Advanced LIGO subsystems
are the organizational units of the overall project. Follow the links below to view the mission and progress of each subsystem.
Auxiliary Optics Core Optics
 
Data Acquisition Data and
Computing
Systems
 
Facilities
Modifications		 Input Optics
 
Interferometer
Control		 Pre-Stabilized
Laser
 
Seismic
Isolation		 Suspensions

Advanced LIGO --
The Next Step in Gravitational Wave Astronomy

Gravitational waves offer a remarkable opportunity to see the universe from a new perspective, providing access to astrophysical insights that are available in no other way. The Initial LIGO gravitational wave detectors completed observations at and beyond their original design sensitivity in 2007, and the data have been interpreted to establish new upper limits on gravitational-wave flux. An additional data run with the modified Enhanced LIGO detectors reached completion in 2010. The Advanced LIGO project will completely upgrade the three U.S. gravitational wave interferometers, bringing these instruments to sensitivities that should make gravitational wave detections a routine occurrence. The U.S. National Science Foundation leads in financial support for Advanced LIGO. Funding organizations in Germany, the U.K. and Australia also have made significant commitments to the project. Together with Advanced Virgo, Advanced LIGO will bring gravitational wave astronomy to maturity.   Read more . . .

Advanced LIGO News

LIGO has completed its analysis of the O1 data set for gravitational wave signals from binary black hole mergers, and the results highight the success of the Advanced LIGO program. The O1 run, which spanned September 2015 through January 2016, produced two detections that were reported by the LIGO-Virgo collaboration. The remarkable signal GW150914, announced in February 2016, and the "Boxing Day" signal, GW151226, announced in June 2016, appeared in LIGO's H1 and L1 detectors with combined signal-to-noise (SNR) ratios of 24 and 13, respectively. The strain plot below shows LIGO's significant sensitivity improvement at low frequencies that made these detections possible. In the fall of 2016, after the current round of detector commissioning comes to a close, LIGO will launch the O2 run, targeting additional black hole binary detections and perhaps binary systems in which one or both objects are neutron stars.    [spec]  Read more . . .


Explore Advanced LIGO    Construction Schedule
   Instrumentation and Astrophysics
   An Overview of the Upgrades
   The International Partnership
   Science Impacts
   LIGO Technology Transfers
   LIGO Scientific Collaboration
   Public Outreach
   LIGO Magazine
   aLIGO Home

Technology developments
from the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, stimulated by the NSF's establishment of the LIGO Observatories, continue to migrate into the broader research and development community. Learn more by viewing LIGO's technology transfer case studies.[eligo]


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