Project Summary
The research project co-led by Drs. Chiao and Wegter-McNelly focuses on the construction of a small-scale detector and emitter of “gravitational waves” that has been theorized by Dr. Chiao. In 1916 Albert Einstein predicted the existence of such waves, which can be thought of as ripples in the fabric of spacetime similar to the more familiar electromagnetic waves out of which light and wireless signals (used by radios, cell phones, etc.) are composed. Gravitational waves have already been observed indirectly through their impact on the orbits of binary star systems, and a number of large-scale attempts to detect them directly are underway (for example, the so-called “LIGO” and “LISA” projects). Physicists hope to observe any gravitational waves generated by large astrophysical events, such as the collision of two black holes, and perhaps even by the development of the universe itself. The small-scale detection and emission of such waves by Chiao’s apparatus – which is designed to convert gravitational radiation to electromagnetic radiation and vice versa – would revolutionize gravitational physics. One particularly important application, a “gravity telescope,” could see gravitational waves and thus be used to confirm the existence and character of any “cosmic gravitational-wave background” (CGB) radiation akin to the “cosmic microwave background” (CMB) radiation first observed by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson with their radio-wave telescope in 1965.

Significance
The significance of this research project for the nature and meaning of ultimate reality lies in the potential relevance of CGB measurements for debates over different scientific models of the universe. In recent years, the standard “big bang inflationary” model has been challenged by two alternatives (the so-called “pre-big bang” and “ekpyrotic/cyclical” models). These alternatives suggest a different answer to the question of whether or not the universe had a temporal beginning: the standard model points to one, whereas the alternatives do not. And while all three models agree about the universe’s more well established features, they disagree about the precise character of the CGB spectrum. A gravity telescope could thus help to resolve the dispute among these models and shed new light on the issue of the universe’s origin and contingency. Religious discussions of cosmological contingency – whether or not the universe depends on something beyond itself for its own existence and order – have typically encompassed more than the issue of temporal origination, but it has always been a central issue in the West. It remains important today, both for its continued place in contemporary religious discussions of contingency and for the apparent hint of a temporal beginning in the big bang model, which has repeatedly led atheistically-minded scientists to seek out plausible no-beginning scenarios. The eventual detection of gravitational waves and measurements of the CGB spectrum will take our scientific understanding of the universe to a new level and are likely to reshape age-old philosophical and theological debates about its origin.