Research Interests – Detecting gravitational waves with planetary rings

Gravitational waves oscillate in gravitational potential energy but pass through most matter completely unnoticed. However, orbital resonances can occur for very long wavelength gravitational waves with particles in planetary rings. The small amplitudes of these waves then become amplified in the orbits of ring particles. Dr Sutton is working with PhD student Corey McInerney to show how gravitational waves can reveal themselves when passing through certain systems.