Crystalline materials are playing a major role in determining the design, thermal and structural behavior of suspensions for the test masses of future gravitational wave interferometers that will use cryogenic payloads. The talk will present the state of the art of the joint research between various laboratories, research centers and private companies regarding the development of cryogenic...
Almost all future plans for gravitational wave detectors foresee operation at increasingly higher power levels to reduce shot noise, making residual aberrations from thermal effects more critical, potentially becoming a limiting factor despite the effectiveness of current correction methods.
Since the beginning of the Virgo project, we made significant strides in mitigating...
The birefringence that can occur in the optics that will be used in the Einstein Telescope (ET) interferometer is an essential phenomenon to be considered to ensure the desired sensitivity for gravitational wave (GW) detection.
The birefringence of the optics directly depends on the substrate and coating materials and is mainly induced by stress in these materials (residual internal stress,...
In this talk, I will present the state of the art and the new perspectives in the theoretical and experimental study of analog models of quantum field theories in flat, curved, or time-dependent backgrounds using condensed matter and optical systems.
I will start with a brief presentation of the general concept of analog mode and a review of milestone theoretical and experimental works on...
One of the key elements for LISA to achieve the required sensitivity for gravitational wave detection is the nearly geodesic free-fall of the test masses, down to a sub-femto-g performance at milliHertz frequencies. LISA Pathfinder, which surpassed its requirements and achieved the LISA ones, represents an important benchmark in this context.
We will review the latest advances in the...
The design of Gravitational Reference Systems (GRS) heavily hinges on the technologies developed, such as the mechanisms in charge of securing a reference test mass (TM) during the mission launch and then releasing it into free fall.
Such mechanisms need to be tested to ensure they minimize friction, adhesion, and fretting at the contacting surfaces, since space environment provides critical...
The Gravitational Reference System proved exceptional acceleration noise performance during the LISA Pathfinder mission. Indeed, the LISA Pathfinder mission demonstrated a performance that was better than the LISA requirements at all frequencies.
Building on the success of the LISA Pathfinder, the LISA Gravitational Reference System is being upgraded to meet the unique demands of the LISA...
LISA will be the first gravitational waves observer in space, consisting of three spacecraft in a triangular formation trailing the Earth along its orbit. Within each spacecraft, two gravitational reference sensors (GRSs) enclose cubic test masses (TMs), which are free-falling during the science phase. Besides providing a safe environment for the TM, shielding it from non-gravitational forces,...
In this paper, we delineate the engineering hurdles and envisaged an infrastructure of a newly proposed hill-contained, vertically positioned Gravity Decelerator. This decelerator possesses several attributes, specifically: (a) a 2,300 meters-long vertical vacuum tube designed for decelerating a low-energy beam of heavy ions and protons, facilitated by gravity; (b) a 12 meter diameter, Dark...
While LISA was entering its implementation phase, the European Space Agency identified a post-LISA gravitational wave detector as one of the possible probes for their exploration of the early universe in the 2050 time frame.
Triggered by that, a group of members of the LISA community has initiated a study, called GWSpace2050, on the possible science case and on the required technology,...
