No, gravitational waves flowing through space do not constitute the concept of "the aether" as it was historically conceived. The aether was a hypothetical medium that was once proposed as the substance through which light and other electromagnetic waves were thought to propagate.
In the late 19th century, scientists believed that light required a medium, the luminiferous aether, to travel through space. This concept was an attempt to explain how light waves could propagate, similar to how sound waves require a medium (such as air or water) to travel. However, subsequent experiments, such as the Michelson-Morley experiment, failed to detect the existence of the aether, leading to the abandonment of the aether theory.
Gravitational waves, on the other hand, are ripples in the fabric of spacetime itself, as predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity. They are not waves traveling through a medium but rather disturbances in the geometry of spacetime caused by the acceleration of massive objects. Gravitational waves do not require a medium like the aether to propagate; they can travel through the vacuum of space.
Gravitational waves have been directly detected since 2015, providing confirmation of their existence. These waves are generated by astrophysical events such as the collision of black holes or the merging of neutron stars. They propagate through space, carrying energy away from the source.
So, while both the aether and gravitational waves involve the idea of waves, they are fundamentally different concepts. Gravitational waves do not imply the existence of a hypothetical medium but rather describe the dynamic behavior of spacetime itself.