The Naked Scientists
  • Login
  • Register
  • Podcasts
      • The Naked Scientists
      • eLife
      • Naked Genetics
      • Naked Astronomy
      • In short
      • Naked Neuroscience
      • Ask! The Naked Scientists
      • Question of the Week
      • Archive
      • Video
      • SUBSCRIBE to our Podcasts
  • Articles
      • Science News
      • Features
      • Interviews
      • Answers to Science Questions
  • Get Naked
      • Donate
      • Do an Experiment
      • Science Forum
      • Ask a Question
  • About
      • Meet the team
      • Our Sponsors
      • Site Map
      • Contact us

User menu

  • Login
  • Register
  • Home
  • Help
  • Search
  • Tags
  • Recent Topics
  • Login
  • Register
  1. Naked Science Forum
  2. On the Lighter Side
  3. New Theories
  4. Would this allow for the detection of gravitons?
« previous next »
  • Print
Pages: [1]   Go Down

Would this allow for the detection of gravitons?

  • 4 Replies
  • 6611 Views
  • 3 Tags

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline Kryptid (OP)

  • Global Moderator
  • Naked Science Forum King!
  • ********
  • 8082
  • Activity:
    1.5%
  • Thanked: 514 times
Would this allow for the detection of gravitons?
« on: 31/10/2023 03:58:27 »
Taking a look at what Wikipedia had to say about detecting gravitons, it illustrates a big problem with detecting them if they exist: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graviton#Experimental_observation

Quote
Unambiguous detection of individual gravitons, though not prohibited by any fundamental law, is impossible with any physically reasonable detector.[20] The reason is the extremely low cross section for the interaction of gravitons with matter. For example, a detector with the mass of Jupiter and 100% efficiency, placed in close orbit around a neutron star, would only be expected to observe one graviton every 10 years, even under the most favorable conditions. It would be impossible to discriminate these events from the background of neutrinos, since the dimensions of the required neutrino shield would ensure collapse into a black hole.

I thought of a possible solution and was wondering if it would actually work in principle. It wouldn't be possible with existing technology, but I'm more concerned about possibility than practicality right now.

The idea is to use two micro black holes, perhaps with masses on the order of the Planck mass. Allow them to approach until they form a bound state with their gravity. In this case, their small size makes them behave more like quantum objects than classical ones. Their gravitational attraction thus takes the form of quantized energy levels akin to how electrons occupy quantized energy levels in an atom. In an excited atom, the electron falls from higher energy levels down into lower energy levels by emitting photons (since the system is bound by electromagnetic attraction).

By analogy, the bound black holes fall from higher energy levels down to lower ones by emitting gravitons, as they are bound by gravity. The gravitons should become increasingly energetic as the black holes approach more closely, reaching a peak just before the two holes merge. Since the attractive force between two Planck mass black holes should be immense just before they merge (somewhere on the order of the Planck length), the resulting gravitons should be highly energetic and thus much more easily detected than gravitons from a neutron star. It should also be possible to predict the energy levels and timing of the graviton emission events in advance, allowing experimenters to distinguish such graviton detection from neutrinos.

Since such small black holes are predicted to emit a slurry of other particles in the form of Hawking radiation, I would propose using extremal black holes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremal_black_hole These are predicted to not emit Hawking radiation.

I'm aware that we will not be able to produce Planck mass black holes any time even remotely soon. I'm just wondering if it would work. Some clever scientists will probably find a feasible way to detect gravitons without making micro black holes, rendering my idea moot as a discovery method.
Logged
 



Offline cpu68

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • 290
  • Activity:
    12.5%
  • Thanked: 12 times
  • Scientist
Re: Would this allow for the detection of gravitons?
« Reply #1 on: 31/10/2023 21:12:24 »
Quote from: Kryptid on 31/10/2023 03:58:27
the bound black holes fall from higher energy levels down to lower ones by emitting gravitons, as they are bound by gravity

An interesting concept, so we would have a source of gravitons, it's just a matter of building an appropriate detector. Another issue is whether gravitons could not be observed simply in the Earth's gravitational field.
Logged
From the miracle of life I come to the miracle of cosmos, Gregory Podgorniak
 

Offline Kryptid (OP)

  • Global Moderator
  • Naked Science Forum King!
  • ********
  • 8082
  • Activity:
    1.5%
  • Thanked: 514 times
Re: Would this allow for the detection of gravitons?
« Reply #2 on: 01/11/2023 06:42:52 »
Quote from: Halc on 01/11/2023 00:46:08
Quote from: Kryptid on 31/10/2023 03:58:27
The idea is to use two micro black holes, perhaps with masses on the order of the Planck mass.
Wouldn't such small black holes evaporate faster than any manipulation on them could be done?


That's why I proposed using extremal black holes near the end of my post.
Logged
 

Offline Zer0

  • Naked Science Forum King!
  • ******
  • 1932
  • Activity:
    0%
  • Thanked: 232 times
  • Email & Nickname Alerts Off! P.M. Blocked!
Re: Would this allow for the detection of gravitons?
« Reply #3 on: 04/12/2023 21:42:26 »
Interesting!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graviton

ps - Why did this Thread go Dead?
Logged
1N73LL1G3NC3  15  7H3  481L17Y  70  4D4P7  70  CH4NG3.
 

Offline Zer0

  • Naked Science Forum King!
  • ******
  • 1932
  • Activity:
    0%
  • Thanked: 232 times
  • Email & Nickname Alerts Off! P.M. Blocked!
Re: Would this allow for the detection of gravitons?
« Reply #4 on: 11/12/2023 18:30:27 »

* GravyDetector.pdf (995.77 kB - downloaded 478 times)

Hope & Wish this Helps in anyways possible.
Logged
1N73LL1G3NC3  15  7H3  481L17Y  70  4D4P7  70  CH4NG3.
 



  • Print
Pages: [1]   Go Up
« previous next »
Tags: graviton  / gravity  / black hole 
 
There was an error while thanking
Thanking...
  • SMF 2.0.15 | SMF © 2017, Simple Machines
    Privacy Policy
    SMFAds for Free Forums
  • Naked Science Forum ©

Page created in 0.899 seconds with 36 queries.

  • Podcasts
  • Articles
  • Get Naked
  • About
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe to newsletter
  • We love feedback

Follow us

cambridge_logo_footer.png

©The Naked Scientists® 2000–2017 | The Naked Scientists® and Naked Science® are registered trademarks created by Dr Chris Smith. Information presented on this website is the opinion of the individual contributors and does not reflect the general views of the administrators, editors, moderators, sponsors, Cambridge University or the public at large.