Abstract

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) project [1] is a collaboration between the California Institute of Technology and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to detect and study gravitational waves from astrophysical sources, including neutron stars, black holes, and possibly, supernovas and the big bang. LIGO will consist of two scientific facilities, each incorporating an L-shaped vacuum system with 4-kilometer arms to house sensitive interferometers. A detector system consists of three interferometers, two at one site and one at the other. Correlations among the three interferometers will be used to eliminate local noise. Construction of two facilities (near Richland, Washington and in Livingston Parish, Louisiana) is underway and they are expected to be ready for the installation of the first detectors in 1998. Ultimately, LIGO will be operated in coordination with interferometers in Europe and elsewhere, to form a worldwide gravitational wave observatory network.

© 1996 Optical Society of America