Gravitational Wave Seminar Series: “Lunar Gravitational-wave Antenna”

The Syracuse University Physics Department is pleased to welcome Dr. Jan Harms, a professor from the Gran Sasso Science Institute. Jan will give a talk as part of the Gravitational Wave Seminar Series.

Abstract:

Since 2015, we have been observing the dark side of the universe with gravitational-wave (GW) detectors. As amazing as the Virgo and LIGO instruments and their first observations are, they are only the very first step into the new era of GW science and astronomy. The prospect to detect signals from kilometer-scale sources out to redshifts of 100 with the proposed Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer, or binaries of supermassive black holes with pulsar-timing arrays and the approved LISA mission is mind-boggling. These detectors are part of a wider effort to expand the frequency band of GW observations, and they leave open the decihertz band, which harbors many interesting sources of GWs. In this talk, we will present the Lunar GW Antenna (LGWA), which was proposed in 2020 to observe GWs on the Moon also in the decihertz band. It exploits the Moon itself as a giant antenna for GWs. Its pathfinder mission Soundcheck was recently selected by ESA into the Reserve Pool of Science Activities for the Moon.