Gravitational Waves

TL;DR

This review discusses current and future gravitational-wave detection efforts, focusing on ground-based LIGO/VIRGO and space-based LISA detectors, and their potential to observe various astrophysical sources including black holes.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of gravitational-wave detection methods, sources, and the scientific potential of upcoming detectors like LIGO/VIRGO and LISA.

Findings

LIGO/VIRGO will operate in the high-frequency band (1-10^4 Hz)

LISA will operate in the low-frequency band (10^{-4}-1 Hz)

LISA can detect massive black holes in galactic nuclei

Abstract

This article reviews current efforts and plans for gravitational-wave detection, the gravitational-wave sources that might be detected, and the information that the detectors might extract from the observed waves. Special attention is paid to (i) the LIGO/VIRGO network of earth-based, kilometer-scale laser interferometers, which is now under construction and will operate in the high-frequency band ($1$ to $10^4$ Hz), and (ii) a proposed 5-million-kilometer-long Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), which would fly in heliocentric orbit and operate in the low-frequency band ($10^{-4}$ to $1$ Hz). LISA would extend the LIGO/VIRGO studies of stellar-mass ($M\sim2$ to $300 M_\odot$) black holes into the domain of the massive black holes ($M\sim1000$ to $10^8M_\odot$) that inhabit galactic nuclei and quasars.