Joint Astrophysics Colloquium

Advanced LIGO: a second-generation gravitational-wave detector

David Shoemaker

MIT

Gravitational wave detectors, using the principle of laser interferometry to sense the motion of effectively free test masses, have promise to make both a direct detection and to lead to a new gravitational-wave astronomy of observation of violent astrophysical events. Initial LIGO provided new upper limits for gravitational-wave flux, but no signals have yet been identified in the data. Advanced LIGO will deliver a key factor of 10 improvement in the sensitivity, and should make regular detections once commissioned. The instrument science, at the frontier of precision measurement, will be discussed. Installation is underway; observation is planned to start in 2015.