RE: Brace yourselves for gravitational waves
February 11, 2016 at 6:19 pm
(This post was last modified: February 11, 2016 at 6:20 pm by Alex K.)
They increased the sensitivity by a factor 3-10 just last year. Not a lot at first sight, but since this means seeing farther in all three dimensions, this means a great increase in observed volume. Kip thorne said that this signal would have been just below the sensitivity before the recent detector upgrade. It is reasonable to assume that this means with current range of view those events are a relatively common occurrence. But I guess strictly speaking one needs at least two observed events to make a statistic and rule out that this one was a freaky exception. My gut feeling is that there will be another this year, possibly weaker. I think Thorne said somethingalong those lines...
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
