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Are LIGO detectors the evolution of the Michelson Morley experiment?

shmengie
in Astronomy and Cosmology

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I understand the two experiments sought different answers, but are the question really different?

The only reason they seek different answers is because they are asking totally different questions.

 

The Michelson-Morely experiment was looking for variations in the speed of light as the detector moved through space.

 

LIGO is looking for gravitational waves caused by things like binary black holes / neutron stars.

 

If the speed of light did vary with the direction of movement (i.e. Michelson-Morely had a non-zero result) then this would affect LIGO as well and would have to be taken into account in the measurements.

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