Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2019
Volume 64, Number 3
Saturday–Tuesday, April 13–16, 2019; Denver, Colorado
Session C02: Isaacson Award Talk and Ground Based Gravitational-wave AstronomyInvited Undergraduate
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Sponsoring Units: DGRAV Chair: Alan Weinstein, California Institute of Technology Room: Sheraton Plaza D |
Saturday, April 13, 2019 1:30PM - 2:06PM |
C02.00001: Making LIGO Possible: A Technical History Invited Speaker: Stanley E Whitcomb The first detection of gravitational waves by LIGO was remarkable not only because of its impact on the Theory of General Relativity and on the astrophysics of neutron stars and black holes, but also because of the sensitivity of the detectors required. The LIGO interferometers had to be capable of discerning changes as small as 1E-18 m in the length of its 4-km long arms, certainly one of the most precise physical measurements ever made. To achieve this incredible sensitivity, LIGO scientists spent over 30 years understanding and overcoming a plethora of competing noise sources. In this talk, I will describe a diverse handful of these technical challenges, selected because of their importance to the project or their broader general interest, and trace the sometimes circuitous path that led to each one being brought under control. |
Saturday, April 13, 2019 2:06PM - 2:42PM |
C02.00002: The current status of gravitational wave astronomy with LIGO and Virgo Invited Speaker: Katerina Chatziioannou The second observing run of the LIGO and Virgo detectors increased the total number of confirmed detections of gravitational waves from compact binary coalescences to eleven from three. The number of detections is expected to significantly increase during the third observing run, which will use improved detectors over a longer period of time and potentially include the addition of KAGRA to the current network of detectors. This talk will describe the status of the now-firmly-established field of gravitational wave astronomy, and how we are currently taking advantage of ever-increasing numbers of detections. This includes exploring the properties of the black holes and neutron stars, the behavior of extremely dense matter, and the fundamental nature of gravity itself. Future observational prospects will also be discussed, and how we will exploit ever increasing numbers of signals at better and better sensitivities. |
Saturday, April 13, 2019 2:42PM - 3:18PM |
C02.00003: The Next Generation of Ground-Based Gravitational-Wave Detectors Invited Speaker: Evan D Hall The current generation of gravitational-wave detectors have provided a wealth of information from coalescences of binary black holes and binary neutron stars. However, even at design sensitivity these detectors are only able to observe coalescences from the local universe, out to redshifts of a few. In contrast, the next generation of longer and more sensitive gravitational-wave detectors, such as Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer, will detect binary coalescences throughout the entire universe, out to redshifts well beyond 10. Additionally, these next-generation detectors will detect nearby coalescences with exquisite signal-to-noise ratios, enabling precision tests of general relativity and nuclear physics. I will discuss some of the science goals and technological challenges for this next generation of detectors. |
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