Grupo de Gravitación y Análisis de Datos en Ondas Gravitacionales

In a paper published today the LIGO – Virgo – KAGRA (LVK) detector network describes a new trick up its sleeve to improve the instruments’ sensitivity to gravitational waves: it’s called Astrophysical Calibration and it plays a role similar to auto-tune in music production 🎵

🔎 When a gravitational wave passes through the Earth, the LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA detectors are ready to catch it, but their sensitivity depends on many factors and it is possible that one of them may not be operating at full capacity at that moment. In moments like these, it is essential to be able to process the data collected by that detector to improve its quality.

Using Astro Calibration, if the gravitational signal detected is sufficiently strong we can compare it to predictions from general relativity and the signals observed in other detectors to recalibrate the data from a ‘mis-tuned’ detector retrospectively 🤯 The process is similar to how music‑production software such as auto-tune can correct a singer’s errant pitch to meet the intended note in a melody.

Learn more: https://www.virgo-gw.eu/news/gravitational-wave-detectors-can-now-auto-tune-their-signals/

Image credits: Carl Knox, OzGrav/Swinburne

Latin American Gravitational Waves Seminar on Thursday, May 14th, at 2:00 PM (Mexico City time), online.

Speaker 1 (20 min): Leonardo González López, University of Guadalajara,
Title: Conceptual Design of a Novel Cryogenic Silicon Suspension for the Einstein Telescope Low-Frequency Detector.

Speaker 2 (20 min): Fabián Peña Arellano, California State University Los Angeles,
Title: Vertical thermal noise effect on the Einstein Telescope low-frequency detector sensitivity.

Cosmic strings are causing gravitational waves that could explain existence

Physicists have theorized that cosmic strings – one-dimensional structures left over from the Big Bang – create detectable gravitational waves that could solve the universe's greatest mystery: why we exist at all. These cosmic ripples in spacetime would provide direct evidence of exotic physics explaining the matter-antimatter imbalance.

Cosmic strings are hypothetical defects in spacetime left behind from phase transitions in the early universe, similar to cracks in cooling glass or frost patterns on windows. If they exist, they would be unimaginably thin – narrower than an atom – but stretched across vast cosmic distances.

The theory suggests that cosmic strings could create ripples in spacetime called gravitational waves through several mechanisms: when they vibrate, when they snap and break under tension, or when they interact with other cosmic structures. These gravitational waves would carry a distinctive signature that current detectors like LIGO might be able to observe.

What makes this particularly exciting is the connection to the matter-antimatter problem. Some theories suggest cosmic strings could have played a role in how the Big Bang created matter and antimatter asymmetrically, leading to a universe dominated by matter. Detecting gravitational waves from cosmic strings would provide evidence supporting these theories.

The challenge is that cosmic string gravitational waves would be faint and their signature subtle. Detecting them requires the most sensitive gravitational wave detectors ever built, operating at their theoretical limits. Nevertheless, several detection campaigns are underway, hoping to catch these cosmic whispers.

If cosmic strings exist and can be detected, it would confirm a major prediction of string theory physics and provide insights into the deepest questions about the universe's origin and structure.

*Source: Scientific American*

🌌

¡Acompáñanos al seminario del Dr. Rafael Hernández Jiménez!✨

“Soluciones a la ecuación de Wheeler–DeWitt: La función de onda del universo”🌌

📅 Miércoles 20 de Mayo | 🕒 1:00 pm | 📍Modulo Z, CUCEI

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18p523NGwL/

Los invitamos al seminario del estudiante Luis Espinoza 👍
mañana a la 1pm

Latin American Gravitational Waves Seminar on Thursday, May 14th, at 2:00 PM (Mexico City time), online.

Speaker 1: Dr. Antonio Enea Romano, Universidad de Antioquia
Title: Testing fundamental physics with multimessenger astronomy

Speaker 2: Dr. Sergio Vallejo-Peña, Universidad de Antioquia
Title: Model agnostic constraints of gravitational-electromagnetic luminosity distance ratio

Detecciones históricas de ondas gravitacionales generadas por sistemas binarios de hoyos negros y estrellas de neutrones.

Te incitamos a conocerlas https://ligo.org/detections/gw150914/
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260326.html

Como cada año, te invitamos al taller de detección de ondas gravitacionales STUDY HUB 2026.

Página oficial del evento:
https://gw-odw.thinkific.com/users/checkout/auth

Del 20 al 23 de abril de 3 a 5pm.

Evento en línea, regístrate para enviarte el código zoom.

Invita a tus amigos 😉🤩😎