2017 NobelPrize in Physics go to the entire LIGO Scientific Collaboration. LIGO 第 2 次發現重力波 Signs of black holes merging arrive a century after Albert Einstein predicted them
The story behind the building of LIGO – a gigantic interferometer:
It took years of developing the most sensitive instrument ever to be able to distinguish gravitational waves from all the background noise. This required sophisticated analysis and advanced theory, for which Kip Thorne was the expert. But the highest levels of creative engineering and craftsmanship are necessary to build ingenious instruments, and this was Rainer Weiss’ pioneering contribution. The laser light’s wavelength and intensity must be as stable as possible, and the beam must hit the suspended mirrors precisely. They should hardly shake at all, not even when leaves fall from nearby trees, a child runs by or a lorry passes on a distant road. At the same time, these hanging mirrors must be free to swing with the passage of gravitational waves. The thermal motion of atoms on the surface of the mirrors must be compensated for, as well as quantum effects in the laser. It was necessary to develop new laser technology and invent new materials, as well as construct gigantic vacuum tubes, seismic isolation and other vital technology far beyond what had previously been achieved.
Running such a project on a small scale was no longer possible and a new approach was needed. In 1994, when Barry Barish took over as leader for LIGO, he transformed the small research group of about 40 people into a large-scale international collaboration with more than a thousand participants. He searched for the necessary expertise and brought in numerous research groups from many countries. The impossible dream could only come true through the collaborative efforts of big science.
Rainer Weiss, Barry C. Barish and Kip S. Thorne are awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize “for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves”.
From popular information ”Cosmic chirps” (pdf): goo.gl/VaR6qp
"With the advent of Advanced #LIGO, we anticipated researchers would eventually succeed at detecting unexpected phenomena, but these two detections thus far have surpassed our expectations. National Science Foundation (NSF)'s 40-year investment in this foundational research is already yielding new information about the nature of the dark universe."— NSF director France A. Córdova (PhD ’79)
The LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo collaboration identify a second gravitational wave event in the data from Advanced LIGO detectors.
CALTECH.EDU
BREAKING: The Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) has detected gravitational waves from two colliding black holes for the second time. Our coverage from the first detection
In this paper we investigate a severe pollution episode that occurred in Beijing, Tianjin, and the Hebei province in January 2013. The episode was caused by the combination of anthropogenic emissions and a high-pressure system that trapped pollutants in the boundary layer. Using IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) satellite measurements, high concentrations of key trace gases such as carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and ammonia (NH3) along with ammonium sulfate aerosol ((NH4)2SO4) are found.
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