EMERSON COLLECTIVE.
>>> WELL, ABOUT 100 YEARS AGO,
EINSTEIN PREDICTED THE EXISTENCE
OF GRAVITATIONAL WAVES BUT HE
DOUBTED THEY COULD BE DETECTED.
YESTERDAY THE NOBEL PRIZE IN
PHYSICS WENT TO THREE SCIENTISTS
WHO DETECTED THEM.
THE THREE HEADED A PROJECT THAT
DISCOVERED THE WAVES IN 2015 IT
HAS LITERALLY OPENED UP A NEW
WAY FOR SCIENTISTS TO LOOK AT
THE UNIVERSE.
IT MAY ONE DAY ENABLE US TO LOOK
BACK AT THE MOMENT OF CREATION
ITSELF, THE BIG BANG.
AND JOINING US NOW IS A LOCAL
SCIENTIST WHO EXWOULDED ON THE
PROJECT, DANIEL HOLZ IS AN
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO STUDYING
ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENON
INCLUDING BLACK HOLES AND DARK
MATTER.
AND DANIEL HOLZ WELCOME TO
"CHICAGO TONIGHT."
YOUR REACTION WHEN THIS PROJECT
AND THREE OF THE KEY PEOPLE
INVOLVED WITH THE PROJECT WON
THE NOBEL PRIZE?
>> I MEAN IT WAS I CANNOT SAY I
WAS THAT SURPRISED BECAUSE WE
HAD THIS DISCOVERY AND WE HAVE
BEEN EXCITED ABOUT IT AND THE
PHYSICS COMMUNITY HAS BEEN
EXCITED ABOUT IT.
BUT TO STILL GET THE PRIZE AND
HEAR THAT THE THREE OF THEM WON
IT, JUST DELIGHTED THE BEST
NEWS.
>> AND YOU KNOW THE THREE?
YOU HAVE OVERLAPPED AND WORKED
WITH THEM.
TELL ME ABOUT THEM?
>> THEY ARE WONDERFUL
INDIVIDUALS.
I THINK ONE OF THE CASES WHERE
IT IS A BIG PROJECT THERE ARE
OVER 1,000 SCIENTISTS INVOLVED
AND YOU CAN IMAGINE WHO IS GOING
TO GET THE PRIZE THAT COULD BE
CONTENTIOUS.
BUT IT TURNS OUT, I WOULD CLAIM
THESE THREE WERE THE CLEAR THE
RIGHT ONES TO RECEIVE THE PRIZE.
THEY ARE WONDERFUL INDIVIDUALS.
THEY EACH PLAYED PIVOTAL ROLES
AS WE WENT ALONG THE PROJECT
COULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED WITHOUT
THEM.
AND THEY ARE JUST GREAT PEOPLE
GREAT SCIENTISTS GREAT PEOPLE.
I'M SO HAPPY FOR THEM.
>> AND IN THEIR PUBLIC STATEMENT
THEY ACKNOWLEDGED THE FACT THAT
THIS THEIR WORK INVOLVED
HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE AND I IMAGINE
THAT IS SOMETHING THAT THE
ENTIRE TEAM APPRECIATES.
EXPLAIN IN PLAIN TERMS AS
POSSIBLE, EXACTLY WHAT A
GRAVITATIONAL WAVE IS.
>> SO THE WAY I THINK ABOUT IT
IS GRAVITATION AAL WAVES ARE THE
WAY THE UNIVERSE KEEPS TRACK OF
WHERE EVERYTHING IS.
WE HAVE GRAVITY AND I HAVE MASS
AND A GRAVITATIONAL FORCE SO I'M
PULLING ON YOU WITH MY GRAVITY
RIGHT NOW.
JUST LIKE THE EARTH IS PULLING
ON US AND KEEPING US DOWN.
NOW, IF I GET UP AND MOVE THEN
I'M PULLING MY GRAVITY IS
PULLING BUT FROM A DIFFERENT
PLACE.
IF I GO ACROSS THE ROOM I'M
PULLING YOU THAT WAY INSTEAD.
