An executive summary of what every fan should know about the 2016 ATP World Tour season

Strong Fields in Dubai, Acapulco & Sao Paulo – The busiest month of the season comes to a close this week with 500 level tournaments in Dubai and Acapulco and the final Latin American clay court stop in Sao Paulo. Five of the Top 10 players in the Emirates ATP Rankings are in action, with top-ranked Novak Djokovic, No. 4 Stan Wawrinka and No. 8 Tomas Berdych competing in Dubai. No. 6 David Ferrer and No. 7 Kei Nishikori, last year’s finalists, lead the way in Acapulco. In Sao Paulo, Frenchman Benoit Paire is the top seed for the second time (’12 Los Angeles) in his career in an ATP World Tour tournament.

DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS (Dubai) –  The 24^th edition of the prestigious ATP World Tour 500 level tournament is highlighted by World No. 1 and four-time champ Novak Djokovic​, who is playing his first tournament since capturing a record-tying sixth Australian Open title last month. The other seeds are: No. 2 Stan Wawrinka, No. 3 Tomas Berdych, No. 4 Roberto Bautista Agut, No. 5 Viktor Troicki, No. 6 Feliciano Lopez, No. 7 Martin Klizan and No. 8 Philipp Kohlschreiber. Since 2009, Djokovic or Federer have won the title. Federer, who withdrew due to a knee injury, owns the tournament record with seven titles.

Novak Eyes No. 700 – World No. 1 Novak Djokovic returns to the ATP World Tour for the first time since Jan. 31, when he defeated Andy Murray to claim a record-tying sixth Australian Open crown. The Serb, who is playing in Dubai for the 10^th year in a row (34-5 record), is bidding to become the 12th player in the Open Era to win 700 career singles matches. He won Dubai titles in 2009-11 and 2013. He enters Dubai with 698 career wins at the ATP World Tour level. He is also trying to become the third active player to accomplish the feat, joining Roger Federer (1,067) and Rafael Nadal (775). Coach Boris Becker is also a member of the 700 wins club (713).

17 & Counting – Djokovic enters Dubai having reached 17 consecutive finals going back to last year’s Australian Open. During the streak, Djokovic has won 13 of 17 finals, including the last seven going back to the US Open in September. Djokovic has tied Federer’s mark of 17 finals in a row (2005-06) and is one final away from tying Ivan Lendl’s record of 18 straight in 1981-82.

400 Wins Milestone – While Djokovic is closing in on 700 career wins, Feliciano Lopez is one win away from 400 in his career. The 34-year-old Spaniard takes on countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the first round.

Stan is Back – No. 2 seed Stan Wawrinka returns to Dubai for the first time since 2008 (1R, l. to Hernych). He made his debut 10 years ago, losing to Federer in the first round.

Berdych Makes 10^th Appearance – No. 3 seed Tomas Berdych ​is making his 10^th appearance in Dubai. The two-time finalist (2013-14), who has reached the semi-finals or better in four of the last five years, owns a 20-9 career record in Dubai.

Kyrgios Debut – Nick Kyrgios makes his Dubai debut against No. 7 Martin Klizan in the first round. The 20-year-old Aussie comes in after winning in Marseille (vs. Cilic) after posting back-to-back Top 10 wins over No. 10 Richard Gasquet (QF) and No. 8 Tomas Berdych (SF). He is the first first-time winner and youngest title winner on the ATP World Tour this season.



ABIERTO MEXICANO TELCEL (Acapulco) – One of the favourite destinations on the ATP World Tour is the Acapulco Princess Mundo Imperial, site of the ATP World Tour 500 level Abierto Mexicano Telcel. The tournament made the switch from red clay to blue hard courts in 2014 and this year’s field features attracted five Top 20 players, led by World No. 6 and reigning champion David Ferrer. The others include: No. 7 Kei Nishikori, No. 12 Marin Cilic, No. 19 Dominic Thiem and No. 20 Bernard Tomic. Rounding out the seeds are: Ivo Karlovic, Jeremy Chardy and Steve Johnson. Ferrer is eyeing a fifth Acapulco title after earning a three-peat from 2010-’12. The other former winner in the field is Grigor Dimitrov (2014).

