Gravitational wave

Definition

Gravitational waves are waves of spacetime curvature that propagate at the speed of light and are produced by the relative motion of gravitating masses. They were first predicted by Albert Einstein as a consequence of his general theory of relativity, appearing as "ripples in spacetime curvature". Hundreds of these gravitational waves have since then been observed, first indirectly using binary-pulsar observations and, since 2015, directly through dedicated observatories.

Related concepts

15 Eunomia ACIGA ADM formalism AGATA (gravitational wave detector)AIGO ALTAIR (gravitational wave detector)AT 2017gfo AURIGA Abraham H. Taub Accelerated expansion Accelerating expansion of the universe Acoustics Addison-Wesley Age of the universe Albert Einstein Alcubierre drive Alexander Friedmann Allegro gravitational-wave detector AlphaFold Alpha Centauri Alternatives to general relativity Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri Amplitude Angular momentum Anti-gravity Apsidal precession Ardipithecus ramidus Arecibo Observatory Arkady and Boris Strugatsky Arthur Eddington Arthur Geoffrey Walker Artificial gravity Astronomy Astrophysics Atom interferometer BBC News BICEP2 BICEP and Keck Array BKL singularity BSSN formalism Barry Barish Bernard F. Schutz Big Bang Big Bang Observer Binary Black Hole Grand Challenge Alliance Binary black hole Binary pulsar Binary star Biquaternion Birkhoff's theorem (relativity)Black hole Boson Brans–Dicke theory Breakthrough of the Year Brownian motion CLIO COVID-19 vaccine CRC Press CRISPR gene editing California Institute of Technology Cambridge University Press Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment Cancer immunotherapy Carlos Lousto Center of mass Charles W. Misner Chinese Pulsar Timing Array Chirp mass Chongqing University Chronology of the universe Circular orbit Circular orbits Circular polarization Clara Moskowitz Classical mechanics Compact star Conservation of angular momentum Cooper pair Cosmic Explorer (gravitational wave observatory)Cosmic dust Cosmic expansion Cosmic inflation Cosmic microwave background Cosmic microwave background radiation Cosmic ray Cosmic string Cosmic strings Cosmology Coulomb's law Cruciform Cryogenically Curvature Curved spacetime DECIGO Dark energy David Douglass (physicist)David Hilbert David Kaiser (physicist)David Merritt De Sitter–Schwarzschild metric Deci-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory Dennis Overbye Diaspora (novel)Distributed computing Dolly (sheep)Doppler shift Doubly special relativity Dumbbell EXPLORER Early universe Earth Earth's orbit Edward Arthur Milne Edwin F. Taylor Effelsberg 100-m Radio Telescope Einstein's Unfinished Symphony Einstein@Home Einstein Telescope Einstein cross Einstein field equations Einstein rings Einstein–Rosen metric Electrical charge Electromagnetic radiation Electromagnetic spectrum Electromagnetic wave Electromagnetism Electroweak interaction Elementary particle Elliptical orbit Ellis wormhole Energy Equivalence principle Ernst equation European Gravitational Observatory European Pulsar Timing Array European Space Agency Event horizon Evgeny Lifshitz Evolution Exact solutions in general relativity Experiment Extreme mass ratio inspiral Ezra T. Newman Fabry–Pérot interferometer Felix Pirani Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Fermilab Holometer Fiasco (novel)Fifth force First observation of gravitational waves Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope Focal plane Force Force carrier Frame-dragging Frame of reference Free fall Frequency Friedmann equations Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker metric Fritz Zwicky Fundamental forces Fundamental interaction GEO600 GEOGRAV GLP-1 receptor agonist GRB 170817A GW150914 GW151226 GW170104 GW170608 GW170814 GW170817 GW190412 GW190521 GW190814 GW200105 Galactic Center Galilean invariance Galilean transformation Galileo Galilei Gamma ray Gamma ray burst General relativity General theory of relativity Geodesics in general relativity Geodetic effect Georges Lemaître Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope Glossary of physics Gluon Gravitational-wave astronomy Gravitational-wave detection Gravitational-wave observatory Gravitational constant Gravitational field Gravitational lens Gravitational plane wave Gravitational potential energy Gravitational redshift Gravitational singularity Gravitational time dilation Gravitational wave astronomy Gravitational wave background Gravitational wave detector Gravitational waves Gravitoelectromagnetism Gravitomagnetism Graviton Gravity Gravity wave Great Clarendon Street Green Bank Telescope Greg Egan Ground-based interferometric gravitational-wave search Gunnar Nordström Gödel metric HE0450-2958 HIV HM Cancri HPTN 052 Hamilton–Jacobi–Einstein equation Hanford site Hans Reissner Harry Collins Hartle–Thorne metric Hellings-Downs curve Hendrik Lorentz Henri Poincaré Hermann Bondi Hermann Weyl Higgs boson High-temperature superconductivity History of general relativity Howard P. Robertson Hubble Space Telescope Hulse–Taylor binary Hulse–Taylor pulsar Human genetic variation Hyper-compact stellar system Hyperbolic orthogonality INDIGO IOP Publishing Ignazio Ciufolini Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov Indian Initiative in Gravitational-wave Observations Induced pluripotent stem cell Inflation (cosmology)Infrared light Interferometric gravitational-wave detector Interior Schwarzschild metric International Gravitational Event Collaboration International Pulsar Timing Array Interstellar dust Introduction to general relativity Inversely proportional Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare J. Robert Oppenheimer James M. Bardeen James Webb Space Telescope Jim Peebles Joan Centrella John Archibald Wheeler Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr.Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr.Joseph Weber Josephson effect Joules Jürgen Ehlers KAGRA Kaluza–Klein theory Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector Kamioka Observatory Kantowski–Sachs metric Karl Schwarzschild Kasner metric Kerr metric Kerr–Newman metric Kerr–Newman–de–Sitter metric Kilonova Kinetic energy Kip Thorne Kurt Gödel LIGO LIGO-Australia LIGO-Virgo Collaboration LIGO Scientific Collaboration LISA Pathfinder Ladder paradox Lambda-CDM Laser Interferometer Space Antenna Law of conservation of linear momentum Lead Leiden University Lemaître–Tolman metric Lenacapavir Length contraction Lense–Thirring precession Leopold Infeld Lev Landau Light-year Light cone Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings Linear polarization Linearized gravity List of contributors to general relativity List of gravitational wave observations List of textbooks on relativity Liu Cixin Living Reviews in Relativity Livingston, Louisiana Lokenath Debnath Lorentz transformation Lovell Telescope Lydia Bieri MIT Press Mach's principle Magellanic Clouds Manuela Campanelli (scientist)Marcia Bartusiak Mario Schenberg (Gravitational Wave Detector)Mass Mass in special relativity Massachusetts Institute of Technology Mass–energy equivalence Mathematics of general relativity Mathisson–Papapetrou–Dixon equations Maxwell's equations McVittie metric MeerKAT Megaparsec Melvin metric Messier 87 Michael Berry (physicist)Michelson interferometer Microwave Milky Way Millisecond Millisecond pulsar Milne model MiniGRAIL MiniGrail Minkowski diagram Minkowski space Molecular scale electronics Momentum Monochrome Morton Hamermesh Motion Mount Everest Multipole expansion Multipole moments NASA NAUTILUS NGC 4993 NIOBE Nancay Radio Telescope Nanocircuitry Nathan Rosen National Science Foundation Nature (journal)Neutron star Neutron star merger New York Times Newman–Penrose formalism Newton's law of universal gravitation Newtonian gravity Niobium Nobel Prize in Physics North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves Notices of the American Mathematical Society Nuclear force Numerical relativity Oliver Heaviside Oppenheimer–Snyder model Optical telescope Orbit Orbital decay Orders of magnitude (length)Oxford Ozsváth–Schücking metric Parameterized post-Newtonian formalism Parkes Observatory Parkes Pulsar Timing Array Particle physics Paul Davies Paul Dirac Penrose diagram Peres metric Pergamon Press Peter Saulson Phase transition Philosophy of physics Photon Physical Review Physical Review Letters Physics Physics Today Planck (spacecraft)Poincaré conjecture Polarization (cosmology)Polarization (waves)Power (physics)Pp-wave spacetime Primordial gravitational wave Princeton University Press Principle of relativity Problem book Proper acceleration Proper length Proper time Protein structure prediction Proton Prussian Academy of Sciences Pseudo-Riemannian manifold Pulsar Pulsar timing array Pulsars Pure tone PyCBC Quadrupole Quadrupole formula Quantum field theory Quantum fluctuation Quantum gravity Quantum machine Quasar Quasars Quintessence (physics)R-process RNA interference Radiant energy Radio telescope Radio telescopes Rainer Weiss Rapidity Raychaudhuri equation Recombination (cosmology)Redshift Reissner–Nordström metric Relativistic Doppler effect Relativistic disk Relativity of simultaneity Remembrance of Earth's Past Resonant frequency Richard Feynman Richard Garwin Richland, Washington Riemann curvature tensor Riemannian geometry Robert Geroch Robert L. Forward Roger Penrose Rosetta (spacecraft)Roy Kerr Russell Alan Hulse SDSS J0927+2943 SETI@home SFERA SQUID Schwarzschild metric Science (journal)Scientific American Scientific model Seismic Sextillion Shapiro time delay Shing-Tung Yau Shot noise Single-cell sequencing Solar mass Solar wind Southern Celestial Hemisphere Space.com Space Apprentice Spacetime Spacetime diagram Special relativity Spectral density Speed Speed of gravity Speed of light Spin-flip Spin (physics)Spirit (rover)Square degree Standard Model Stanford gravitational wave detector Stanislaw Lem Statistical physics Stellar black hole Stellar collision Stem cell Stephen Hawking Sticky bead argument Stochastic Stress–energy tensor Strong interaction Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Sun Superconducting Superconductivity Supermassive black hole Supernova Superradiance TAMA 300 TENKO-100 Taub–NUT space Taylor & Francis Group Terrell rotation Tests of general relativity The Astrophysical Journal The Guardian The New York Times Theory of relativity Thomas precession Three-sigma rule TianQin Tidal force Time dilation Timeline of gravitational physics and relativity Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff equation Torsion-bar antenna Transient astronomical event Triangulation Truncated Icosahedral Gravitational Wave Antenna Twin paradox Two-body problem in general relativity Type Ia supernova US National Science Foundation Ultraviolet light Universe University of Birmingham University of Chicago Press University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Vaidya metric Van Stockum dust Very Large Array Virgo Collaboration Virgo interferometer Visible light Wahlquist fluid Watt Wave Waveform Wavelength Weak interaction Weber bar Werner Israel Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope Weyl metrics Weyl−Lewis−Papapetrou coordinates White dwarf Whole genome sequencing Willem Jacob van Stockum Willem de Sitter Work (physics)World Scientific World line Wormhole X-ray Yakov Zeldovich Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat Zooniverse

39 concepts already in your glossary