NOW, HOW THIS WORKS IS AS I
MOVE, I CAN NOW GRAVITATIONAL
WAVES AND THE WAVES TELL YOU OH,
I'M MOVED AND AM OVER THERE.
AND WHEN I MOVE AROUND, I'M
SENDING OUT WAVES EVERYWHERE TO
THE FAR REACHES OF THE UNIVERSE
TO TELL THE MOST DISTANT
GALAXIES I'VE MOVED YOU NEED TO
UPDATE WHERE YOU ARE BEING
PULLED.
AND IT GOES AT THE SPEED OF
LIGHT.
>> WHY WAS IT THAT EINSTEIN
THOUGHT IT COULD NEVER BE
DETECTED?
>> BECAUSE THE EFFECT IS TINY.
SUPER TINY.
IT'S HARD TO GET ACROSS HOW TINY
IT IS.
BUT IT'S THE SORT OF THING WHERE
20 YEARS AGO, I THINK, VERY
EXPERIENCED PHYSICISTS SAID WE
WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO DETECT
THIS IT'S IMPOSSIBLE.
THE EQUIVALENT OF NOTICING THAT
THE MIRRORS ARE SHAKING FOUR
KILOMETRES AWAY BY A TINY
FRACTION OF AN ATOM.
IT BLOWS MY MIND THAT WE HAVE
DONE IT.
>> WE HAVE A VIDEO SIMULATION OF
WHAT LIGO OBSERVED.
WHAT ARE WE LOOKING AT?
>> THAT IS TWO BLACK HOLES
ORBITING EACH OTHER.
YOU DO NOT USUALLY SEE THE HOLES
BECAUSE THEY ARE BLOCK AND ARE
YOU SEEING LIGHT FROM BEHIND
BEING IMAGED.
AND IN THIS VIDEO WHAT YOU ARE
SEEING IS THE TWO BLACK HOLES
AND THE COLORS ARE REPRESENTING
THE GRAVITATION ALE WAVES BEING
EMITTED FROM THOSE.
>> AND WHY IS THE SCIENTIFIC
COMMUNITY SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS
THE NOTION OF GRAVITATIONAL
WAVES?
WHAT MIGHT IT MEAN?
>> YOU ELUDED TO PART OF IT
WHICH IS THAT THE GRAVITATIONAL
WAVES ARE GIVING US A NEW WAY TO
LEARN ABOUT THE UNIVERSE LIKE
WE'VE DEVELOPED A NUISANCE.
MOST OF WHAT WE'VE LEARN SECOND
BY LOOKING OUT WITH TELESCOPES
AND NOW WE CAN SORT OF HEAR THE
UNIVERSE THROUGH THE
GRAVITATIONAL WALE OF WAVES.
>> AND THERE IS SOMETHING CALLED
A CHIRP INVOLVED IN THE STUDY.
WHAT IS THE CHIRP?
>> SO THE CHIRP IS IF YOU TAKE
THE ACTUAL WAVES AND YOU LOOK AT
WHAT THEY WOULD SOUND LIKE IF
YOU STUCK THEM INTO YOUR
SPEAKERS, THEY MAKE A DISTINCT
SOUND IT GOES WHOOP.
AND THAT IS WHAT HE WE CALL THE
CHIRP.
AND WE LOOK FOR THE CHIRP AND
THAT IS HOW WE KNOW WE'VE FOUND
THE WAVE.
>> AND WE HAVE A RECORDING OF
THE CHIRP AND LET'S LISTEN TO
IT.
I HAVE TO TELL YOU IT'S HARD TO
DETECT.
>> FOR ME IT'S CLEAR AS DAY.
AND WE DO THE WAY WE --
YOU CAN LISTEN WITH HEADPHONES
BUT WE USE SUPER COMPUTERS TO
ANALYZE THE DATA AND WHEN YOU
LISTEN TO THAT WITH YOUR SUPER
COMPUTERS, IT'S JUST THIS
INCREDIBLY CRYSTAL CLEAR SIGNAL.
>> AND THE CHIRP REFLECTS WHAT?
