Designing the Next Generation of Terrestrial Gravitational-Wave Detectors

The Department of Physics is pleased to kick off their Fall 2020 colloquia season with professor Stefan Ballmer.  Dr. Ballmer is is an associate professor of physics at Syracuse University.

Designed to make the first break-through observation of gravitational-waves the current generation of ground-based gravitational-wave detectors, Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo have already observed more than 60 compact object mergers for the first time, providing a non-trivial sample of actual gravitational-wave sources. While the detectors are still being upgraded, we now also understand the technology limitations inherent in their design. This allows us to optimize the next generation detector design for a guaranteed science return.

This talk will start with an overview of the current performance and sensitivity limitations of Advanced LIGO. Then we will discuss the design considerations and technological challenges for the next generation of gravitational-wave detectors, and finish with a status update for the US Cosmic Explorer detector concept.