Desk Top Gravity Wave Detector Possible

remember when gravity wave detectors were kilometers long then 80 meters...

www.newscientist.com...

Sabin's team has shown that, in theory, a gravitational wave would create noticeable vibrations in a Bose-Einstein condensate, a collection of atoms cooled down to almost absolute zero. At this temperature, the atoms behave as one quantum object, and fluctuations can generate "particles" of vibrational energy called phonons.

Bose-Einstein condensates are held in place with traps made of lasers. Previous experiments showed that changing certain properties of the laser trap, such as its size, can create extra phonons in the cloud. Sabin and his colleagues think that gravitational waves should have the same influence (arxiv.org/abs/1402.7009).

"In this case it is space-time that is changing, but that generates a similar effect, which is the creation of phonons," says Sabin. The team calculates that a detector using a Bose-Einstein condensate would be four orders of magnitude more sensitive to gravitational waves than LIGO.

it occurs to me that if this thing behaves as one contiguous particle it should be able to detect other things too: gravitons, mirror matter, WIMPS. neutrinos...

Ok I'll bite! So if one has a belief in such things this could be used as an alien spacecraft detector? Assuming aliens use some sort of gravity propulsion or one of the other "phenomena" you mentioned.

Kukri
Ok I'll bite! So if one has a belief in such things this could be used as an alien spacecraft detector? Assuming aliens use some sort of gravity propulsion or one of the other "phenomena" you mentioned.

well if the propulsion system generates ripples in space then yes. the other possible signatures (barring something really weird like tachyons) are better detected by other types of detectors like gamma and xray recievers. i don't think neutrinos would be a signature. a mirror domain drive might generate mirror particles that would possibly be detectable by something like this too. but it would likely be a pretty short range detector for mirror particle flux.

but the big thing for this discovery is about fundamental science. it might eventually apply to space craft detection but first things first. detect gravity waves and the other things, maybe even invent a gravity telescope. technological spin offs and advancement will follow once the basic science is nailed down. technology always follows fundamental science.

reply to post by stormbringer1701


BEC production, measurement and analysis and reactor development/prototyping, that is what I did in the 90's through NRC research grants. There is an easier way that we found in 1994 and that was gravity wave detection by temporal proxy (non-exclusive rights for experimentation purposes were sold, but I won't say how much, to a university). Gravity waves and wells change time and space. By using a temporal proxy you can measure the time difference between what reality perceives as time and what could be deemed an absolute arrow or "ruler" of time. You can't measure the space component because all of your measurement tools are inside the changing space, there is no absolute reference.

You can measure gravity waves by setting up two counters and a single frequency generator. The frequency is passed to a conventional RF transmitter and receiver system and also to a temporal proxy pair. So, one transmitter uses conventional technology, the other that uses a temporal proxy pair which compresses space (quantum tunneling - based on ER/EPR solutions). Each counter is then monitored and differences in counts measure the frequency and amplitude of the gravitational wave.

ETA: One thing I should mention about BEC's, once you have them down to within a fraction of absolute zero, particles combine and produce string entanglement. Once this occurs, gravity effects the entire entangled string at the same rate, there are no ejections, no additional phonons or multiple "ghost" images are produced just because gravity changes, unless the change in gravity is extremely large and in extremely close proximity to the detector, remember the inverse square law.

Cheers - Dave

Well I'm embarrassed to admit you guys lost me but anything that helps us to understand gravity and quantum physicsmust be a good thing...right?

Kukri
Well I'm embarrassed to admit you guys lost me but anything that helps us to understand gravity and quantum physics must be a good thing...right?

yeah. see right now the size for some of these detectors is astounding. best example: a detector for a quantum graviton at a minimum is estimated to require something with the mass and volume of Jupiter. gravity waves detectors like LIGO LISA and so forth are sometimes kilometers long. neutrino detectors are huge tanks of dry cleaning fluid buried underground in mine shafts or huge volumes of ice in the antarctic. gamma ray telescopes are pretty big too. but technological developments like this have the potential to vastly shrink detectors.

it is a big deal. Mr Data cannot scan for gravitons if the detector won't fit on the Enterprise. but seriously the larger a detector has to be the less of them that get built. in some cases like the graviton scanner it never gets built because it is physically impossible. that slows down fundamental science and slows down the technological dividends of fundamental science as a result.

stormbringer just made ATS 100% more intelligent and sciency :-o