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