Gravitational Waves:

A new window to the

universe
Presented by:

John S. Jacob
Sr. Research Fellow,
School of Physics, University of Western Australia
Project Engineer,
Australian International Gravitational Research Center

Gravitational Waves:
A new window to the
universe
Acknowledgements
ACIGA: Australian Consortium for Interferometric Gravitational Astronomy:
David McClelland (ANU), Jesper Munch (U. Adelaide), Tony Lun (Monash).
Gabriella Gonzales for some slides
Prof. David Blair for some slides and inspired leadership of the center
Dr. Ju Li for help with some slides
All members of the UWA Gravity Waves Group
LIGO Scientific Collaboration
International Advisory Committee, High Optical Power Project
The VIRGO Project, The TAMA Project and the GEO Collaboration

Looking Out at the Universe

Gamma Rays
Bursts (BATSE)

Infrared

Microwave
Background
(COBE)

Each
new
windo
w
yields
dram
atic
new
insigh
ts!

These are all parts of the same

Electromagnetic Spectrum.
Gamma Rays
Bursts (BATSE)

Infrared

Microwave
Background
(COBE)

Each
new
windo
w
yields
dram
atic
new
insigh
ts!

The Electromagnetic
Spectrum?
Whats That?

In 1820, Hans Christian Oersted

discovered that electric currents
(moving electric charges) create
magnetic fields.

In 1831, Michael Farraday discovered

that varying magnetic fields create
electric currents.

In 1864, James Clerk Maxwell put two

and two together.

 Oscillating electric fields create oscillating

magnetic fields.
Oscillating magnetic fields create oscillating
electric fields.
Together, electromagnetic waves propagate
through empty space at a speed Maxwell
calculated to be 3 x 108 meters per second.

In 1886, Heinrich Hertz experimentally

demonstrated creation and
propagation of electromagnetic waves
at the speed of light.

It was eventually realized that:

Radio
Microwave
Infrared Light
Visible Light
Ultraviolet Light
X-Ray Radiation
Gamma Ray Radiation
are all forms of Electromagnetic Waves.

It was eventually realized that:

Radio 100 km to 1 meter
Microwave 10 cm to 1 mm
Infrared Light - 1/1000 mm
Visible Light 500 micron
Ultraviolet Light 100 nm to 10 nm
X-Ray Radiation - 10 nm to 0.01 nm
Gamma Ray Radiation 0.01 nm to ??
are all forms of Electromagnetic Waves.

In 1915, Albert Einstein presented his

theory of General Relativity.

 Matter changes the shape of space.

Space changes the path of matter.
Waves in the continuum of space can
propagate forward at the speed of light.
Gravity waves.

Gravitational Waves:
a different kind of waves
They were predicted by Einstein:
all moving masses change space time around them!
Matter tells space how to curve.
Space tells matter how to move.

Not light waves!! But they also have different wavelengths

Gravitational waves: a new

window
GWs are produced by accelerated masses.
They represent an entirely new spectrum.
Gravity wave detectors are the ears that will allow us to listen to the sounds
of the universe.

Gravitational wave sources:

periodic sources: binary systems,
rotating stars
burst sources: supernovae, collisions,
black hole formations, gamma ray bursts?
stochastic sources: clutter of signals from
the entire universe, early moments of the big
bang, cosmic strings?...

But they are very weak.

Weve been looking for them with detectors sensitive to changes in
distance A BILLION TIMES smaller than an atomic diameter and
nothing yet!?

Resonant bar detectors:

University of Western
Australia :NIOBE
Lousiana State
University (USA)
ALLEGRO
Astronomers are not surprised: most strong sources are VERY far away!
Gravitational waves produce larger effects if the detectors are
VERY long. We also want to try different wavelengths!

What do we know
about gravitational waves?
That they exist!
Nobel Prize
Physics 1993
Hulse & Taylor

There is indirect evidence for

the existence of Gravity Waves.
Nobel Prize
Physics 1993
Hulse & Taylor

However, no one has yet been

able to observe them directly.
The ability to do so is
important as a test of General
Relativity and as a totally new
kind of astronomy!

Gravitational waves:
an international dream
Resonant
Mass
Detectors

Gravitational waves:
an international dream

GEO600 (British-German)
Hannover, Germany

TAMA (Japan)
Mitaka

LIGO (USA)
Hanford, WA and Livingston, LA

AIGO (Australia),
Wallingup Plain, 85km north of Perth

VIRGO (French-Italian)
Cascina, Italy

Gravitational Waves:
what else do we know?

Gravitational Waves are ripples in space-time.

