THE RICHARDSON LAB

The dawn of a new form of astronomy

Since 2015, the Advanced LIGO and Virgo experiments have established gravitational waves as an entirely new observational probe of the Universe. These waves carry new and unique information compared to light. Their detection is made possible by cavity-enhanced laser interferometry, which now achieves sub-attometer position sensing (10-18 m) over multi-kilometer baselines. LIGO operates two 4 km-long detectors located in Hanford, Washington and Livingston, Louisiana, with a third under construction near Aundha Nagnath, India.

The Richardson group actively contributes to the commissioning of the LIGO detectors, while developing new technologies to realize future experiments with still greater sensitivities. The Richardson group leads the design of the optical Mode Sensing and Control (MSC) subsystem for Cosmic Explorer, the concept for a next-generation 40-km gravitational wave observatory in the U.S., which will integrate these new technologies.

Learn More

To learn more about gravitational waves and their detection, explore the following resources:

• • Gravitational waves and their astrophysical sources

  • Laser interferometry and how LIGO works

  • Short video on the revolutionary science now becoming reality

  • Emerging plans for the next-generation Cosmic Explorer observatory