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LIGO and the Coming Dawn of Gravitational Wave Physics and Astronomy

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Abstract

For the past 50 years, researchers have searched in vain for gravitational waves, miniscule ripples in space-time emitted from the most violent events in the cosmos. To move gravitational-wave detection beyond the realm of impossibility, we have just finished construction on Advanced LIGO, a pair of 4 km arm length laser interferometers capable of measuring displacements approaching 10−19 m at their most sensitive frequencies, redefining the meaning of ‘extreme precision measurement’. LIGO brings together high energy astrophysics and many aspects of optical science and engineering in a unique way with the ambitious goal of detecting gravitational waves and opening a new window onto the universe.

© 2015 Optical Society of America

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