Abstract ~

A simple circuit for detecting what could be gravitational waves of a new kind is described. The energy distribution and frequencies of the detected pulses appear to be similar to that seen in "flicker" or "l/f" noise in electron devices. It is, therefore, postulated that the true source of l/f noise could be these cosmological effects. Of interest to the circuit designer is the possibility of cancellation or reduction of l/f noise in low frequency circuits. Of interest to the astrophysicist is a possible new "window" to the universe. The simplicity of the circuits and the minimal equipment requirements should enable many independent investigations into the reported phenomenon.

 

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The low frequency behavior of most electron devices is characterized by noise which has a Gaussian amplitude distribution as well as a power spectrum which is inversely proportional to frequency, giving rise to the names "flicker noise" and "l/f noise" for this noise. Much effort has been expended in studies of this noise and the statu as of 1970 was reviewed by van der Ziel (Ref. 1). A more recent attempt to explain l/f noise was made by Stoisek and Wolf (Ref. 2) who improved on earlier attempts but still left open the question of the true source of this noise. This letter presents a new approach to the origin of l/f noise which is based upon the author’s original work in cosmology (Ref. 3) as well as a background in solid state and thermionic electronics.

A basic concept in the author’s cosmology is the premise that sub-phenomena particles (which he now calls "rhysmons" after the original Greek technical term for atoms) form a matrix structure which is the very fabric of the universe. Modifications to this structure result in the myriad manifestations of nature, including the effects known as the electric field, the magnetic field, and the gravitational field. The early experiments by the author (1975) were intended to prove that under certain conditions, the electric field and the gravitational field were indistinguishable. An experiment was devised in which loosely bound electrons in the dielectric of a capacitor were to be "polarized" by gravitational "perturbation" effects introduced by sharply bringing a localized mass up to the capacitor. This would induce a small movement of charge in the capacitor giving rise to a small current, i₁, as shown in Figure (1a). This would be equivalent to the small movement of charge caused by the application of a small external electric field to the capacitor as shown in Figure (1b). The gravitational effect was possible in terms of the author’s cosmology. To detect the very small charge movements, a very sensitive current detector was required. The advent of the integrated circuit operational amplifier provided such a current detector. The circuit which was developed is extremely simple and is shown in Figure (2). IC₁ is a current-to-voltage converter in which the output voltage, V₁, is equal to i₁R₁ where i₁ is the current pulse developed in capacitor C₁ and R₁ is the feedback resistor of the circuit. R₂ is a level control for the buffer amplifier stage IC₂ which has a voltage gain of 20. For the values shown, a current pulse of one nanoampere (10^-9 amp) in C₁ can develop 25 mV at output, V₂. This output is more than adequate to drive most pulse analyzers, audio amplifiers, oscilloscopes, or other recording device.

Original tests used a large capacitor (15,000 uF for C₁, thus a large input time constant (the intrinsic input impedance of IC₁ is in the order of 3.2 k ohms) necessitated use of a zero-center voltmeter for the recording device. Test results were dramatic, but it was later ascertained that Doppler effects introduced by the presence of a strong local FM radio station were masking the results. When the input capacitor was reduced to 10 uF, perturbation effects now "rang" the circuit at about 45 cps with a decay time of 1-2 seconds. The recording device in this case was a low noise audio amplifier. However, it was observed that a low-level background pulsating ringing persisted even though perturbation tests were halted. First impressions were that the background ringing was due to neighborhood arcings, as appliances were turned on and off, since the circuit was also extremely sensitive to short electromagnetic pulse effects. Reduction of C₁ to 1 uF not only increased the natural frequency of the rings, but also increased the intensity and the number of bursts being detected. It was ascertained at this time that the source of the detected signals was very much external to the environment.

