Advanced LIGO

Abstract

The Advanced LIGO gravitational wave detectors are second-generation instruments designed and built for the two LIGO observatories in Hanford, WA and Livingston, LA, USA. The two instruments are identical in design, and are specialized versions of a Michelson interferometer with 4 km long arms. As in Initial LIGO, Fabry–Perot cavities are used in the arms to increase the interaction time with a gravitational wave, and power recycling is used to increase the effective laser power. Signal recycling has been added in Advanced LIGO to improve the frequency response. In the most sensitive frequency region around 100 Hz, the design strain sensitivity is a factor of 10 better than Initial LIGO. In addition, the low frequency end of the sensitivity band is moved from 40 Hz down to 10 Hz. All interferometer components have been replaced with improved technologies to achieve this sensitivity gain. Much better seismic isolation and test mass suspensions are responsible for the gains at lower frequencies. Higher laser power, larger test masses and improved mirror coatings lead to the improved sensitivity at mid and high frequencies. Data collecting runs with these new instruments are planned to begin in mid-2015.

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Affiliated Institutions

• Charles Sturt University AU
• National Institute for Space Research BR
• Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules FR
• California Institute of Technology US
• Louisiana State University US
• Laboratoire d’Annecy de Physique des Particules FR
• National Tsing Hua University TW
• Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics IN
• University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee US
• University of Toronto CA
• Montana State University US
• Tata Institute of Fundamental Research IN
• The University of Western Australia AU
• Leibniz University Hannover DE
• University of Southampton GB
• Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology IN
• Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique FR
• University of Maryland, College Park US
• University of Sannio IT
• University of Glasgow GB
• University of Massachusetts Amherst US
• Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics CA
• Stanford University US
• Brownsville Public Library US
• Eötvös Loránd University HU
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology US
• University of Birmingham GB
• University of Florida US
• Columbia University US
• University of Michigan US
• Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics DE
• Tsinghua University CN
• Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Napoli IT
• Cardiff University GB
• International Centre for Theoretical Sciences IN
• Syracuse University US
• University of Mississippi US
• University of Oregon US
• Goddard Space Flight Center US
• California State University, Fullerton US
• Lomonosov Moscow State University RU
• Universitat de les Illes Balears ES
• Washington State University US
• LIGO Scientific Collaboration US

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