How the Discovery of New Gravity Waves is Going to Rewrite Physics

Astronomers have finally discovered the gravitational-wave background, the faint hum of the cosmos. This discovery shows that the universe is constantly vibrating with a frequency in the range of nanohertz, believed to be a result of the merging of supermassive black holes across the universe. This is important because astronomers previously thought that supermassive black holes cannot merge owing to the final parsec problem. So, what exactly is the gravitational-wave background? Why did astronomers think that supermassive black holes could not merge to produce this hum? Finally, and most importantly, how is it going to revolutionize our understanding of the cosmos? The 66th episode of the Sunday Discovery Series answers all these questions in detail. All Episodes Of The Series: Basics of Astrophysics series: RESEARCH PAPERS: NanoGrav research papers - NANOGrav 15-year data set: EPTA & InPTA research papers - Parkes PTA research papers - Chinese PTA research papers - Created By: Rishabh Nakra Written & Researched By: Shreejaya Karantha Narrated By: Jeffrey Smith