26 Rainer Weiss Quotes for You to Enjoy

Rainer Weiss

American Physicist

Born: Sep 29, 1932

About Black Space Time Universe You

Related authors: Brian Greene Edward Teller Freeman Dyson J. Robert Oppenheimer Lawrence M. Krauss Martin H. Fischer Michio Kaku Richard P. Feynman

The whole idea of gravity curling up space, that is the epitome of what is going on in a black hole. I would've loved to have seen Einstein's face if he were presented with the data that we actually discovered such a thing, because he himself probably didn't believe in much of it. Rainer Weiss

Space Black Face Seen Believe Black Hole Data He Idea Himself Because Were Discovered Up Curling Going Loved Einstein Hole Much Epitome Such A Thing Whole Actually Thing Gravity Presented

All at once, funding was gone due to the Mansfield Amendment, which was a reaction to the Vietnam War. In the minds of the local RLE administrators, research in gravitation and cosmology was not in the military's interest, and support was given to solid-state physics, which was deemed more relevant. Rainer Weiss

War Physics Gone Research Military Local Minds Once Relevant Administrators Cosmology Given More Support Reaction Due Amendment Which Interest Vietnam Vietnam War Deemed Gravitation Funding

The waves travel with the velocity of light and slightly squeeze and stretch space transverse to the direction of their motion. The first waves we measured came from the collision of two black holes each about 30 times the mass of our sun. Rainer Weiss

Travel Light Space Black First Our Waves Slightly Sun Black Holes About Collision Direction Velocity Mass Motion Came Times Squeeze Holes Measured Each Two Stretch

We've seen black holes, which is already wonderful. We also expect to see the merger of neutron stars, and that was a thing that actually gave this field a certain credibility when it was discovered that there were pairs of neutron stars in our galaxy, and people stopped laughing at us when that was found out. Rainer Weiss

People Wonderful Black Seen Field Stars Gave Our Out Laughing See Black Holes Merger Also Were Discovered Expect Stopped Which Holes Galaxy Us Certain Pairs Found Credibility Actually Thing

Girl Trouble Unpopular Any Getting

You know the Einstein waves can be thought of as a distortion of space and time. But the way we see it, we see it as a distortion of space. And space is enormously stiff. You can't squish it; you can't change its dimensions so easily. Rainer Weiss

Time You Change Space Thought Waves Way Dimensions Easily Distortion See Know Stiff Space And Time Einstein

For reasons probably related to the popular vision of Albert Einstein and, also, the threat posed by black holes in comic books and science fiction, our gravitational wave discoveries have had an amazing public impact. Rainer Weiss

Science Vision Amazing Black Related Wave Our Books Threat Black Holes Impact Had Also Science Fiction Comic Comic Books Discoveries Fiction Einstein Holes Public Reasons Popular Gravitational Albert Albert Einstein

One of the things I sort of dreamt about awhile ago is that if Einstein were still alive, it would be absolutely wonderful to go to him and tell him about the discovery, and he would have been very pleased, I'm sure of that. Rainer Weiss

Wonderful Pleased Alive Tell One Of The Things Would Would-Be Dreamt About Absolutely He Him Sort Sure Still Go Were Been Discovery Very Einstein Things Awhile

We expect surprises. There has to be surprises. Rainer Weiss

Surprises Expect

There was a person who thought I was OK. I wasn't a complete dope. I got some confidence out of that. Rainer Weiss

Confidence Thought Dope Complete OK Out Some Got Person Who

The obvious thing to me was, let's take freely floating masses in space and measure the time it takes light to travel between them. The presence of a gravitational wave would change that time. Using the time difference, one could measure the amplitude of the wave. Rainer Weiss

Time Me Travel Change Light Space Wave Would Could Take Takes Between Freely Masses Obvious Difference Them Measure Using Floating Thing Presence Gravitational

The field equations and the whole history of general relativity have been complicated. Rainer Weiss

History Complicated Field Relativity General General Relativity Equations Been Whole

I didn't understand the Weber bar and how gravitational waves interacted with it. I sat and thought about it over a weekend, trying to prepare for the lecture for the following Monday. I asked myself how would I do it. The simplest way... was a thought experiment. Rainer Weiss

Gravitational waves, because they are so imperturbable - they go through everything - they will tell you the most information you can get about the earliest instants that go on in the universe. Rainer Weiss

You Will Universe Waves Everything Tell About Through Most Because Go Get Information Gravitational Earliest

It's a spectacular signal. It's a signal many of us have wanted to observe since the time LIGO was proposed. It shows the dynamics of objects in the strongest gravitational fields imaginable, a domain where Newton's gravity doesn't work at all, and one needs the fully non-linear Einstein field equations to explain the phenomena. Rainer Weiss

Work Time Needs Field Signal Strongest Objects Proposed Observe Since Equations Domain Where Wanted Einstein Dynamics Explain Fields Us Newton Fully Many Shows Gravitational Gravity Spectacular Imaginable Phenomena

The triumph is that the waveform we measure is very well represented by solutions of these equations. Einstein is right in a regime where his theory has never been tested before. Rainer Weiss

Before Solutions Triumph Never Well Equations Tested Been His Very Where Einstein Regime Measure Theory Right

This is the first real evidence that we've seen now of high gravitational field strengths: monstrous things like stars moving at the velocity of light, smashing into each other, and making the geometry of space-time turn into some sort of washing machine. Rainer Weiss

Light Seen First Field Stars Other Monstrous Evidence Machine High Some Velocity Smashing Like Sort Making Real Geometry Moving Turn Washing Each Washing Machine Now Things Gravitational Strengths

Space is much stiffer than you imagine; it's stiffer than a gigantic piece of iron. That's why it's taken so damned long to detect gravitational waves: to deform space takes an enormous amount of energy, and there are only so many things that have enough. Rainer Weiss

Many of us on the project were thinking if we ever saw a gravitational wave, it'd be an itsy bitsy little tiny thing; we'd never see it. This thing was so big that you didn't have to do much to see it. Rainer Weiss

You Big Thinking Wave Project Saw See Never Were Tiny Little Us Much Many Ever Thing Gravitational

I said, suppose you take a light - I was thinking of just light bulbs because, in those days, lasers were not yet really there - and sent a light pulse between two masses. Then you do the same when there's a gravitational wave. Lo and behold, you see that the time it takes light to go from one mass to the other changes because of the wave. Rainer Weiss

Time You Light Thinking Other Changes Pulse Wave Those See Take Takes Between Mass Days Suppose Masses Because Said Go Were Same Behold Just Sent Then Really Gravitational Two

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