Abbott 2009 LIGO引力波探测器

主要内容:
应该是关于LIGO仪器的最权威的介绍了.

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文章信息:
LIGO: the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory
B P Abbott,
2009 Rep. Prog. Phys. 72 076901 (25pp)
Abstract: http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/-alert=20355/0034-4885/72/7/076901
Full text PDF: http://www.iop.org/EJ/article/-alert=20355/0034-4885/72/7/076901/rpp9_7_076901.pdf

The goal of the Laser Interferometric Gravitational-Wave
Observatory (LIGO) is to detect and study gravitational waves (GWs)
of astrophysical origin. Direct detection of GWs holds the promise
of testing general relativity in the strong-field regime, of
providing a new probe of exotic objects such as black holes and
neutron stars and of uncovering unanticipated new astrophysics.
LIGO, a joint Caltech-MIT project supported by the National Science
Foundation, operates three multi-kilometer interferometers at two
widely separated sites in the United States. These detectors are the
result of decades of worldwide technology development, design,
construction and commissioning. They are now operating at their
design sensitivity, and are sensitive to gravitational wave strains
smaller than one part in 1021. With this unprecedented sensitivity,
the data are being analyzed to detect or place limits on GWs from a
variety of potential astrophysical sources.