As others have said, intensity (power per unit area) decreases according to the same inverse square law that governs most effects due to localized sources in three dimensions of space. In this case, you're looking at a distance of over a billion light years, and then squaring it: that's a pretty enormous "per unit area"!
But gravity itself is also a tremendously weak force compared to the others. That may seem surprising at first, but it becomes pretty clear when I point out that a cheap little refrigerator magnet exerts enough force to overcome the gravitational pull of an entire planet right beneath it. Gravitational waves are pretty much just ripples on the top of that already tiny force.
Huh. That sounds entirely sensible and correct, and at the same time it's bugging my physical intuition a bit. I guess they're not trying to do this measurement by absorbing energy, but much more directly by just watching the change in length. I think I believe you: thanks!
As others have said, intensity (power per unit area) decreases according to the same inverse square law that governs most effects due to localized sources in three dimensions of space. In this case, you're looking at a distance of over a billion light years, and then squaring it: that's a pretty enormous "per unit area"!
But gravity itself is also a tremendously weak force compared to the others. That may seem surprising at first, but it becomes pretty clear when I point out that a cheap little refrigerator magnet exerts enough force to overcome the gravitational pull of an entire planet right beneath it. Gravitational waves are pretty much just ripples on the top of that already tiny force.