Distinguished professor says time Australia makes waves about gravity

A Canberra professor, the first Australian to join a prestigious international group studying the forces of gravity, has called on Australia to establish its own gravitational wave detector.

Professor Susan Scott, in her ANU workplace in Canberra, has been selected to be part of a prestigious group of scientists studying the forces of gravity. Picture: Tracey Nearmy/ANU

A Canberra professor has become the first Australian to join a prestigious international group studying the forces of gravity – which included names like the late Stephen Hawking – and has called on Australia to establish its own gravitational wave detector to be part of the next generation of scientific discovery.

Australian National University Distinguished Professor Susan Scott has dedicated her life to the study of gravitational waves ­rippling through space time, indicating phenomenon like the collision of black holes, with her work altering understanding of the deepest parts of the universe.

In recognition of her contribution, Professor Scott was elected as a Fellow of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation. She is the first Australian to be chosen for the elite group, which was founded by colleagues of Albert Einstein, who developed the theory of general relativity in 1915.

The society connects researchers, organises conferences and publishes world-leading ­research.

Professor Scott said there was “so much new information” about the universe to be found using gravitational waves.

“My research is all about gravity, it’s the force that shapes the universe,” Professor Scott told The Australian.

“I’m very interested in all the effects of gravity, how it warps space time, how it creates black holes and how cataclysmic events in the universe create gravitational waves.”

The study of black holes, in particular, centres on the gravitational waves that phenomenon produces, which scientists have been studying closely over recent years.

To identify such waves, a gravitational wave detector is needed. Currently there are two such detectors in the US, one in Europe, one in Japan and one under construction in India.

Professor Scott said Australia should establish its own detector, the arms of which would each measure 4km. It would be the first in the southern hemisphere.

“Australia is a great place for this, it’s much more seismically stable and we have the space,” she said. “The more detectors we have spread out across Earth … the more they can tell us.”

Professor Scott said such initiatives would also help combat Australia’s brain drain. “People who do have the instrumental expertise do need to go to the US and Europe,” she said.

“This is about looking forward to the next generation of gravitational wave detectors.

“We do need to have one in this country to keep our highly trained workforce here and to build on that and be a key player in the next 20 years. ”