Weber bar
A Weber bar is a device used in the detection of gravitational waves first devised and constructed by physicist Joseph Weber at the University of Maryland. The device consisted of multiple giant aluminium cylinders, 2 meters in length and 1 meter in diameter, antennae for detecting theoretical gravitational waves[1].
Around 1968, Weber collected what he concluded to be "good evidence"[1] of the theorized phenomenon. However, his experiments were duplicated many times all with a null result.
Such experiments conducted by Joseph Weber were very controversial, and his positive results with the apparatus have since been largely discredited. Criticism of the study focuses on Weber's data analysis and his incomplete definitions of what strength vibration would signify a passing gravitational wave.
Mechanism
These massive aluminium cylinders vibrated at a resonant frequency of 1660 hertz and were designed to be set in motion by gravitational waves predicted by Weber. Because these waves were supposed to be so weak, the cylinders had to be massive and the piezoelectric sensors had to be very sensitive, capable of detecting a chance in the cylinders' lengths by about 10-16 meters[1].
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References
- ^ a b c Lindley, David. A Fleeting Detection of Gravitational Waves. Retrieved May 10, 2006.