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LIGO and Virgo Resume Search for Ripples in Space and Time The National Science Foundation's LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) is set to resume its hunt for gravitational waves—ripples in space and time—on April 1, after receiving a series of upgrades to its lasers, mirrors, and other components. LIGO—which consists of twin detectors located in Washington and Louisiana—now has a combined increase in sensitivity of about 40 percent over its last run, which means that it can survey an even larger volume of space than before for powerful, wave-making events, such as the collisions of black holes. Joining the search will be Virgo, the European-based gravitational-wave detector, located at the European Gravitational Observatory (EGO) in Italy, which has almost doubled its sensitivity since its last run and is also starting up April 1. "For this third observational run, we achieved significantly greater improvements to the detectors' sensitivity than we did for the last run," says Peter Fritschel, LIGO's chief detector scientist at MIT. "And with LIGO and Virgo observing together for the next year, we will surely detect many more gravitational waves from the types of sources we've seen so far. We're eager to see new events too, such as a merger of a black hole and a neutron star." In 2015, after LIGO began observing for the first time in an upgraded program called Advanced LIGO, it soon made history by making the first direct detection of gravitational waves. The ripples traveled to Earth from a pair of colliding black holes located 1.3 billion light-years away. For this discovery, three of LIGO's key players—Caltech's Barry C. Barish, the Ronald and Maxine Linde Professor of Physics, Emeritus, and Kip S. Thorne, the Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics, Emeritus, along with MIT's Rainer Weiss, professor of physics, emeritus—were awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics. Since then, the LIGO-Virgo detector network has uncovered nine additional black hole mergers and one explosive smashup of two neutron stars. That event, dubbed GW170817, generated not just gravitational waves but light, which was observed by dozens of telescopes in space and on the ground. "With our three detectors now operational at a significantly improved sensitivity, the global LIGO-Virgo detector network will allow more precise triangulation of the sources of gravitational waves," says Jo van den Brand of Nikhef (the Dutch National Institute for Subatomic Physics) and VU University Amsterdam, who is the spokesperson for the Virgo collaboration. "This will be an important step toward our quest for multi-messenger astronomy." Now, with the start of the next joint LIGO-Virgo run, the observatories are poised to detect an even greater number of black hole mergers and other extreme events, such as additional

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Page 1: LIGO and Virgo Resume Search for Ripples in … Virgo Collaboration is currently composed of approximately 350 scientists, engineers, and technicians from about 70 institutes from

