Colloquium: Guido Mueller - LISA: The Gravitational Wave Observatory in Space

Title: LISA: The Gravitational Wave Observatory in Space

Abstract:
The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will enable us to listen to the low frequency/high mass gravitational wave band complementing the high frequency/low mass symphony currently received by LIGO and VIRGO. LISA will measure distance changes at the pm-level between free falling test masses inside three spacecraft in heliocentric orbit forming a 2.5 Gm equilateral triangle. I will present the science goals, report on the current design and progress within the LISA project.

Speaker Bio(s):
Over the past 10 years, Guido Mueller has helped to spearhead the development of the Advanced LIGO interferometer, the leading project in the detection of gravitational waves. Mueller played a key role in the design of the main interferometer, the tool that measures specific distances based on the interference of light waves.

In September 2015, the Advanced LIGO interferometer observed a merger between two 30-solar-mass black holes, which occurred 1.3 billion years ago.

Mueller became involved in the Advanced LIGO project following his masters research. He was intrigued by the idea of applying techniques born in quantum optics to the emerging field of gravitational waves.

Mueller is positioned to take an even more essential role in the development of LISA, a planned space-based detector that will detect the gravitational waves from mergers between super-massive black holes — events that would overshadow even the observations from Advanced LIGO. Mueller is working with NASA on multiple fronts to help direct the development of this project.

Mueller is also interested in exploring the applications of laser interferometry in areas other than the detection of gravitational waves. He hopes to use the technology for the detection of “dark matter,” a form of matter that makes up about 27 percent of the universe but that is so far only observable by its gravitational effects.