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After decades of research, physicists now know how to detect Einstein's gravitational waves. Advanced gravitational wave detectors, the most sensitive instruments ever created, will be almost certain of detecting the births of black holes throughout the Universe. This book describes the physics of gravitational waves and their detectors. The book begins by introducing the physics of gravitational wave detection and the likely sources of detectable waves. Case studies on the first generation of large scale gravitational wave detectors introduce the technology and set the scene for a review of the experimental issues in creating advanced detectors in which the instrument's sensitivity is limited by Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. The book covers lasers, thermal noise, vibration isolation, interferometer control and stabilisation against opto-acoustic instabilities. This is a valuable reference for graduate students and researchers in physics and astrophysics entering this field.

Astronomical instruments. --- Gravitational waves --- Laser interferometers. --- Gravimeters (Geophysical instruments) --- Gravimeter (Geophysical instrument) --- Gravity balances --- Gravity meters --- Geophysical instruments --- Laser interferometer --- Interferometers --- Astronomy --- Instruments, Astronomical --- Optical instruments --- Physical instruments --- Scientific apparatus and instruments --- Space optics --- Detection --- Instruments. --- Instruments --- Gravitational radiation --- Gravity waves (Astrophysics) --- General relativity (Physics) --- Gravitational fields --- Radiation --- Waves --- Measurement

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The first detection on Earth of a gravitational wave signal from the coalescence of a binary black hole system in 2015 established a new era in astronomy, allowing the scientific community to observe the Universe with a new form of radiation for the first time. More than five years later, many more gravitational wave signals have been detected, including the first binary neutron star coalescence in coincidence with a gamma ray burst and a kilonova observation. The field of gravitational wave astronomy is rapidly evolving, making it difficult to keep up with the pace of new detector designs, discoveries, and astrophysical results. This Special Issue is, therefore, intended as a review of the current status and future directions of the field from the perspective of detector technology, data analysis, and the astrophysical implications of these discoveries. Rather than presenting new results, the articles collected in this issue will serve as a reference and an introduction to the field. This Special Issue will include reviews of the basic properties of gravitational wave signals; the detectors that are currently operating and the main sources of noise that limit their sensitivity; planned upgrades of the detectors in the short and long term; spaceborne detectors; a data analysis of the gravitational wave detector output focusing on the main classes of detected and expected signals; and implications of the current and future discoveries on our understanding of astrophysics and cosmology.

Research & information: general --- Physics --- LIGO --- Virgo --- KAGRA --- gravitational waves --- detector characterization --- data quality --- noise mitigation --- seismic noise --- Newtonian noise --- seismic isolation system --- noise subtraction --- DECIGO --- thermal noise --- quantum noise --- diffraction loss --- interferometers --- ground based gravitational-wave detector --- Advanced Virgo --- gravitational-wave backgrounds --- stochastic gravitational-wave backgrounds --- stochastic searches of gravitational waves --- gravitational-wave laser interferometers --- pulsar timing arrays --- gravitational wave detectors --- optomechanics --- low-noise high-power laser interferometry --- calibration --- interferometer --- gravitational wave --- astrophysics --- laser metrology --- squeezed states --- quantum optics --- gravitational wave detector --- laser interferometer --- cryogenics --- underground --- einstein telescope --- newtonian noise --- coating noise --- silicon --- suspensions --- payload --- cryostat --- core-collapse supernova --- future detectors --- continuous gravitational waves --- neutron stars --- dark matter --- gravitational-wave astrophysics --- stars --- black holes --- stellar evolution --- binary stars --- stellar dynamics --- laser interferometers --- n/a