Hamburg poppedResearchers Live Stream Seismic Waves Generated by Taylor Swift Concert

Photo: UHH/Schlicht

Taylor Swift’s Hamburg concerts were sold out, like that in Gelsenkirchen (photo) The WAVE network transmitted vibrations caused by the performances and the more than 50,000 fans in a live stream.

WAVE is a seismic and geo-acoustic measurement network in and around Science City Hamburg-Bahrenfeld. The Taylor Swift concert, which took place 2 kilometers away, created vibrations that could be recorded with the existing sensors. Researchers in the network offered a live stream of the seismic signals for both concerts.

“Geophysicists in different countries have already measured the waves generated by Taylor Swift concerts, but Science City has a measurement network that provides unique resolution,” explains Prof. Dr. Céline Hadziioannou, professor of seismology at the University of Hamburg and member of the WAVE coordination team.

The network uses fiber optic cables as seismic sensors. WAVE comprises a total of 19 km fiber optic cables which amounts to 19,000 sensors. This allowed them to measure ground movement data at a previously unachieved density over large distances. The PETRA III accelerator, the X-ray laser European XFEL, and other facilities at the Bahrenfeld Campus and DESY were also used in this context as measurement stations.

They provide a unique and innovative infrastructure for geophysics, physics, and particularly for large research plants. In the future, they should be able to observe underground changes, such as to the water table, or underground temperature using WAVE. Experiments in gravity wave detection as part of the University of Hamburg’s Cluster of Excellence Quantum Universe are also planned.

“We wanted to use the Taylor Swift concerts to show how the WAVE network works, and what conclusions we can make on that basis,” clarified Prof. Dr. Oliver Gerberding, professor of gravitational wave detection at University of Hamburg. The live streams began at 6 pm on both days of the concert, and could be watched free of charge and without registration. An initial live stream test run was conducted to measure the vibrations from the last Euro Cup game at the Volkspark stadium.

In addition to Prof. Hadziioannou and Prof. Gerberding, the network is coordinated by Prof. Dr Katharina-Sophie Isleif (physics/measuring technology, Helmut Schmidt University) and Dr. Holger Schlarb (DESY). Researchers at the European XFEL and the GFZ German Centre for Geosciences Potsdam.

The live streams are available online. More information on this initiative is available on the WAVE website.

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