Lecturer: Dr. John Miller
Affiliation: MIT Kavli institute for astrophysics
and Space Research
Abstract:
On the 14th of September 2015, the LIGO-
VIRGO Collaboration directly observed
gravitational radiation emitted during the
merger of two black holes. Announced in
February, this landmark discovery
confirmed a 100-year-old prediction of
general relativity and instantaneously
established a new field of astronomy. The
laser interferometers which facilitated this
breakthrough are the most sensitive
position meters ever constructed. At design
sensitivity, they will measure
displacements of order 10^{-20} m, with
further improvements prevented by the
discrete nature of light itself. In this
generally accessible talk, I will discuss how
the techniques of quantum optics can be
employed to circumvent this limit, present
LIGO's latest results and the new science
they enable and describe a road map for
future detector upgrades which will
increase the reach of gravitational-wave
astrophysics by more than an order of
magnitude.