Gravitational waves ripple through space when massive objects collide. For example, black holes and neutron stars create these waves. Scientists first confirmed their existence in 2015, proving Einstein right. However, researchers now want to do more than detect them. They aim to influence gravitational waves directly.
A Bold Idea from Theoretical Physics
Physicist Ralf Schützhold from HZDR proposed a groundbreaking experiment. His work appears in Physical Review Letters. The idea explores whether gravity follows quantum rules. If successful, this experiment could reshape modern physics. Therefore, it has sparked strong interest worldwide.
Light Could Affect Gravity
Gravity affects everything, including light. As a result, light and gravitational waves can exchange energy. Schützhold suggests transferring tiny energy packets from light to gravitational waves. These packets match what scientists call gravitons. Gravitons are hypothetical particles linked to gravity. In addition, the light would lose a small amount of energy, changing its frequency. The energy shift would be extremely small. However, advanced tools could still detect it. A specially designed interferometer would compare two light waves. One wave would gain energy, while the other would lose it. As a result, their interference pattern would change.
Scientists could then measure the energy transfer accurately.
An Experiment on a Massive Scale
The proposed setup would stretch about one kilometer. Light would bounce between mirrors up to a million times. Therefore, the total optical path would reach nearly one million kilometers. This scale makes the experiment challenging. Still, similar systems already exist, such as the LIGO observatory. LIGO detects gravitational waves by measuring tiny space-time changes. This new setup could go further. It may allow scientists to manipulate gravitational waves for the first time. In addition, quantum-entangled light could boost sensitivity. This step might reveal clues about gravity’s quantum nature. While not final proof, the results could strongly support graviton-based theories.
