Title: Status of the Search for
Gravitational Waves with LIGO
Abstract:
Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves, ripples of
space-time, in 1916; but they are so faint that they have yet to be
observed. Gravitational waves are produced by the most energetic
events in the universe: collisions between black holes, supernovas,
and the Big Bang itself. The observation of gravitational waves would
be a spectacular confirmation of Einstein's prediction, and would
permit powerful new tests of General Relativity. More importantly, it
will open up a new and totally different window on the universe, and
inaugurate a radically new field of astrophysics. The LIGO project is
part of a worldwide observatory network capable of detecting
gravitational waves from astrophysical sources. It began taking
scientific data in 2002. We will describe the physics and astrophysics
of gravitational waves, discuss the principles of the LIGO detectors,
and review at the status of the detectors, the data analysis, and
first results.
