What effect do gravitational waves have on bodies on earth?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Question: What effect do gravitational waves have on bodies on earth?

Option 1: 'They simply pass through objects without deforming them' — This is a common misconception. Gravitational waves do perturb spacetime as they pass, causing tiny changes in distances between free-falling test masses. While the wave does not stop the object from existing, it does produce a deformation (however minuscule), so saying there is no deformation is inaccurate.

Option 2: 'They cause them to vibrate' — Gravitational waves do induce a time-varying tidal field that can look like a vibration, but the precise description is that they stretch and squeeze distances in orthogonal directions as the wave passes. The term 'vibrate' is vague and can mislead about the directional, alternating stretching and contracting pattern rather than a generic vibration.

Option 3: 'They cause them to stretch and contract' — This is the most accurate description. A passing gravitational wave modulates spacetime, producing alternating tidal effects that lengthen some directions while shortening others, i.e., a stretch-and-contraction pattern. In experiments, this manifests as minute changes in the separation between suspended masses or interferometer arms.

Option 4: 'They heat them' — Gravitational waves carry energy, but their interaction with ordinary matter is extraordinarily weak and does not heat objects in any detectable way. This makes heat generation an incorrect characterization of their effect.

Additional context: In practical terms, the effect is extremely tiny—typical strains are on the order of h ~ 10^-21 for detected events—so the deformation in a 4-km arm like LIGO is about 10^-18 meters, which is why highly sensitive instruments are required to observe them. This underscores why the correct description emphasizes stretch and contraction rather than any heating or ordinary vibration.

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