Reigning Champ – Ferrer is making his 10^th tournament appearance (29-5) and he is a four-time champion (2010-11-12, ’15). The 33-year-old Spaniard has won three or more titles at four tournaments in his career, including Acapulco three straight years from 2010-12.

Kei On A Roll – No. 2 seed Kei Nishikori comes into Acapulco after winning his fourth straight title in Memphis last Sunday (d. Fritz). The 26-year-old Japanese star is making his third appearance in Acapulco, having reached the second round in his 2012 debut and final last year (l. to Ferrer). Nishikori has a 9-2 match record on the season and last month he reached the quarter-finals in Brisbane (l. to Tomic) and at the Australian Open (l. to Djokovic).

Finalists Coming to Acapulco – Three players who reached ATP World Tour finals on Sunday are coming to Acapulco. Delray Beach finalists Sam Querrey and Rajeev Ram, both playing in their first final of the season, along with Marseille finalist Marin Cilic, are making the trip to Acapulco.

Ivo Eyes 300 – No. 6 seed Ivo Karlovic, who is the oldest player in the singles draw at 36 (turns 37 next Sunday), is one win away from 300 in his career. Karlovic has reached the quarter-finals here the last two years. The big-serving Croat has been slowed by a right knee injury and he’s looking for his first match win (0-3) of the season.

Late Bloomer – The oldest winner on the ATP World Tour this season is 35-year-old Victor Estrella Burgos, who repeated his title in Quito (d. Bellucci) two weeks ago. The Dominican Republic native is making his second appearance in Acapulco after a first-round exit last season.

Thiem Makes Debut – No. 4 seed Dominic Thiem, who captured his fourth career ATP World Tour title in Buenos Aires last Sunday (d. Almagro) and followed with a semi-final in Rio (l. to Pella), is making his debut in Acapulco. The 22-year-old Austrian has defeated the top two Spaniards, Rafael Nadal (Buenos Aires SF) and David Ferrer (Rio QF) the last two weeks.

BRASIL OPEN (Sao Paulo) – Sao Paulo is the site of one of two Brazilian tournaments on the ATP World Tour (Rio de Janeiro). There are six players in the Top 50 Emirates ATP Rankings in the field, led by top-seeded French wild card Benoit Paire, who is coming off a semi-final showing in Marseille (l. to Cilic). The other seeds are No. 2 Thomaz Bellucci, No. 3 Pablo Cuevas, No. 4 Federico Delbonis, No. 5 Albert Ramos-Vinolas, No. 6 Paolo Lorenzi, No. 7 Nicolas Almagro and No. 8 Pablo Andujar. There are three former winners in the field: defending champion Cuevas, 2014 title holder Delbonis and three-time champ (2008, ’11-12) Almagro.

Cuevas Defending Champ – The reigning champion is Pablo Cuevas, who defeated Italian qualifier Luca Vanni in a third set tie-break in last year’s final. He also was runner-up in Istanbul (l. to Federer).

Paire Top Seed – Wild card Benoit Paire returns to Sao Paulo for the first time since 2012 when he lost to David Nalbandian in the first round. This is the second time in Paire’s career he is the top seed in an ATP World Tour tournament. In 2012 in Los Angles, he lost in the second round (after bye, l. to Russell). He is coming off his second semi-final of the season in Marseille (d. No. 4 Wawrinka, l. to Cilic).

Spanish Success – Two years ago, Delbonis became the first Argentine tournament winner since Guillermo Canas won in Costa do Sauipe in 2007. Last year Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas won the title. Prior to 2014, Spaniards had won six straight titles in Sao Paulo from 2008-13, with Almagro winning three times

Almagro On the Rise – No. 7 seed Nicolas Almagro, who is a three-time Sao Paulo winner (2008, 2011-12), is nearing a return to the Top 50 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. The 30-year-old Spaniard was runner-up in Buenos Aires last week (l. to Thiem) and he lost to Nadal in the second round in Rio. He has jumped from 73 at the end of last year to 53. The last time he appeared in the Top 50 was Oct. 20, 2014 at No. 43.