They cause distortions of distances.
Their strength is measured by strain, the fractional change in
distance, called h. Typical value of h is ~10-21.
The size of the waves is tiny because space is very stiff!
Because gravity only attracts - never repels, gravity waves have
quadrupole polarizations pictured above.

But how can we detect Gravity

Waves?

How to
docould
it? Gravity
What measurable
effect
Waves have?
What kind of instrument could
directly observe them?

Gravitational Waves:
what else do we know?

Gravitational Waves are ripples in space-time.

They cause distortions of distances.
Their strength is measured by strain, the fractional change in
distance, called h.
The size of the waves is tiny because space is very stiff!
A NS binary, oscillating at ~100 Hz, ~100 Mpc away, produces
h~10-21

Simply measure the distance

between two objects floating in
space.
If its that easy, why hasnt it
already been done?

Problems:
The marks on the ruler would have to be a
billion times smaller and closer together
than the atoms the ruler is made of.
The objects might be drifting away from
each other. We need a way to control them
without constraining them too much.
The length of our ruler will also be affected
by the gravity waves.

Make the distance

between controlled objects
very large.
The greater the distance,
the greater the effect of
gravity waves.

Use a laser beam to

measure the distance.
For a
change in distance
due to gravity waves of 1 mm,
the objects only have to be about one
million billion kilometers apart.

Problem: It would take

more than one hundred
years just to make one
measurement.
The distance must also be
smaller than the wavelength
we are trying to measure

Solution: Its much easier to

measure differences between
two large distances than it is to
measure the large distances
themselves.
A device called an Interferometer
does this with utterly ridiculous
accuracy.

An interferometer compares
the distances traveled by two
laser beams. It is sensitive to
changes in length smaller
than the wavelength of its
light.

Example of a simple FabryPerot

Cavity Interferometer

FabryPerot
cavities

Laser
beamsplitter
photodetector

Are not both arms of the

interferometer affected equally by
gravity waves?
FabryPerot
cavities

Laser
beamsplitter
photodetector

Answer: Yes. However, due to the quadrupole

polarization of gravity waves, the effects do not
happen to both sides at the same time!

FabryPerot
cavities

Laser
beamsplitter
photodetector

By having its arms at right angles, an interferometers

sensitivity to gravity waves is effectively doubled!

Problem: Noise
Many sources of noise reduce the
sensitivity of an interferometer:
Laser fluctuations
Photon noise effects
Thermal vibrations of mirrors
Seismic noise

Noise Solutions
Laser Stabilization
Frequency stabilization
PBS

Isolator PC
Laser

Laser geometry fluctuation stabilization

RF
Oscillator

To laser
interferometer

PBS
Mixer
Reference
Cavity

Mode cleanerlong optical

cavity

Photon Noise Effects:

Statistical sampling of photons:
precision of the phase measurement
increases as N1/2.
Radiation pressure of photons exerts
random forces on mirrors, also
increasing as N1/2.

Solution:
Use an optimum number of photons.
Present detectors use 100 times too
few photons.
Use a very powerful laser (100watts
and build it up by resonance to 1
Megawatt).

Problems with High Light Power

Powerful lasers cause Thermal
Lensing.
The radiation pressure forces push
the mirrors apart and create stability
problems (before they cause photon
noise.)

Solutions:
Develop thermal lensing compensation
techniques.
Develop better control systems.

AIGO High Optical Power Test

Facility
Injection bench

Injection locked
100W laser
ACIGA

Pre-stabilisation
cavity
Beam expander

10m Mode cleaner

Power recycling
Detection bench

Sapphire
Input
Mirror

ACIGA arm
80m high power test cavity

Sapphire
end mirror

Problems:
Seismic noise is a 1012 times stronger
than gravity waves.
Ocean waves, people, cars and
kangaroos!
AIGO site is 1000 times better than
UWA.

Full vibration isolation system

thin fibre
pendulum link
simple wire
pivot
magnets
copper
Eddy
current
viscous
coupling

2-d gimbal
pivot
concentric
with wire
pivot Eddy
current
damped
rocker
vertical
Euler
springs

to next
stage

Self damped pendulum

LIGO: Now testing, planning

upgrade

Estimated noise sources

Australian International Gravitational

Observatory

AIGO (opened in 2000) and Wallingup

Plain

Gravity Discovery Centre

SCCC: opened in 2001

Conclusion
AIGO is developing vital technology for the
upgrade of detectors to reach a sensitivity
where known sources are detectable.
It will be an essential element in the world
array of detectors.
It offers opportunities to promote science
for the benefit of all West Australians