Two giant black holes spiral together and collide — a ripple of spacetime spreads across the Universe. Detectors of gravitational waves catch this ripple. But the signal may hide more than just mass and distance: if the laws of physics differ ever so slightly in different directions, the wave will be distorted.
Scientists took two future events: one very loud, the other with very massive black holes. They simulated how these signals would be heard by several detectors at once — some on Earth, others in space. This joint effort allows us to catch distortions at different frequencies, much like recording the same sound with both a bass and a violin microphone.
The calculations showed: the loud event is better at catching distortions at high frequencies, while the massive one catches low frequencies. Together, they give a complete picture. It's like checking a ruler both lengthwise and crosswise.
If distortions are found — physics gets a new chapter. If not — general relativity becomes even more reliable.
Gravitational waves from black hole mergers can stretch and squeeze a detector by an amount a thousand times smaller than the size of a proton.