Scientists on quest to find hundreds of black holes in universe

Researchers have made a breakthrough discovery that might assist scientists to discover hundreds of black holes and unlock secrets of the universe.

When two detectors are switched on in the US in 2015, the team of Cardiff University hopes their research would help scientists pick up the faint ripples of black hole collisions millions of years ago, known as gravitational waves.

Black holes cannot be seen, but scientists hope the revamped detectors, which act like giant microphones, will find remnants of black hole collisions.

Led by Dr. Mark Hannam from the School of Physics and Astronomy, the researchers have built a theoretical model which aims to predict all potential gravitational-wave signals that might be found by the detectors.

The Cardiff researchers hope it will act as a "spotters' guide" to help scientists working with the giant LIGO detectors recognise the right waveforms and reveal the secrets of how black holes orbit into each other and collide.

The new model has been programmed into the computer codes that LIGO scientists all over the world are preparing to use to search for black-hole mergers when the detectors switch on. But there is still more work to do.

Dr. Hannam, who was optimistic, said that for years they were stumped on how to untangle the black-hole motion, and now that they've solved that, they know what to do next.