gravitational wave

American  

noun

Astronomy, Physics.

1. (in general relativity) a propagating wave of gravitational energy produced by accelerating masses, especially during catastrophic events, as the gravitational collapse of massive stars.

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gravitational wave British  

noun

1. physics another name for gravity wave

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Etymology

Origin of gravitational wave

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

In a study published October 28 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the international LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration announced the detection of two remarkable gravitational wave signals from black holes with unusual spin patterns recorded in October and November of last year.

From Science Daily

Potential applications include quantum radar, gravitational wave detection, and highly accurate timekeeping.

From Science Daily

To flourish, AIs may require access not only to social interaction and self-modification but also to the raw data streams of the universe — to the telescopes, satellites, supercolliders and cosmic ray, neutrino and gravitational wave detectors that together form humanity’s burgeoning planetary proprioception.

From Salon

Collaborations such as the NANOGrav Physics Frontiers Center use pulsars to study the gravitational wave background, which can help researchers understand the early Universe and the prevalence of gravitational-wave sources such as supermassive black-hole binaries.

From Science Daily

The pulsar timing measurements must be extremely precise to measure the gravitational wave background correctly.

From Science Daily