Prototype beam splitter for the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO)
Searching for space-time ripples
This is a prototype part for Advanced LIGO, one of the most sensitive experiments ever designed. It will split a laser beam down two paths, several kilometres long. Scientists will look for changes in the path lengths that might be caused by a passing gravitational wave. Gravitational waves are tiny, fleeting warps in the fabric of space-time, predicted by Einstein’s general theory of relativity. They are caused by moving bodies such as colliding stars.
Date: 2008
Places
- Louisiana, United States, North and Central America — used (final detector)
- Washington, United States, North and Central America — used (final detector)
- Chilton, Oxfordshire, England — made, used (protoype), made