LIGO: The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory

LIGO: The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory The LIGO Scientific Collaboration The goal of the Laser Interferometric Gravitational-WaveObservatory (LIGO) is to detect and study gravitational waves of astrophysical origin. Direct detection of gravitational waves holds the promise of testing general relativity in the strong-field limit, of providing a new probe of exotic objects such as black hole 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 long 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 as small as 1 part in 10. With this unprecedented sensitivity, the data are being analyzed for gravitational waves from a variety of potential astrophysical sources.