Relativity and gravitational theory Gravitational waves Concept
Gravitational wave
Summary
A gravitational wave is a ripple in the curvature of spacetime that travels at the speed of light. In linearized gravity it is a solution of a wave equation for the perturbation of the flat metric, with two independent polarisations. Gravitational waves are emitted by accelerated masses, most strongly by pairs of compact objects such as black holes in close orbit. They carry away energy and angular momentum. They were predicted by Einstein in 1916 and first detected directly by LIGO in 2015.
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| Tag | SJ0A4TZTFR |
|---|---|
| URI | m2://SJ0A4TZTFR |
| Kind | concept |
| Writing | W0 stub |
| MSC | 83C35, 83C25 |
| Same as | |
| Changed | 3 November 2026 |
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Definitions
Used by
- Tests of general relativity
- Gravitational radiation reaction
- Quadrupole formula
- Two-body problem in general relativity
- Chandrasekhar–Friedman–Schutz instability
- Gravitational memory effect
Results about this
- Quadrupole formula
- Two-body problem in general relativity
- Chandrasekhar–Friedman–Schutz instability
- Gravitational memory effect