Albert Einstein, the father of modern physics, developed the General Theory of Relativity—a theory which dramatically changed the idea of time and space—in Europe and his birth country of Germany. Now, almost a century later, Einstein’s famous theory, particularly his thoughts on the existence of gravitational waves, may be proved correct by a group of scientists at West Virginia University and their collaborators across the world.

Maura McLaughin, associate professor in WVU’s Department of Physics, has recently received a grant of $453,656 from the National Science Foundation in hopes of finding these gravitational waves through observing a type of neutron star called a pulsar. This grant will fund research over the next five years.

Neutron stars are made of dense material left over after a massive star explodes. All stars are born from swirling balls of gas, so similar to any star, these dense neutron stars spin. Because they have become much smaller during their formation process, however, they spin much faster than stars like the Sun, with rotational periods up to 1.4 milliseconds. A pulsar weighs more than the sun, yet is often small enough to fit inside Morgantown.

McLaughlin also compared these spinning pulsars to a type of highly precise space clock. By completing an all-sky survey of pulsars using the Green Bank Telescope, she hopes to be able to discover more fast-spinning precise pulsars that can be used to search for correlated signatures of gravitational waves to determine if Einstein’s theory is accurate.

“Although they have never been directly detected, there is very good evidence that these ripples in space time exist,” McLaughlin said. “We’re observing a network of these pulsars and if expect to see signatures of the gravitational waves as small, correlated perturbations on the arrival times of pulses.”

The survey will be performed with the 105-meter Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, the world’s largest fully steerable telescope, located in Green Bank, W.Va.

“Just knowing that gravitational waves exist is important because it would show that Einstein’s Theory of Relativity is correct,” McLaughlin explained. “However, the even greater excitement will come when we are able to use these waves to detect objects never before seen or perhaps even conceived.”

“The direct detection of gravitational waves is one of the foremost goals of modern physics and may offer unique insights into galaxy formation and the early stages of the universe,” she added.

McLaughlin will be collaborating with Duncan Lorimer, interim chair of WVU’s Department of Physics, as well as Rachel Rosen, adjunct professor of physics at WVU and Scott Ransom, astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

For more information, contact Maura McLaughlin at 304-293-4812 or Maura.McLaughlin@mail.wvu.edu

-WVU-

AP/9/24/12

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