a total solar
eclipse. Einstein becomes Earth’s most famous human.
Einstein continued work in quantum theory, predicting with Bose
the existence of a new form of matter, called bosons
Einstein abandoned Quantum Mechanics and spent the last 30
years of his life searching for a unified theory, that would merge
quantum mechanics and relativity, thereby explaining the
strange phenomena of quantum behavior and restoring
determinacy – a theory of everything from the subatomic to the
edge of the universe and the beginning of time
Einstein died, April 18, 1955 at age 76
LIGO-G050006-01-W
Raab: Welcome to the World Year
5
Einstein in the 21st Century:
a drama in three acts

Seeking gravitational waves
» Space warps, caused by violent cataclysms, that travel at the
speed of light
» “Einstein’s Unfinished Symphony” known to exist but not directly
detected as yet
» LIGO and its cousins around the world will try to detect these for
the first time and use them to study our universe where light cannot
go; cornerstone for NASA and ESA missions in future decades

Searching for a “Theory of Everything”
» 50 years after Einstein’s death, his reclusive search has become
high fashion! More hidden dimensions? Multiple universes? ???

Cosmology
» How did we come to be?
» What is the ultimate fate of our universe?
LIGO-G050006-01-W
Raab: Welcome to the World Year
6
The Frontier of Relativity:
Gravitational Waves
Gravitational waves are
ripples in space when it
is stirred up by rapid
motions of large
concentrations of matter
or energy
LIGO-G050006-01-W
Rendering of space stirred by two
orbiting black holes:
Raab: Welcome to the World Year
7