Detection of gravitational waves

[Ranku]

What is the state-of-the-art of detecting gravity waves. Are the instruments available now sufficiently sensitive to detect gravity waves? Have we identified 'low-hanging' sources from whom gravity waves should have been detectable. Have we yet reached that point where serious questions are arising as to the direct detectiblity of gravity waves?

 

[steli]

LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna)
LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory)

 

[nicksauce]

To add some detail to the above;

LIGO is the current state of the art right now. However, its expected event rate is about 3 per century if I recall correctly, so it isn't terribly surprising that we haven't seen any yet. An upgraded version of LIGO called Advanced LIGO should be ready in 2014. It is about 10 times more sensitive than LIGO, and can thus see 1000 times more sources, so it should see a good amount of events every year. Its best sources are compact binaries (black holes or neutron stars). In ~2019-2020 LISA should come online. It is a gravitational wave observatory in space. Since it isn't limited by seismic noise, it can see sources with lower frequencies sources like white dwarf binaries, and extreme mass ratio events. This image illustrates their sensitivity curves: http://imgur.com/VDNpR

 

[Ranku]

I started another thread in Cosmology as I wasn't getting much here. That thread became pretty extensive, you may want to check that out: https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=365709

 

[sardar]

The detection of gravitational waves is an exciting and rapidly advancing field of study in modern physics. The state-of-the-art of detecting gravitational waves has greatly improved in recent years with the development of advanced interferometric detectors such as LIGO and Virgo. These instruments have reached unprecedented levels of sensitivity, making it possible to detect gravitational waves from distant sources.

The current instruments are certainly sensitive enough to detect gravitational waves, as evidenced by the numerous successful detections made by LIGO and Virgo in recent years. These detections have provided strong evidence for the existence of gravitational waves and have opened up a new window for observing the universe.

We have identified several potential sources of gravitational waves that are considered "low-hanging fruit" and should have been detectable by now. These include binary black hole and neutron star mergers, which have been successfully detected by LIGO and Virgo. Other potential sources, such as supernova explosions and pulsar glitches, have not yet been directly detected but are being actively searched for.

While the current instruments are sensitive enough to detect gravitational waves, there is still room for improvement. Future upgrades and advancements in technology will likely lead to even more sensitive detectors, allowing us to detect gravitational waves from even more distant and faint sources.

At this point, there are no serious questions arising as to the direct detectability of gravitational waves. The success of LIGO and Virgo in detecting gravitational waves has provided strong evidence for their existence and has opened up a new era of gravitational wave astronomy. However, there is still much to learn about these elusive waves and their sources, and continued advancements in technology and research will undoubtedly lead to even more exciting discoveries in the future.