Gravitational Waves Leave Residual Space-Time Distortions (?)

[EnolaGaia]

This is a new one on me ... I don't recall ever reading about suggestions gravitational waves leave persistent changes (kinks, warps, bends, etc.) in space-time.

Some scientists are actively pursuing confirmation of this notion by seeking proof of such gravitational wave traces.

The Universe Remembers Gravitational Waves — And We Can Find Them

... Gravitational waves slosh throughout the universe as ripples in space-time produced by some of the most cataclysmic events possible.

With facilities like the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and Virgo, we can now detect the strongest of those ripples as they wash over the Earth. But gravitational waves leave behind a memory — a permanent bend in space-time — as they pass through, and we are now on the verge of being able to detect that too, allowing us to push our understanding of gravity to the limits. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.livescience.com/universe-remembers-gravitational-waves.html

 

[Xanatic*]

As if the speed of light barrier wasn't enough, now we got intergalactic speedbumps to worry about.

 

[kamalktk]

Scientists have found signs of a new kind of gravitational wave. It's really big​

The scientists I watch explaining science and astrophysics on youtube are really geeked about this.

https://www.npr.org/2023/06/28/1183878163/new-gravitational-wave-supermassive-black-hole
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"We've been on a mission for the last fifteen years to find a low-pitched hum of gravitational waves resounding throughout the universe," says Stephen Taylor, a Vanderbilt University astrophysicist who serves as the chair of a team of researchers known as the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav). "We're very happy to announce that our hard work has paid off."
....
NANOGrav's technique relies on monitoring pulsars, which are the super-dense, spinning cores of dead stars. Each pulsar is small, about the size of a city, but it spins hundreds of times a second, sending out beams of radio emissions that regularly sweep the sky.