Whirling to a chaotic finale.Gravitational waves generated by a black hole and a companion body rapidly orbiting each other may not be as easy to detect as researchers had anticipated (SN: 1/8/00, p. 26). A new mathematical analysis Analysis has its beginnings in the rigorous formulation of calculus. It is the branch of mathematics most explicitly concerned with the notion of a limit, whether the limit of a sequence or the limit of a function. suggests that as these spinning, compact bodies spiral in toward each other, their orbits become chaotic for certain configurations. It becomes extraordinarily difficult to predict details of their motion during the merger and, hence, crucial characteristics of the gravitational waves they would generate. "As a result, the spinning pair will have unpredictable gravitational grav·i·ta·tion n. 1. Physics a. The natural phenomenon of attraction between physical objects with mass or energy. b. The act or process of moving under the influence of this attraction. 2. waveforms during coalescence coalescence /co·a·les·cence/ (ko?ah-les´ens) the fusion or blending of parts. co·a·les·cence n. See concrescence. coalescence a fusion or blending of parts. ," astrophysicist Janna Levin of the University of Cambridge in England remarks in the April 17 PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS Physical Review Letters is one of the most prestigious journals in physics.[1] Since 1958, it has been published by the American Physical Society as an outgrowth of The Physical Review. . "This poses a challenge to future [gravitational] wave observatories which rely on a match between the data and a theoretical template." |
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