IT IS the holy grail of the world of science — the final link in Einstein’s theory of relativity that would provide definitive evidence of the birth of the universe.

Physicists at Glasgow University believe that they are on the verge of winning an international race to prove the existence of gravitational waves — the tremors caused by the Big Bang known as the “echo of creation”.

They are confident that within 12 months they can pull off one of the greatest coups in the history of science. In doing so they should make themselves uncontestable nominees for the Nobel prize for physics.

As well as providing new insights into the earliest period of creation, the discovery will have several practical applications for space travel and in the computer and aeronautical industries.

Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of space time produced when massive bodies, such as black holes, accelerate in strong gravitational fields.

First put forward by Albert Einstein in 1916 as part of his general theory of relativity, they have never been positively detected. The closest anybody has come was in a Nobelwinning study in 1993 by a team of physicists at Princeton University.

They observed two neutron stars orbiting each other, accelerating as they drew closer together — exactly the expected phenomenon if the orbits were losing energy in the form of emitted gravity waves.

Now, in an international collaboration, physicists and astronomers are on the verge of observing gravitational waves through new detectors.

Led by Professor James Hough and his team at Glasgow University, they have devised equipment that can measure disturbances a 100,000th of the diameter of an atom.

The recording equipment has been set up in Germany and America and features lasers measuring up to 2Å miles long linked to a series of pendulums.

“The reason we have not directly detected gravitational waves over the years is because we have not had sufficiently sensitive equipment,” said Hough. “The present equipment is the result of 35 years of experimental development and our greater understanding of the universe, suggesting more potential sources of gravitational waves than we had previously thought.”

The Albert Einstein Institute in Potsdam, the University of Hanover and California Institute of Technology (Caltech) are also involved in the collaboration.

Professor Kip Thorne, of Caltech, said: “There is a dark side of the universe that we just cannot see electromagnetically. There is cosmic phenonema that we can only learn about through gravitational waves, such as the collision of black holes, the most powerful event in the universe from which no light or radio waves are emitted — only gravitational waves.

“We are now getting very close to discovering these waves thanks to the work of superb experimenters of whom Jim Hough is among the leading three of four in the world. These are exciting times.”

The National Science Foundation in the United States has spent £190m on research and development and provides £16m a year to fund the search for gravitational waves.

Although Glasgow University has received a more modest £7m from the government to design the equipment, it is leading the race.

“Gravitational waves are not part of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is a new spectrum which will open up a whole outlook on the universe,” said Professor Colin Pillinger of the Open University, the scientist behind the Beagle mission to Mars.

Sir Patrick Moore, the astronomer and presenter of The Sky at Night, said: “This work is a search for the most important force in the universe. If the waves are detected then it will take us on to greater discovery. I would have thought this kind of work was of sufficient calibre to merit a Nobel prize.”

Spin-offs from the Glasgow research have included the development of a way of bonding silicon carbide, which is used in spacecraft and in the manufacture of a new generation of computer chips. High quality lasers developed by the team will also bring better navigational equipment for commercial aircraft.

A series of events has been planned for 2005 to mark the 50th anniversary of Einstein’s death and the 100th anniversary of the publication of his four landmark theories.

Last summer Ladbrokes, the bookmaker, offered odds of 500-1 on gravitational waves being detected by 2010. The odds were cut to 2-1 before betting was closed.

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