LIGOandVirgoResumeSearchforRipplesinSpaceandTimeTheNationalScienceFoundation'sLIGO(LaserInterferometerGravitational-WaveObservatory)issettoresumeitshuntforgravitationalwaves—ripplesinspaceandtime—onApril1,afterreceivingaseriesofupgradestoitslasers,mirrors,andothercomponents.LIGO—whichconsistsoftwindetectorslocatedinWashingtonandLouisiana—nowhasacombinedincreaseinsensitivityofabout40percentoveritslastrun,whichmeansthatitcansurveyanevenlargervolumeofspacethanbeforeforpowerful,wave-makingevents,suchasthecollisionsofblackholes.JoiningthesearchwillbeVirgo,theEuropean-basedgravitational-wavedetector,locatedattheEuropeanGravitationalObservatory(EGO)inItaly,whichhasalmostdoubleditssensitivitysinceitslastrunandisalsostartingupApril1."Forthisthirdobservationalrun,weachievedsignificantlygreaterimprovementstothedetectors'sensitivitythanwedidforthelastrun,"saysPeterFritschel,LIGO'schiefdetectorscientistatMIT."AndwithLIGOandVirgoobservingtogetherforthenextyear,wewillsurelydetectmanymoregravitationalwavesfromthetypesofsourceswe'veseensofar.We'reeagertoseeneweventstoo,suchasamergerofablackholeandaneutronstar."In2015,afterLIGObeganobservingforthefirsttimeinanupgradedprogramcalledAdvancedLIGO,itsoonmadehistorybymakingthefirstdirectdetectionofgravitationalwaves.TheripplestraveledtoEarthfromapairofcollidingblackholeslocated1.3billionlight-yearsaway.Forthisdiscovery,threeofLIGO'skeyplayers—Caltech'sBarryC.Barish,theRonaldandMaxineLindeProfessorofPhysics,Emeritus,andKipS.Thorne,theRichardP.FeynmanProfessorofTheoreticalPhysics,Emeritus,alongwithMIT'sRainerWeiss,professorofphysics,emeritus—wereawardedthe2017NobelPrizeinPhysics.Sincethen,theLIGO-Virgodetectornetworkhasuncoverednineadditionalblackholemergersandoneexplosivesmashupoftwoneutronstars.Thatevent,dubbedGW170817,generatednotjustgravitationalwavesbutlight,whichwasobservedbydozensoftelescopesinspaceandontheground."Withourthreedetectorsnowoperationalatasignificantlyimprovedsensitivity,theglobalLIGO-Virgodetectornetworkwillallowmoreprecisetriangulationofthesourcesofgravitationalwaves,"saysJovandenBrandofNikhef(theDutchNationalInstituteforSubatomicPhysics)andVUUniversityAmsterdam,whoisthespokespersonfortheVirgocollaboration."Thiswillbeanimportantsteptowardourquestformulti-messengerastronomy."Now,withthestartofthenextjointLIGO-Virgorun,theobservatoriesarepoisedtodetectanevengreaternumberofblackholemergersandotherextremeevents,suchasadditional

Page 2: LIGO and Virgo Resume Search for Ripples in … Virgo Collaboration is currently composed of approximately 350 scientists, engineers, and technicians from about 70 institutes from

neutron-neutronstarmergersorayet-to-be-seenblackhole-neutronstarmerger.Oneofthemetricstheteamusesformeasuringincreasesinsensitivityistocalculatehowfarouttheycandetectneutron-neutronstarmergers.Inthenextrun,LIGOwillbeabletoseethoseeventsouttoanaverageof550millionlight-yearsaway,ormorethan190millionlight-yearsfartheroutthanbefore.Akeytoachievingthissensitivityinvolveslasers.EachLIGOinstallationconsistsoftwolongarmsthatformanLshapedinterferometer.Laserbeamsareshotfromthecornerofthe"L"andbouncedoffmirrorsbeforetravelingbackdownthearmsandrecombining.Whengravitationalwavespassby,theystretchandsqueezespaceitself,makingimperceptiblytinychangestothedistancethelaserbeamstravelandtherebyaffectinghowtheyrecombine.Forthisnextrun,thelaserpowerhasbeendoubledtomorepreciselymeasurethesedistancechanges,therebyincreasingthedetectors’sensitivitytogravitationalwaves.OtherupgradesweremadetoLIGO'smirrorsatbothlocations,withatotaloffiveofeightmirrorsbeingswappedoutforbetter-performingversions."Wehadtobreakthefibersholdingthemirrorsandverycarefullytakeouttheopticsandreplacethem,"saysCalumTorrie,LIGO'smechanical-opticalengineeringheadatCaltech."Itwasanenormousengineeringundertaking."Thisnextrunalsoincludesupgradesdesignedtoreducelevelsofquantumnoise.Quantumnoiseoccursduetorandomfluctuationsofphotons,whichcanleadtouncertaintyinthemeasurementsandcanmaskfaintgravitational-wavesignals.Byemployingatechniquecalled"squeezing,"initiallydevelopedforgravitational-wavedetectorsattheAustralianNationalUniversity,andmaturedandroutinelyusedsince2010attheGEO600detector,researcherscanshifttheuncertaintyinthephotonsaround,makingtheiramplitudeslesscertainandtheirphases,ortiming,morecertain.ThetimingofphotonsiswhatiscrucialforLIGO'sabilitytodetectgravitationalwaves.TorriesaysthattheLIGOteamhasspentmonthscommissioningallofthesenewsystems,makingsureeverythingisalignedandworkingcorrectly."OneofthethingsthatissatisfyingtousengineersisknowingthatallofourupgradesmeanthatLIGOcannowseefartherintospacetofindthemostextremeeventsinouruniverse."

