Elastic rods and elastic spinning rings as gravitational wave detectors

TL;DR

This paper investigates how elastic rods and spinning rings can detect gravitational waves by analyzing their resonant frequencies and solutions to relativistic elasticity equations, revealing tunable resonances.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to gravitational wave detection using elastic rods and spinning rings, providing explicit solutions and resonance conditions, including tunability via rotation.

Findings

Resonant frequencies for rods and rings are explicitly calculated.

Solutions are derived for both plus- and cross-polarised gravitational waves.

Resonant frequencies can be tuned by adjusting the ring's angular velocity.

Abstract

Linearised relativistic elasticity equations of motion are considered for a rod and a spinning ring encountering a gravitational wave. In the case of the rod, the equations reduce to a wave equation with appropriate boundary conditions. Using Fourier transforms, the resonant frequencies are found and an explicit distributional solution is given, both for a plus- and a cross-polarised gravitational wave. In the case of the spinning ring, the equations are coupled wave equations with periodic boundary conditions. Using a Fourier series expansion, the system of wave equations is recast as a family of ordinary differential equations for the Fourier coefficients, which are then solved via Fourier transforms. The resonant frequencies are found, including simple approximate expressions for slowly rotating rings, and an explicit distributional solution is obtained in the case of the non-spinning ring. Interestingly, it is possible to tune the resonant frequencies by adjusting the angular velocity of the spinning ring.