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posted 19. April 2006 13:17
Source: Physics Web
General relativity reveals its secrets
19 April 2006
About the author: Matthew Chalmers is Features Editor of Physics World
Einstein's general theory of relativity might be over 90 years old, but it is only recently that many of its implications can be explored thanks to advances in computing power. This is because its complex nonlinear equations -- which describe how space--time is curved by matter and therefore how matter moves in a gravitational field -- cannot be solved exactly, even for the simplest situations.
Now, Joan Centrella and co-workers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have made an important breakthrough in numerical relativity by simulating what happens when two black holes merge. These extraordinarily powerful events, which occur in the final stages of a galactic collision, produce copious gravitational waves or "ripples" in space--time.
Read the full article at Physics Web
[ 19. April 2006, 13:22: Message edited by: ISCID News Editor ]
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