Page 3: LIGO and Virgo Resume Search for Ripples in … Virgo Collaboration is currently composed of approximately 350 scientists, engineers, and technicians from about 70 institutes from

MoreInformationabouttheLIGO-Virgocollaborations:LIGOisfundedbyNSFandoperatedbyCaltechandMIT,whichconceivedofLIGOandledtheInitialandAdvancedLIGOprojects.FinancialsupportfortheAdvancedLIGOprojectwasledbytheNSFwithGermany(MaxPlanckSociety),theU.K.(ScienceandTechnologyFacilitiesCouncil)andAustralia(AustralianResearchCouncil-OzGrav)makingsignificantcommitmentsandcontributionstotheproject.Nearly1,300scientistsfromaroundtheworldparticipateintheeffortthroughtheLIGOScientificCollaboration,whichincludestheGEOCollaboration.Alistofadditionalpartnersisavailableathttps://my.ligo.org/census.php.

TheVirgoCollaborationiscurrentlycomposedofapproximately350scientists,engineers,andtechniciansfromabout70institutesfromBelgium,France,Germany,Hungary,Italy,theNetherlands,Poland,andSpain.TheEuropeanGravitationalObservatory(EGO)hoststheVirgodetectornearPisainItaly,andisfundedbyCentreNationaldelaRechercheScientifique(CNRS)inFrance,theIstitutoNazionalediFisicaNucleare(INFN)inItaly,andNikhefintheNetherlands.AlistoftheVirgoCollaborationmemberscanbefoundathttp://public.virgo-gw.eu/the-virgo-collaboration/.MoreinformationisavailableontheVirgowebsiteathttp://www.virgo-gw.eu.

MediaContacts:

CaltechWhitneyClavinwclavin@caltech.edu626-390-9601MITAbigailAbazoriusabbya@[email protected][email protected]

Page 4: LIGO and Virgo Resume Search for Ripples in … Virgo Collaboration is currently composed of approximately 350 scientists, engineers, and technicians from about 70 institutes from

Images:

DetectorengineersHughRadkins(foreground)andBetsyWeaver(background),arepicturedhereinsidethevacuumsystemofthedetectoratLIGOHanfordObservatory,beginningthehardwareupgradesnecessaryforAdvancedLIGO'sthirdobservingrun.[Imagecredit:LIGO/Caltech/MIT/JeffKissel]

LIGOteammembersinstallin-vacuumequipmentthatispartofthesqueezed-lightupgrade.[Imagecredit:LIGO/Caltech/MIT/MattHeintze]


Mirror Suspension Control commissioning learning Virgo-Ligo joint meeting LIGO-G070363-00-Z E. Majorana INFN MSC workgroup

Sensitivity of Virgo E. Tournefier (LAPP-CNRS) LSC-Virgo week May 23 rd,2007 LIGO-G070337-00-Z

LIGO - G070303-01-M Update from LIGO Laboratory LIGO-Virgo Collaboration Meeting Albert Lazzarini Cascina, Italy May 22-25, 2007

LIGO-G080144-00-R Gold Barrel Coatings- Our Savior Phil Willems LIGO/Caltech LSC/Virgo Meeting, Caltech 3/20/2008

LIGO-G020518-01-W Measuring Ripples in the Geometry of Space Fred Raab LIGO Hanford Observatory

What is LIGO (LSC/GEO/Virgo/…)?

