Astronomy and Astrophysics Seminars

A Prototype Interferometric Torsion Balance for Low-Frequency Gravitational-Wave Detection

by Dr. Krishna Venkateswara (Department of Physics University of Washington Seattle, USA)

Monday, November 20, 2017 from to (Asia/Kolkata)
at DAA SEMINAR ROOM ( A269 )
TIFR
Description
There have been recent proposals to build terrestrial gravitational-wave detectors in the ~0.1 to 10 Hz frequency 
range using torsion balances. Such detectors will be sensitive to a different class of long-lived sources compared 
to LIGO, such as intermediate-mass black-hole binaries. The seminar will describe an early prototype for such a detector, 
consisting of a torsion balance with an interferometric angle readout with a sensitivity of ~ picoradian/rt(Hz).
Experimental challenges and results will be discussed along with plans for near-term upgrades and projected sensitivities.