>> THE SOUND OF THE FROM THE
GRAVITATIONAL WAVES AS THE BLACK
HOLES GET CLOSER AND CLOSER AND
MERGE.
>> THE CHIRP REPRESENTS THE
MERGING POINT?
>> RIGHT UP UNTIL THE MERGING
POINT AND THEN IT GOES AWAY WHEN
YOU'VE --
>> WHEN THEY HAVE BECOME ONE.
EXACTLY.
>> WE HAVE AN ILLUSTRATION THAT
SHOWS THE INSTRUMENT AND
DESCRIBE HOW THE INSTRUMENT
WORKS.
YOU REFERENCED MIRRORS?
>> LIGO IS TWO LONG EMPTY TUBES.
THE TWO TUBES AND --
>> TWO-AND-A-HALF MILES LONG.
>> AND WHAT WE DO IS WE JUST
SHOOT LASER LIGHT DOWN THE TUBES
AND THEY ARE SHINEY MIRRORS AT
THE END AND THE LIGHT BOUNCES
OFF THE MIRRORS AND COMES BACK.
IT IS A SPECIAL LASER.
SHINEY IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT THEY
ARE AMAZING MIRRORS AND THE
LIGHT GOES BACK AND FORTH AND WE
TIME HOW LONG IT TAKES.
AND IF THE LIGHT GOING DOWN ONE
TUBE TAKES LONGER OR GOES
FASTER, IN TERMS OF TIME THEN
THE LIGHT GOING DOWN ANOTHER
TUBE AND WE COMPARE THAT AND
THEN WE CAN TELL IF A WAVE HAS
COME THROUGH AND STRETCHED THE
TUBES.
>> THE MEASUREMENTS MUST BE
WILDLY ACCURATE IF YOU CAN
MEASURE THE DIFFERENCES?
>> YEAH.
IT'S HERE IS ANOTHER WAY TO SAY
IT.
THE NUMBER WE USE IS 1.10, 21
WHICH TO ME DOES NOT CONVEY
MUCH.
SO ONE WAY TO THINK ABOUT IT IS
IF YOU THINK OF THE DISTANCE TO
THE NEAREST STAR THE NEXT
NEAREST STAR AND WENT AT THE
SPEED OF LIME IT WOULD TAKE YOU
THREE YEARS TO GET THERE.
AND WE ARE NOTICING THAT THAT
STAR IS WIGGLING BY THE WIDTH OF
A HUMAN HAIR.
>> GOSH.
>> IT'S EXTREME.
>> WHAT WAS YOUR ROLE IN THE
LIGO PROJECT?
YOU ARE PART OF THE TEAM.
>> I AM PART OF A GROUP, I LEAD
A GROUP AT THE VERSE I IT OF
CHICAGO WITH A POST STOCK AND
THREE GRADUATE STUDENTS, MAYA,
AND TWO OTHERS AND WHAT WE HAVE
BEEN DOING WE LOOK AT THE DATA
THAT COMES OUT OF LIGO AND FRY
TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IT'S TELLING
US.
WE ARE PART OF THE GROUP THAT
FIGURED OUT OH, THIS IS FROM TWO
BLACK HOLES AND THE PLAQUE HOLES
WERE 30 TIMES THE MASS OF THE
SUN AND THIS IS WHERE THEY WERE
AND HOW FAR THEY WERE AND THEN
WE USE THAT DATA TO LEARN ABOUT
THE UNIVERSE ASTROPHYSICS WHERE
DID THEY COME FROM.
>> IS THE GOAL EVENTLY TO GET
SOME KIND OF MAJOR CONNECTION
WITH THE BIG BANG?
>> ONE OF THE THINGS WE HOPE TO
DO EVENTUALLY IS TO BE ABLE TO
DETECT THE WAVES THAT WERE
EMITTED FROM THE BIG BANG.
WE ARE A LONG WAY AWAY FROM
DOING THAT BUT THAT WOULD BE ONE
OF THE DREAMS OF THE FIELD.
>> DANIEL HOLZ THANK YOU FOR