Gravitational Wave PhysicsProgramme:

- new initiative -

Group composition (current): • 3 staff, 0 postdoc, 2 PhD

Investment Budget:• under discussion

Jo van den Brand

First science run: May – September 2007

2

Virgo: 1st generation detector

1ST GENERATION IS CLOSE TO REACHING THESENSITIVITY TO DETECT A NS-NS COALESCENCEAS FAR AS VIRGO CLUSTER (17MPc)

BUT THE EVENT RATEIS TOO LOW !!

EXPECTED EVENT RATE:0.01-0.1 ev/yr (BNS)

FIRST DETECTION:POSSIBLE BUT NOT

PROBABLE

Credit: M.Lorenzini

3

From discovery to astronomy

100 million light years

Enhanced LIGO ~2009

Advanced LIGO ~2014

LIGO today

Credit: R.Powell, B.Berger

• Nikhef contributions to Virgo+ :

– New Automatic Alignment electronics– Thermal compensation simulations– Input Mode Cleaner optics

1 ev/week –

1 ev/day expected

4

FP7: 3rd generation baseline concept

• Underground detector• Mirrors at cryogenic temperature• Longer arms, new geometry

E.T. - Einstein gravitational-wave Telescope• Design Study Proposal submitted to EU within FP7• Large part of the European GW community involved (EGO, INFN, MPI, CNRS, NIKHEF, Univ. Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow)

• Recommended in Aspera / Appec roadmap

Credit: H.Lück

Creation of Adam - Michelangelo

5

GRB050509B

3RD GENERATIONINTERFEROMETER

2ND

GENERATION

1ST GENERATION

Credit G.Cagnoli

NS - NS INSPIRAL RANGE

Virgo

LOI to ESA – LISA analysisNikhef, VU, RUN and SRONNetherlands: Bulten/Nelemans

Beyond Einstein is the umbrella program for a series of NASA/ESA missions linked by powerful new technologies and common science goals to answer the questions:

Gravitational Waves Can Escape from Earliest Moments of the Big Bang

Inflation(Big Bang plus 10-34 Seconds)

Big Bang plus 300,000 Years

gravitational waves

Big Bang plus 14 Billion Years

light

Now

What powered the Big Bang?

Is Einstein’s theory still right in these conditions of extreme gravity? Or is new physics awaiting us?

Chandra - Each point of x-raylight is a Black Hole!

What happens at the edge of a Black Hole?

Dark energy and matter interact through gravity

We do not know what 95% of the universe

is made of!

What is the mysterious Dark Energy pulling the Universe apart?

September 6, 2007: Committee on NASA's Einstein Program: An Architecture for Implementation, National Research Council

Finding 4. LISA is an extraordinarily original and technically bold mission concept . LISA will open up an entirely new way of observing the universe, with immense potential to enlarge our understanding of physics and astronomy in unforeseen ways. LISA, in the committee’s view, should be the flagship mission of a long-term program addressing Beyond Einstein goals.

Finding 8. The present NASA Beyond Einstein funding wedge alone is inadequate to develop any candidate Beyond Einstein mission on its nominal schedule. However, both JDEM and LISA could be carried out with the currently forecasted NASA contribution if DOE's contribution that benefits JDEM is taken into account and if LISA's development schedule is extended and funding from ESA is assumed.

8

Summary• Gravitational wave physics

– Component of our Astroparticle Physics initiative– Exciting new physics program

• Important questions are addressed• Program with a long-term scientific perspective

• VIRGO– Sensitivity is improving fast– First science run underway– MOU on data sharing between LIGO and Virgo

• NIKHEF commitment – Modest at this moment– Expand to FOM research program in future

9

Spare slides

10

Recommendation 1. NASA and DOE should proceed immediately with a competition to select a JointDark Energy Mission for a 2009 new start. The broad mission goals in the Request for Proposalshould be (1) to determine the properties of dark energy with high precision and (2) to enable a broadrange of astronomical investigations. The committee encourages the Agencies to seek as wide a varietyof mission concepts and partnerships as possible.

Recommendation 2. NASA should invest additional Beyond Einstein funds in LISA technologydevelopment and risk reduction, to help ensure that the Agency is in a position to proceed inpartnership with ESA to a new start after the LISA Pathfinder results are understood.

Recommendation 3. NASA should move forward with appropriate measures to increase the readinessof the three remaining mission areas—Black Hole Finder Probe, Constellation-X, and InflationProbe—for consideration by NASA and the NRC Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics.