Unveiling the Revolutionary Impact of Gravitational Wave Background Detection

An international consortium of astronomers has presented evidence of low-frequency gravitational waves in the cosmos, detected through pulsar timing arrays (PTAs). These disturbances in spacetime were observed using rapidly spinning neutron stars called pulsars, which serve as cosmic metronomes. While the LIGO experiment previously detected high-frequency gravitational waves from black hole mergers, PTAs provide a new perspective by capturing low-frequency waves generated by supermassive black hole collisions during galaxy mergers. The preliminary results suggest that the final stages of galaxy mergers may be more exciting than anticipated, and with further observations, PTAs could enable multi-messenger astronomy and revolutionize our understanding of cosmic history.