Brazilian Title Hopes – There are three Brazilians in the main draw, led by No. 32  Thomaz Bellucci, No. 173 Guillerme Clezar and No. 338 Thiago Monteiro, who is coming off his first career ATP World Tour main draw match win Rio where he beat No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round (l. to Cuevas). Bellucci, who reached the final in 2009 (l. to Robredo), is making his ninth straight tournament appearance (13-8 record). Clezar is looking for his first career main draw match win (0-4) in Sao Paulo while Monteiro is making his tournament debut.

RANKINGS MOVERS (22 February, 2016)

Kei Nishikori 6 (+1 spot)

Tomas Berdych 7 (+1 spot)
Dominic Thiem 15 (+4 spots) – career high

Pablo Cuevas 27 (+18 spots)

Nick Kyrgios 33 (+8 spots)
Guido Pella 42 (+29 spots) – career high

Sam Querrey 43 (+18 spots)
Rajeev Ram 60 (+29 spots) – career high

Daniel Gimeno Traver 99 (+19 spots)

POTENTIAL MILESTONES

Dubai – Singles

Novak Djokovic – 698 wins

Feliciano Lopez – 399 wins

Sergiy Stakhovsky – 149 wins

Dubai – Doubles

Radek Stepanek – 299 wins

Ivan Dodig – 147 wins

Acapulco – Singles

Ivo Karlovic – 299 wins

Jeremy Chardy – 197 wins

Robin Haase – 149 wins

Acapulco – Doubles

Juan Sebastian Cabal – 148 wins

Rajeev Ram – 147 wins

Sao Paulo – Doubles

David Marrero – 197 wins

BIRTHDAYS

22 February – Andrey Kuznetsov (25)

24 February – Lleyton Hewitt (35)

27 February – Filip Krajinovic (24), Facundo Bagnis (26)

28 February – Ivo Karlovic (37)




Scouting Report: Djokovic Makes A Splash In Dubai

http://isthattrue.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/sunset-acapulco-2016.jpg

An executive summary of what every fan should know about the 2016 ATP World Tour season

Strong Fields in Dubai, Acapulco & Sao Paulo – The busiest month of the season comes to a close this week with 500 level tournaments in Dubai and Acapulco and the final Latin American clay court stop in Sao Paulo. Five of the Top 10 players in the Emirates ATP Rankings are in action, with top-ranked Novak Djokovic, No. 4 Stan Wawrinka and No. 8 Tomas Berdych competing in Dubai. No. 6 David Ferrer and No. 7 Kei Nishikori, last year’s finalists, lead the way in Acapulco. In Sao Paulo, Frenchman Benoit Paire is the top seed for the second time (’12 Los Angeles) in his career in an ATP World Tour tournament.

DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS (Dubai) –  The 24^th edition of the prestigious ATP World Tour 500 level tournament is highlighted by World No. 1 and four-time champ Novak Djokovic​, who is playing his first tournament since capturing a record-tying sixth Australian Open title last month. The other seeds are: No. 2 Stan Wawrinka, No. 3 Tomas Berdych, No. 4 Roberto Bautista Agut, No. 5 Viktor Troicki, No. 6 Feliciano Lopez, No. 7 Martin Klizan and No. 8 Philipp Kohlschreiber. Since 2009, Djokovic or Federer have won the title. Federer, who withdrew due to a knee injury, owns the tournament record with seven titles.

Novak Eyes No. 700 – World No. 1 Novak Djokovic returns to the ATP World Tour for the first time since Jan. 31, when he defeated Andy Murray to claim a record-tying sixth Australian Open crown. The Serb, who is playing in Dubai for the 10^th year in a row (34-5 record), is bidding to become the 12th player in the Open Era to win 700 career singles matches. He won Dubai titles in 2009-11 and 2013. He enters Dubai with 698 career wins at the ATP World Tour level. He is also trying to become the third active player to accomplish the feat, joining Roger Federer (1,067) and Rafael Nadal (775). Coach Boris Becker is also a member of the 700 wins club (713).

17 & Counting – Djokovic enters Dubai having reached 17 consecutive finals going back to last year’s Australian Open. During the streak, Djokovic has won 13 of 17 finals, including the last seven going back to the US Open in September. Djokovic has tied Federer’s mark of 17 finals in a row (2005-06) and is one final away from tying Ivan Lendl’s record of 18 straight in 1981-82.

400 Wins Milestone – While Djokovic is closing in on 700 career wins, Feliciano Lopez is one win away from 400 in his career. The 34-year-old Spaniard takes on countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the first round.

