The search for gravitational waves has come a long way since the 11 February 2016 announcement that they had been detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). Here, we’ve listed some of OPN’s coverage; we’ll continue to add material to the list as new stories develop.
- Low-Noise Optical Coatings Could Swell LIGO’s Reach (OPN News, 3 October 2021)
- Fresh from a round of sensitivity improvements, the souped-up laser interferometers begin their third observation run scanning the skies for gravitational waves.
- Quantum Cooling on a Grand Scale (OPN News, 21 June 2021)
- Researchers use LIGO’s ultra-precise lasers and careful back-action damping to cool a massive object—a 10-kg mechanical oscillator—to near its quantum ground state.
- Sensitivity Through Squeezing (OPN News, 16 September 2020)
- OPN talks with Nergis Mavalvala, whose FIO+LS plenary talk recounted some amazing recent improvements to the LIGO and Virgo laser-interferometer gravitational-wave observatories.
- Squeezing the Best Out of Gravitational Waves (OPN News, 6 May 2020)
- Optical cavities could allow the world’s leading observatories to reduce noise at low frequencies, as well as high.
- Squeezed States Expand Horizons for LIGO and Virgo (OPN News, 6 December 2019)
- The behemoth gravitational-wave observatories report on their progress hammering down quantum noise–—and extending their reach.
- LIGO and Virgo Open a New Hunting Season (OPN News, 1 April 2019)
- Fresh from a round of sensitivity improvements, the souped-up laser interferometers begin their third observation run scanning the skies for gravitational waves.
- Gravitational Waves: The Road Ahead (OPN Feature, March 2018)
- LIGO and Virgo have opened up a new window into the local universe. But the global gravitational-wave community isn’t stopping there.
- Multi-Messenger Astronomy Gets Real (OPN News, 16 October 2017)
- With the first detection of both gravitational and electromagnetic radiation from a single cosmic event, a new era of sky observation officially begins.
- Three LIGO Pioneers Take Nobel Physics Prize (OPN News, 03 October 2017)
- Trio is cited “for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves.”
- Under the Hood with LIGO’s Lasers (OPN News, 02 October 2017)
- At the OSA Laser Congress in Japan, Robert Byer looked at the genesis of the lasers that form the heart of Advanced LIGO—and hinted at big finds ahead.
- LIGO and Virgo Produce First Joint Result (OPN News, 28 September 2017)
- Addition of a third detector dramatically improves ability to localize sources, and adds data from gravitational-wave polarization.
- Another Day, Another Gravitational Wave (OPN News, 1 June 2017)
- After sensitivity enhancements, LIGO records third observation since late 2015—and scientists look ahead to a time when such observations could be a daily event.
- Q&A with 2017 CLEO Plenary Speakers (OPN Conversations, May 2017)
- OSA Fellow Nergis Mavalvala talked with OPN about LIGO’s exquisitely sensitive technology.
- Next-Gen Gravitational-Wave Detector Passes a Key Test (OPN News, 7 June 2016)
- ESA spacecraft lays important, and impressive, technical groundwork for space-based observatory targeted for 2034.
- LIGO’s Next Steps (OPN News, 13 March 2016)
- A conversation with OSA Fellow Stanley Whitcomb, chief scientist with the LIGO Scientific Collaboration.
- A Green Light for LIGO-India (OPN News, 22 February 2016)
- Indian Cabinet provides in-principle nod to new gravitational-wave observatory, to come on line in the next decade.
- LIGO’s Payoff (OPN News, 11 February 2016)
- The laser-enabled gravitational-wave observatory provides a stunning result—and a potential new window on the universe.
- LIGO: Finally Poised to Catch Elusive Gravitational Waves? (OPN Feature, March 2015)
- LIGO’s Thomas Carruthers and David Reitze offer a pre-launch update on the observatory’s seven-year upgrade project incorporating cutting-edge lasers and optics.
- The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) (OPN Feature, July 1995)
- A review of the first LIGO, its purpose, and its promise, by R.E. Spero and S.E. Whitcomb.