The waves of space-time (Matteo Barsuglia)

The phenomenon of gravitational waves, predicted by Einstein, remained for decades one of the most interesting mysteries of modern physics and cosmology. A massive accelerated object, according to this theory, disturbs the space-time around it, producing a kind of waves, called gravitational waves, which can propagate in all directions.

If this is so, the Earth itself would be right now being bathed by gravitational waves coming from very powerful cataclysmic phenomena, located even many light-years away. To find out if this is true, various initiatives have sprung up around the world in recent years with the firm goal of detecting this strange physical phenomenon for the first time.

Often at the limits of technology and the sensitivity possible with it, gravitational wave detectors worked for some time trying to locate waves that no one yet knew existed or not. The demonstration of its existence came in 2015, when the American LIGO detector achieved the amazing feat.

The finding, a revolution in physics and a new proof of the validity of Einstein’s theory of relativity, soon hit the media. Since then, there have been many other episodes of gravitational waves passing through the vicinity of the Earth that have been detected. The history of this exciting enterprise has been accumulating pages, and it is already possible to make an updated account of these initiatives, their origins, their evolution and the results they are providing.

And who better for this than Matteo Barsuglia, one of the scientists who has worked the most in this field, who in this book, “The waves of space time: The revolution of gravitational waves”, brings the reader all the details. The work, awarded in 2020 as the best astronomy book by the Ciel et Espace magazine, is a complete and also entertaining vision of the efforts of researchers to find signs of the existence of gravitational waves. We will meet the experts who participated, the operation of the detectors, the theoretical basis of the venture, as well as the achievements and results achieved.

Barsuglia, a prominent figure in the European VIRGO detector, is also perfectly positioned to foresee the future of detection technology and the possible discoveries that may be made.

A book on the history of science with much more current content than is usual, updated and illustrated with images that will clarify the fundamental points of the scientists’ discourse for the reader.

Editorial Alliance. 2023. Softcover, 222 pages. ISBN: 978-84-1148-095-6