Photodetector
- ID-nummer
- 2017.022.001
- Titel
- Photodetector
- Objektkategori
- Vetenskapliga instrument, material & modeller
- Publik beskrivning
-
Rainer Weiss was a pioneer within the LIGO project, where gravitational waves are studied. In an early stage of the project, he built this prototype detector for measuring how laser beams are displaced relative to each other due to gravitational waves.
The concept of gravitational waves has its basis in Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Gravitational waves are generated when space-time expands and contracts, but the changes are infinitesimal and hard to measure.
Rainer Weiss donated the prototype detector to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2017. - Pristagare
- Rainer Weiss
Part of Photodetector