Stan is Back – No. 2 seed Stan Wawrinka returns to Dubai for the first time since 2008 (1R, l. to Hernych). He made his debut 10 years ago, losing to Federer in the first round.

Berdych Makes 10^th Appearance – No. 3 seed Tomas Berdych ​is making his 10^th appearance in Dubai. The two-time finalist (2013-14), who has reached the semi-finals or better in four of the last five years, owns a 20-9 career record in Dubai.

Kyrgios Debut – Nick Kyrgios makes his Dubai debut against No. 7 Martin Klizan in the first round. The 20-year-old Aussie comes in after winning in Marseille (vs. Cilic) after posting back-to-back Top 10 wins over No. 10 Richard Gasquet (QF) and No. 8 Tomas Berdych (SF). He is the first first-time winner and youngest title winner on the ATP World Tour this season.



ABIERTO MEXICANO TELCEL (Acapulco) – One of the favourite destinations on the ATP World Tour is the Acapulco Princess Mundo Imperial, site of the ATP World Tour 500 level Abierto Mexicano Telcel. The tournament made the switch from red clay to blue hard courts in 2014 and this year’s field features attracted five Top 20 players, led by World No. 6 and reigning champion David Ferrer. The others include: No. 7 Kei Nishikori, No. 12 Marin Cilic, No. 19 Dominic Thiem and No. 20 Bernard Tomic. Rounding out the seeds are: Ivo Karlovic, Jeremy Chardy and Steve Johnson. Ferrer is eyeing a fifth Acapulco title after earning a three-peat from 2010-’12. The other former winner in the field is Grigor Dimitrov (2014).

Reigning Champ – Ferrer is making his 10^th tournament appearance (29-5) and he is a four-time champion (2010-11-12, ’15). The 33-year-old Spaniard has won three or more titles at four tournaments in his career, including Acapulco three straight years from 2010-12.

Kei On A Roll – No. 2 seed Kei Nishikori comes into Acapulco after winning his fourth straight title in Memphis last Sunday (d. Fritz). The 26-year-old Japanese star is making his third appearance in Acapulco, having reached the second round in his 2012 debut and final last year (l. to Ferrer). Nishikori has a 9-2 match record on the season and last month he reached the quarter-finals in Brisbane (l. to Tomic) and at the Australian Open (l. to Djokovic).

Finalists Coming to Acapulco – Three players who reached ATP World Tour finals on Sunday are coming to Acapulco. Delray Beach finalists Sam Querrey and Rajeev Ram, both playing in their first final of the season, along with Marseille finalist Marin Cilic, are making the trip to Acapulco.

Ivo Eyes 300 – No. 6 seed Ivo Karlovic, who is the oldest player in the singles draw at 36 (turns 37 next Sunday), is one win away from 300 in his career. Karlovic has reached the quarter-finals here the last two years. The big-serving Croat has been slowed by a right knee injury and he’s looking for his first match win (0-3) of the season.

Late Bloomer – The oldest winner on the ATP World Tour this season is 35-year-old Victor Estrella Burgos, who repeated his title in Quito (d. Bellucci) two weeks ago. The Dominican Republic native is making his second appearance in Acapulco after a first-round exit last season.

Thiem Makes Debut – No. 4 seed Dominic Thiem, who captured his fourth career ATP World Tour title in Buenos Aires last Sunday (d. Almagro) and followed with a semi-final in Rio (l. to Pella), is making his debut in Acapulco. The 22-year-old Austrian has defeated the top two Spaniards, Rafael Nadal (Buenos Aires SF) and David Ferrer (Rio QF) the last two weeks.

BRASIL OPEN (Sao Paulo) – Sao Paulo is the site of one of two Brazilian tournaments on the ATP World Tour (Rio de Janeiro). There are six players in the Top 50 Emirates ATP Rankings in the field, led by top-seeded French wild card Benoit Paire, who is coming off a semi-final showing in Marseille (l. to Cilic). The other seeds are No. 2 Thomaz Bellucci, No. 3 Pablo Cuevas, No. 4 Federico Delbonis, No. 5 Albert Ramos-Vinolas, No. 6 Paolo Lorenzi, No. 7 Nicolas Almagro and No. 8 Pablo Andujar. There are three former winners in the field: defending champion Cuevas, 2014 title holder Delbonis and three-time champ (2008, ’11-12) Almagro.