Another concept in the author’s cosmology inferred that gravitational collapse, such as supernova, should create a new kind of gravitational wave front (not the same as predicted in General Relativity) which would appear to the detector dielectric element as equivalent to an alternating electric field. According to current supernova theory (Ref. 4), this gravitational pulse should be Gaussian in amplitude, have a frequency in the order of 1 kc, and have burst periods in the order of 3-100 milliseconds. These bursts, according to the author’s cosmology, would also reach any portion of the universe in about 10^-44 seconds, i.e., the pulses would be received in real time. Using an approximation of about one supernova per galaxy per 300 years, and about 90-100 billion galaxies in the universe, it was estimated that 10-15 bursts per second from supernova effects was reasonable. To optimize the detection of such bursts, the input capacitor was reduced to 0.22 uF in order to ring the circuit at about 500 cps for a broad resonance with such effects. It was now possible to ring the circuit with the perturbation mass of a pin point as shown in Figure (1a). The entire circuitry was double-shielded in an aluminum box within another steel box to eliminate electromagnetic fields from affecting the detector. Strong burst-type pulses continued to be detected, even when additionally shielded within another steel cabinet. These pulses have been continually observed by the author ever since the first experiments in 1975. many detectors have been built by the author, some by select colleagues, and all detectors performed similarly. In multiple detector tests, coincidence of bursts was noted. The observed bursts are Gaussian in amplitude and are in the order of 3-100 milliseconds long. A typical single sweep of bursts as seen on an oscilloscope is shown in Figure (3). The burst amplitudes are an inverse function of the frequency of the bursts, i.e., the greater the amplitude, the lower the frequency of such bursts. Relative amplitude and frequency of detected bursts is plotted in Figure (4a). The typical response of l/f noise in transistors (Ref. 5) is ploted in Figure (4b) for comparison. The similarity in plots is quite evident.

The response of the detector as averaged by a digital voltmeter at output, V2, is shown in Figure (5). This rough plot was made over a 24-hour period on May 10, 1981. For one earth revolution, the response is seen to be slightly anisotropic. Even with averaging, structure is seen in this plot, although only the major variations are shown. The peaks and dip recorded at 9:30 pm was roughly correlated with the autumn equinox at 12h right ascension, located in the Virgo region near the zenith at this time. This structure in the detector response moved about 4 minutes earlier each day and was followed for several weeks, and thus appears to confirm the observation that the burst response of the detector was related to our location on earth with respect to the rest of the universe. A tentative explanation for this response, in terms of the author’s cosmology, was made that (1), the universe is finite and spherical in shape, (2), the universe has a hard-core center of galaxies, and (3), the earth is located appreciably off-center in this scheme. The response also suggests an alternate explanation for the microwave background radiation detected by Penzias and Wilson.

Conclusions ~

A simple circuit for the detection of what could be gravitational waves of a new kind has been described. Sources for these waves could be supernova, novae, star quakes, etc., and the detected energy distribution and frequencies of such events are approximately as that expected (Ref. 7). The energy distribution and frequencies also closely approximate those seen in flicker or l/f noise in electron devices. It is, therefore, postulated that l/f noise in electron devices is being generated by these gravitational wave fronts in a manner similar to that ascribed to this detector.

The author is developing many technological uses for this circuit; cancellation or reduction of l/f noise, for example. In cosmology, the author is developing many new or alternate explanations for cosmological effects; the nature of electromagnetic wave propagation, for example. However, the possible correlation of l/f noise with cosmological effects given here should be of great interest to society members and others. The experiments are extremely simple and much of the author’s data can be verified readily.

References ~

1)  A. van der Ziel: Proc. IEEE, 58: 1178-1206 (1970)
2)  M. Stoisek & D. Wolf: IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. ED-27 (#9), Sept. 1980.
3)  G. Hodowanec: unpublished brief, June 1980.
4)  C. Misner, K. Thorne, J. Wheeler: Gravitation; 1973, W. Freeman & Co.
5)  Application Note AN-421, Motorola Semiconductor Products.
6) R. Wilson: Science, vol 205 (31 Aug. 1979)
7) S. Hawking, W. Israel (eds): General Relativity; 1979, Cambridge Press.

Figure 1: Electrical effects in capacitors; (a) mass perturbation effect, (b) electric field effect.

Figure 2: Basic circuit of the experimental detector.

Figure 3: Typical pulses observed on an oscillosope.

Figure 4: Correlation of burst noise with l/f noises; (a) burst noise, (b) l/f transistor noise figure.

Figure 5: Averaged response of detector in 24 hour period.