Examination procedure
<p>Seminar</p>
Examination procedure notes
<p>The topic of the final seminar will be agreed upon by the student and the lecturer.</p>
Prerequisites
The course is designed for PhD and master students and does not require prior knowledge of General Relativity.
Syllabus
Introductory Lectures: Motivations for gravitational wave (GW) research. Overview of the results obtained by LIGO/Virgo to date.
Basic Theory of Gravitational Waves: Weak-field solution of Einstein's equations. Gravitational wave propagation. Sources. Detection principle.
Interferometry: Michelson interferometer. A conceptual gravitational wave detector.
Useful Mathematical Methods: Description of noise in the time and frequency domains.
Implementation of an Interferometric Gravitational Wave Detector: Seismic noise, thermal noise, quantum noise. Optical cavities (Fabry-Perot, power recycling, signal recycling).
Control Systems: Basic theory of control systems. Pendulum control. Control of an optical cavity (Pound-Drever-Hall technique). Interferometer locking.
Technologies: Vibration isolation, suspensions, mirrors, coatings, squeezing.
Data Analysis Techniques: Coalescing binary systems, bursts, continuous-wave sources. Bayesian inference.
Scientific Results on Gravitational Wave Physics: GW150914, GW170817 and their implications. O3 and O4 runs: from exceptional events to population studies.
Multimessenger Astronomy
Cosmology and Fundamental Physics with Gravitational Waves
Third-Generation Detectors: Scientific goals, technologies.
Outlook.
Bibliographical references
P.R. Saulson - Fundamentals of interferometric GW detectors - World Scientific
M. Maggiore - Gravitational Waves - Oxford
D. Reitze, P.R. Saulson, H. Grote eds. - Advanced interferometric GW detectors - World Scientific
M. Bassan (ed.) - Advanced interferometers and the search for GW - Springer
Papers proposed by the lecturer