Cuevas Defending Champ – The reigning champion is Pablo Cuevas, who defeated Italian qualifier Luca Vanni in a third set tie-break in last year’s final. He also was runner-up in Istanbul (l. to Federer).

Paire Top Seed – Wild card Benoit Paire returns to Sao Paulo for the first time since 2012 when he lost to David Nalbandian in the first round. This is the second time in Paire’s career he is the top seed in an ATP World Tour tournament. In 2012 in Los Angles, he lost in the second round (after bye, l. to Russell). He is coming off his second semi-final of the season in Marseille (d. No. 4 Wawrinka, l. to Cilic).

Spanish Success – Two years ago, Delbonis became the first Argentine tournament winner since Guillermo Canas won in Costa do Sauipe in 2007. Last year Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas won the title. Prior to 2014, Spaniards had won six straight titles in Sao Paulo from 2008-13, with Almagro winning three times

Almagro On the Rise – No. 7 seed Nicolas Almagro, who is a three-time Sao Paulo winner (2008, 2011-12), is nearing a return to the Top 50 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. The 30-year-old Spaniard was runner-up in Buenos Aires last week (l. to Thiem) and he lost to Nadal in the second round in Rio. He has jumped from 73 at the end of last year to 53. The last time he appeared in the Top 50 was Oct. 20, 2014 at No. 43.

Brazilian Title Hopes – There are three Brazilians in the main draw, led by No. 32  Thomaz Bellucci, No. 173 Guillerme Clezar and No. 338 Thiago Monteiro, who is coming off his first career ATP World Tour main draw match win Rio where he beat No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round (l. to Cuevas). Bellucci, who reached the final in 2009 (l. to Robredo), is making his ninth straight tournament appearance (13-8 record). Clezar is looking for his first career main draw match win (0-4) in Sao Paulo while Monteiro is making his tournament debut.

RANKINGS MOVERS (22 February, 2016)

Kei Nishikori 6 (+1 spot)

Tomas Berdych 7 (+1 spot)
Dominic Thiem 15 (+4 spots) – career high

Pablo Cuevas 27 (+18 spots)

Nick Kyrgios 33 (+8 spots)
Guido Pella 42 (+29 spots) – career high

Sam Querrey 43 (+18 spots)
Rajeev Ram 60 (+29 spots) – career high

Daniel Gimeno Traver 99 (+19 spots)

POTENTIAL MILESTONES

Dubai – Singles

Novak Djokovic – 698 wins

Feliciano Lopez – 399 wins

Sergiy Stakhovsky – 149 wins

Dubai – Doubles

Radek Stepanek – 299 wins

Ivan Dodig – 147 wins

Acapulco – Singles

Ivo Karlovic – 299 wins

Jeremy Chardy – 197 wins

Robin Haase – 149 wins

Acapulco – Doubles

Juan Sebastian Cabal – 148 wins

Rajeev Ram – 147 wins

Sao Paulo – Doubles

David Marrero – 197 wins

BIRTHDAYS

22 February – Andrey Kuznetsov (25)

24 February – Lleyton Hewitt (35)

27 February – Filip Krajinovic (24), Facundo Bagnis (26)

28 February – Ivo Karlovic (37)






A Splash In Dubai, Djokovic Makes, News, Scouting Report, Scouting Report: Djokovic Makes A Splash In Dubai, World, world news

Gravitational waves discovery would open up new world of science

Scientists across the world are giddy at the prospect that the final piece in the puzzle emerging from Einstein’s theory of general relativity will fall into place on Friday.

Every single prediction from Einstein’s 1915 theory has been proven by direct experimental evidence – except one: the existence of gravitational waves.

An illustration of gravitational waves produced by two orbiting black holes.

An illustration of gravitational waves produced by two orbiting black holes. Photo: Henze/NASA/LIGO

We could be just hours away from their confirmation.

Advertisement

Their discovery could open up a new branch of astronomy and help us in the search for a grand unified theory of matter.

A joint press conference in Europe and the US at 2.30am AEST on Friday by scientists from the LIGO experiment in the US will issue “an update on these tiny ripples in the fabric of space-time”.

All of Albert Einstein’s predictions have been proven – except one.

All of Albert Einstein’s predictions have been proven – except one.

If it is direct confirmation of their existence, it’s kind of a big deal.

Every Star Trek or Doctor Who enthusiast will have heard of space-time – the very fabric of our universe.

Einstein’s theory upended Newton’s understanding of gravity by showing that matter and time were inextricably linked. Rather than gravity being an instantaneous attraction between objects across infinite space, Einstein showed that space-time was the four-dimensional structure of the universe whereby matter, energy and gravity were all mediated through space-time, with interactions limited to no faster than the speed of light.

Gravitational waves are an inevitable conclusion drawn from this theory.

Gravitational waves are tiny ripples in the fabric of space-time. Gravity is such a weak force that these ripples are so small as to be nearly impossible to detect.

It would take a massive event in the fabric of space-time for us to be able to detect them, an event such as the collision of black holes.

If a gravitational wave passed through your head, you wouldn’t notice it – but what it would do is to stretch your head ever so slightly one way while simultaneously squeezing it the other, then vice-versa.

Kind of like this gif on the Einstein Online website.

How slightly?

Well the experiment designed to directly measure these waves comprises two sets of four-kilometre long laser arms set perpendicular to each other in an L-shape. Scientists expect that the impact of a gravitational wave on this set-up will stretch the arms by a distance so small it is less than 10,000 times smaller the width of a proton.

LIGO stands for Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. It has very, very accurate measuring devices.

The LIGO interferometer in Livingston, Louisiana.

The LIGO interferometer in Livingston, Louisiana. Photo: LIGO

Some scientists are cautious. In 2014, a team of physicists running the BICEPs experiment announced that they had discovered gravitational waves resounding in the echo of the Big Bang. They hadn’t. The journal Nature famously scotched this in January 2015 with the headline “Gravitational waves discovery now officially dead”.

It looks a little more promising this time.

Geraint Lewis is a professor of astrophysics at the University of Sydney.

“The rumours have been building for a long time,” he said. “With good news emerging from LIGO after a recent upgrade in technology and with Friday’s press conference, everyone is expecting that they will announce they’ve detected something,” he said.

One Australian physicist involved with LIGO is Professor David McClelland at the Australian National University. He has refused to discuss any aspect of LIGO until after the announcement on Friday morning, suggesting it really will be a big deal.

And probably the world’s best-known particle physicist, Laurence Krauss, blabbed about it on Twitter in September.

Which he backed up further last month.

He has gone excitedly coy about it in the past few days.

In an email to The Huffington Post, Professor Krauss said the discovery of gravitational waves would be a huge milestone.

“It opens a new window on the universe,” he said. “Gravitational wave astronomy could be the astronomy of the 21st century. More than that, it may reveal important information on the nature of gravity, black holes and fundamental physics.

“Every time we have opened a new window in the past, we have been surprised,” he said. “I would be surprised if we weren’t surprised again.”

Whereas the failed BICEPs announcement claimed to have seen gravitational waves in the echo of the Big Bang, the rumour is that this time LIGO has witnessed the echo of a more recent event – the collision of black holes.

Because gravitational waves are so weak, it takes a cataclysmic event to produce waves that we have even half a chance of measuring.

Any asymmetrical gravitational event should produce these waves, such as the orbit of the moon around the Earth. But we would never detect them.

Two colliding black holes is something different altogether.

Either way it goes, Friday’s announcement will open up a new path to deepening our understanding of the universe.




Gravitational waves discovery would open up new world of science

http://isthattrue.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/gw-waves-single.gif

Gravitational waves discovery would open up new world of science

Scientists across the world are giddy at the prospect that the final piece in the puzzle emerging from Einstein’s theory of general relativity will fall into place on Friday.

Every single prediction from Einstein’s 1915 theory has been proven by direct experimental evidence – except one: the existence of gravitational waves.

An illustration of gravitational waves produced by two orbiting black holes.

An illustration of gravitational waves produced by two orbiting black holes. Photo: Henze/NASA/LIGO

We could be just hours away from their confirmation.

Advertisement

Their discovery could open up a new branch of astronomy and help us in the search for a grand unified theory of matter.

