Title: LIGO and LISA Detectors: Searching for signals from the dark side of the Universe

Speaker: Dr. Stuart Reid (University of Glasgow, UK)

Host: Prof. Lin Yi

Time: 3:00PM, Oct. 10th (Monday)

Place: Main Building B326

Abstract:

　　Observing gravitational waves will open up an entirely new field in Astronomy, providing information unobtainable any other way. Einstein proposed that gravity can be represented geometrically as the distortion of the fabric of space-and-time by massive objects, like a weight distorts a rubber sheet. Motions of the largest and most violent astrophysical objects, such as black holes and supernovae, create “ripples” in space-time (gravitational waves) like ripples on a pond. However, these signals are very small, so building detectors of high enough sensitivity is currently one of the most significant challenges faced by experimental physicists. Major detector upgrades are now under-way, with long-baseline interferometers such as for Advanced LIGO in the US anticipating sensitivity improvements of a factor of 10 to 15. This talk will give an overview on detector design, the challenges arising from fundamental noise, and the variety of astrophysical sources expected to be observed when these instruments come on-line in 2014-15.

About the speaker:

　　Dr. Stuart Reid is an RSE / Scottish Government Research Fellow working in the Institute for Gravitational Research at the University of Glasgow, UK. His research interests focus on the development of precision optics for gravitational wave detectors. He is a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, Einstein Telescope design study group, and the LCGT Collaboration.