LaserInterferometerGravitational-WaveObservatory

Who?

Presented By: Bonnie Wooley

Funded by: National Science Foundation ($292 million)

Managed by: California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Who?

MIT

Caltech

Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory

A device to detect gravitational waves and its use to probe the universe has been a dream of theoretical physicists for several decades

LIGO is such a device. I should detect gravitational waves from sources such as black-hole collisions, the pulsations of newborn neutron stars resulting from supernovae explosions, and the background remnants of the Big Bang itself.

          

                           

Galaxy Super Nova Binary Neutron Star System

What ?

What ?

1996 Construction Underway (mostly civil)

1997 Facility Construction (vacuum system)

1998 Interferometer Construction (complete facilities)

1999 Construction Complete (interferometers in vacuum)

2000 Detector Installation (commissioning subsystems)

2001 Commission Interferometers (first coincidences)

2002 Sensitivity studies (initiate LIGO I Science Run)

2003+ LIGO I data run (one year integrated data)

2006+ Begin ‘Advanced LIGO’ installation

When ?

Hanford, Washington

Where ?Livingston, Louisiana

AGIO

Other Facilities Around the World

Where ?

LSC (LIGO Scientific Collaboration)44 collaborating groups; 400 collaborators

How ?

• 4 Kilometers (~5 miles Long)

• Shape of “L”

How ?

LASERInfrared

Pre-Stabilized10 watts

YAG

OPTICS

Fused Silica

Optic & Instrument Chambers

DESIGN LIMITS

PROGRESS

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