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LIGO

LIGO Laboratory operates two detector sites, one near Hanford in eastern Washington, and another near Livingston, Louisiana. This photo shows the Livingston detector site. Credits: Caltech/MIT/LIGO Lab
LIGO Laboratory operates two detector sites 3000 km (1800 miles) apart: one near Hanford in eastern Washington, and another near Livingston, Louisiana. This photo shows the Hanford detector. Credits: Caltech/MIT/LIGO Lab

Gravitational waves hunter

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a groundbreaking scientific facility designed to detect and study gravitational waves, which has opened a new window into the cosmos, allowing scientists to explore phenomena such as black hole mergers, neutron star collisions, and other powerful astrophysical events.

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First ever detection of gravitational waves

LIGO made its first detection of gravitational waves, generated by a pair of colliding black holes some 1.3 billion light years away, in 2015, opening a new window to observe the cosmos.

LIGO operates two large-scale interferometers in the United States of America. These observatories use laser light and precisely aligned mirrors to detect minute distortions caused by passing gravitational waves. By measuring these disturbances, LIGO provides direct evidence of Einstein’s theory of general relativity and unveils information about events billions of light-years away.

LIGO’s primary objectives are to observe and analyse gravitational wave signals to address fundamental questions in physics and astronomy:

  • Understanding Black Holes: Detecting mergers of black holes to study their masses, spins, and distribution.
  • Exploring Neutron Stars: Investigating collisions of neutron stars to learn about their internal composition and the creation of heavy elements.
  • Searching for faint and rare signals that are expected but have not yet been detected:  Continuous but faint signals from rotating neutron stars and bursts of gravitational waves emitted during supernova explosions.
  • Testing General Relativity: Examining gravitational wave signals for deviations from Einstein's predictions.
  • Discovering New Phenomena: Searching for unexpected gravitational wave sources, potentially revealing unknown cosmic processes.
This artist's concept illustrates a hierarchical scheme for merging black holes. LIGO and Virgo recently observed a black hole merger with a final mass of 142 times that of the sun, making it the largest of its kind observed in gravitational waves to date. The event is thought to have occurred when two black holes of about 66 and 85 solar masses spiraled into each other and coalesced. Theoretical models indicate that nature is not likely to form black holes of this heft; in particular models identify a range of masses between 65 and 120 solar masses, called the "pair instability mass gap," in which it is thought that black holes cannot be formed by a collapsing star. So how did the two merging black holes observed by LIGO and Virgo originate? Scientists think that these black holes may have themselves formed from the earlier mergers of two smaller black holes, as indicated in the illustration. Image credit: LIGO/Caltech/MIT/R. Hurt (IPAC).

ICE-CSIC's participation

ICE-CSIC participates in LIGO through ICE-CSIC researcher Sascha Husa and his affiliation to the Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB) Gravitational Physics Group, which is a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC). Husa is leading a team that develops computationally efficient codes for waveform models, which have been used by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration to analyse all events detected to date. Husa is also a member of the Council of the LSC.

Senior institute members involved

Meet the senior researcher who leads our participation in the LIGO mission.

Sascha Husa