Einstein's Prediction Observed After a Century

Exactly a century after Albert Einstein's prediction regarding the existence of gravitational waves, scientists today announced that they have successfully observed them for the first time. According to the National Public Radio, Saul Tockusly, an astrophysics expert at Cornell University, stated, "This is a truly monumental and important discovery." He believes this discovery is the greatest experience of his professional life. A gravitational wave is a wave produced by gravitational fields, which Einstein predicted in 1916 as part of his theory of "general relativity." The theory of general relativity is a set of mathematical equations that describe the phenomenon of space-time and gravity, which until then had been explained using Newtonian mechanics or "force," as a form of "curvature." The relativity hypothesis states that a mass with very high density, like the sun, can change the shape of light around it and bend its path. According to general relativity, mass can curve space-time, creating a gravitational field that can deflect light. The gravitational waves generated by this gravitational field spread throughout the universe. Although this theory had been mathematically proven, practically observing it was not possible for scientists. To see these gravitational waves, two very massive bodies must move at high speeds. Researchers had predicted that if two black holes collided, it would be possible to create and observe such waves, but no one knew if this event was possible or how often it might occur. Nevertheless, scientists built two devices to observe these waves. These wave detectors, known as LIGO, are located in the states of Washington and Louisiana in the United States. These devices, each consisting of an L-shaped tunnel nearly five kilometers long, were constructed in 1999, but a major upgrade was performed on both in 2014, making them better prepared to detect these waves. In an article published in the scientific journal Physical Review Letters regarding this discovery, it is mentioned that in the fall of 2015, the long-awaited collision of two black holes finally occurred. The two black holes, each with a mass approximately thirty times that of the sun and located one and a half million light-years from Earth, merged. Gravitational waves were created in the final stage of this collision and the merging of these two black holes, which were detectable by the LIGO devices. The figures and mathematical calculations obtained from this experimental observation match the calculations of Einstein's theory, meaning it is a practical proof of part of Einstein's general relativity theory. Scientists believe this observation is one of the most precise ever obtained from black holes.