A joint press conference in Europe and the US at 2.30am AEST on Friday by scientists from the LIGO experiment in the US will issue “an update on these tiny ripples in the fabric of space-time”.

All of Albert Einstein’s predictions have been proven – except one.

All of Albert Einstein’s predictions have been proven – except one.

If it is direct confirmation of their existence, it’s kind of a big deal.

Every Star Trek or Doctor Who enthusiast will have heard of space-time – the very fabric of our universe.

Einstein’s theory upended Newton’s understanding of gravity by showing that matter and time were inextricably linked. Rather than gravity being an instantaneous attraction between objects across infinite space, Einstein showed that space-time was the four-dimensional structure of the universe whereby matter, energy and gravity were all mediated through space-time, with interactions limited to no faster than the speed of light.

Gravitational waves are an inevitable conclusion drawn from this theory.

Gravitational waves are tiny ripples in the fabric of space-time. Gravity is such a weak force that these ripples are so small as to be nearly impossible to detect.

It would take a massive event in the fabric of space-time for us to be able to detect them, an event such as the collision of black holes.

If a gravitational wave passed through your head, you wouldn’t notice it – but what it would do is to stretch your head ever so slightly one way while simultaneously squeezing it the other, then vice-versa.

Kind of like this gif on the Einstein Online website.

How slightly?

Well the experiment designed to directly measure these waves comprises two sets of four-kilometre long laser arms set perpendicular to each other in an L-shape. Scientists expect that the impact of a gravitational wave on this set-up will stretch the arms by a distance so small it is less than 10,000 times smaller the width of a proton.

LIGO stands for Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. It has very, very accurate measuring devices.

The LIGO interferometer in Livingston, Louisiana.

The LIGO interferometer in Livingston, Louisiana. Photo: LIGO

Some scientists are cautious. In 2014, a team of physicists running the BICEPs experiment announced that they had discovered gravitational waves resounding in the echo of the Big Bang. They hadn’t. The journal Nature famously scotched this in January 2015 with the headline “Gravitational waves discovery now officially dead”.

It looks a little more promising this time.

Geraint Lewis is a professor of astrophysics at the University of Sydney.

“The rumours have been building for a long time,” he said. “With good news emerging from LIGO after a recent upgrade in technology and with Friday’s press conference, everyone is expecting that they will announce they’ve detected something,” he said.

One Australian physicist involved with LIGO is Professor David McClelland at the Australian National University. He has refused to discuss any aspect of LIGO until after the announcement on Friday morning, suggesting it really will be a big deal.

And probably the world’s best-known particle physicist, Laurence Krauss, blabbed about it on Twitter in September.

Which he backed up further last month.

He has gone excitedly coy about it in the past few days.

In an email to The Huffington Post, Professor Krauss said the discovery of gravitational waves would be a huge milestone.

“It opens a new window on the universe,” he said. “Gravitational wave astronomy could be the astronomy of the 21st century. More than that, it may reveal important information on the nature of gravity, black holes and fundamental physics.

“Every time we have opened a new window in the past, we have been surprised,” he said. “I would be surprised if we weren’t surprised again.”

Whereas the failed BICEPs announcement claimed to have seen gravitational waves in the echo of the Big Bang, the rumour is that this time LIGO has witnessed the echo of a more recent event – the collision of black holes.

Because gravitational waves are so weak, it takes a cataclysmic event to produce waves that we have even half a chance of measuring.

Any asymmetrical gravitational event should produce these waves, such as the orbit of the moon around the Earth. But we would never detect them.

Two colliding black holes is something different altogether.

Either way it goes, Friday’s announcement will open up a new path to deepening our understanding of the universe.






discovery would open up new, Gravitational waves, Gravitational waves discovery would open up new world of science, News, World, world news, world of science

Pakistan and China failed a large conspiracy of India.

Explosion: There is a big outbreak in the West after Asia

Isthattrue.net ASIA OUTBREAK

The police recovered Ali Nawaz along with his motorcycle. Later, the three dacoits were identified as Mir Hazar alias Naswari, Akmal Korai and Mujeeb Gopang.

PESHAWAR: Friday May 01, 2015 during a raid in Peshawar’s Sethi Town, two suspected terrorists, who were involved in anti-state activities, have been arrested by Police.