NSF MPS AC Subcommittee on Next-Generation Gravitational-Wave Detector Concepts

Document #:

LIGO-P2600038-v1

Document type:

P - Publications

Abstract:

The breakthrough detection of gravitational waves (GW) in 2015 by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatories (LIGO) initiated a new field in physics and astronomy, providing a novel way to observe the Universe by listening to the ripples of spacetime. That detection and the follow-up observations using improved capabilities of the LIGO detectors yielded remarkable achievements worthy of the Nobel prize. The LIGO detectors reached unprecedented sensitivity and revealed the existence of stellar-scale black holes more massive than expected and neutron-star mergers emitting both gravitational waves and light signals (multi-messenger signals) across the entire spectrum while at the same time providing additional confirmation of Einstein s theory of general relativity. Building on this success, the U.S. science community has begun to plan for the next generation of gravitational-wave (ngGW) detectors, with capabilities ten times better than those of the
latest incarnations of LIGO.

Files in Document:

• mpsac_nggw_subcommittee_report_2024-03-23.pdf (file is not accessible)

Topics:

• Reports
• NSF

Authors:

• Vassiliki Kalogera

Keywords:

Cosmic Explorer NSF report