Searches for Compact Binary Coalescences in LIGO and Virgo data Gabriela González For the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration APS

Pankow LIGO astrophysics - ectstar.eu Astronomy and Astrophysics with LIGO and Virgo Chris Pankow (CIERA/Northwestern) for the LIGO and Virgo Collaborations DCC: G1701947

G070515-00-M 1 Advanced LIGO Update David Shoemaker LSC/Virgo MIT July 2007

LIGO Coating Project Gregory Harry LIGO/MIT - On Behalf of the Coating Working Group - LIGO/Virgo Thermal Noise Workshop October 7, 2006 Pisa, Italy LIGO-G060504-00-R

Keith Riles University of Michigan LIGO-Virgo Collaboration

Neutron Stars - arXiv.org e-Print archivethe six BBHs detected by LIGO/Virgo collaborations. roughly 10 4 ˘10 1 Hz, than that of LIGO/Virgo, has been approved [32]. In this paper,

LIGO/Virgo Data Analysis and Modified Gravity (MOG) Black

Advanced LIGO, Advanced VIRGO and KAGRA: …Advanced LIGO, Advanced VIRGO and KAGRA: Precision Measurement for Astronomy Stefan Ballmer For the LVC Miami 2012 Dec 18, 2012 LIGO-G1201293

The LIGO/Virgo Burst Search

LIGO-G040226-00-Z The Status of VIRGO E. Tournefier for the Virgo Collaboration GWADW 2004, Aspen From the CITF to VIRGO Commissioning of the Fabry-Perot

LIGO-Virgo Detector Characterization (DetChar) · 2019-02-14 · LIGO-Virgo Detector Characterization (DetChar) 5th KAGRA Workshop –Perugia, 14-15 February 2019 Nicolas Arnaud([email protected])

1 Observing the Most Violent Events in the Universe Virgo Barry Barish Director, LIGO Virgo Inauguration 23-July-03 Cascina 2003

Comparing different searches for gravitational-wave bursts on simulated LIGO and VIRGO data Michele Zanolin -MIT on behalf of the LIGO-VIRGO joint working

LIGO and Virgo During the First Half of the Third

LIGO-Virgo Status Report · LIGO-Virgo Status Report In between the Observation Runs 2 and 3 ICHEP, Seoul –July 5, 2018 Nicolas Arnaud ([email protected]) Laboratoire de l’Accélérateur

All-sky Search for Gravitational-wave Bursts in the Second Joint LIGO-Virgo Run

G080181-03-Z Searches for bursts of gravitational waves with LIGO, GEO and Virgo E. Katsavounidis MIT for the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo

runs of the Advanced LIGO and Virgo network - arxiv.org · Search for intermediate mass black hole binaries in the rst and second observing runs of the Advanced LIGO and Virgo network

Transients with Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo - arXiv · (The LIGO Scienti c Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration) 1LIGO, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA

X-RAY TRANSIENTS IN THE ADVANCED LIGO VIRGO HORIZONauthors.library.caltech.edu/41475/1/0004-637X_774_1_63.pdfwith LIGO/Virgo counterparts. This represents the first extragalactic

A primer on LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave science...A primer on LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave science Jo van den Brand, Nikhef and VU University Amsterdam, Maastricht University,

Virgo detector, Cascina, Italy LIGO Hanford Observatory Washington

Cascina, May 23, 2007LSC-VIRGO Joint Meeting Presentation of a new Virgo group INFN/University Genova Gianluca Gemme LIGO-G070336-00-Z

Status of the Advanced LIGO PSL development LSC Virgo meeting, Caltech, March 2008

GWDAW91Thursday, December 16 First Comparison Between LIGO &Virgo Inspiral Search Pipelines F. Beauville on behalf of the LIGO-Virgo Joint Working Group

LIGO-G0900289 Black holes, Einstein, and space-time ripples Peter R. Saulson Syracuse University

The Binary Black Holes of LIGO and Virgo

LIGO-GXX What is LIGO (LSC/GEO/Virgo/…)? Gabriela González, Louisiana State University For the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration

GW150914 Direct Detection by LIGO - peterdenton.github.io · GW150914 Direct Detection by LIGO Peter B. Denton Fermilab JC on LIGO February 16, 2016 LIGO and Virgo, arXiv:1602.03837