Abstract
Gravitational waves (GWs) were observed for the first time in 2015, one century after Einstein predicted their existence. There is now growing interest to extend the detection bandwidth to low frequency. The scientific potential of multi-frequency GW astronomy is enormous as it would enable to obtain a more complete picture of cosmic events and mechanisms. This is a unique and entirely new opportunity for the future of astronomy, the success of which depends upon the decisions being made on existing and new infrastructures. The prospect of combining observations from the future space-based instrument LISA together with third generation ground based detectors will open the way toward multi-band GW astronomy, but will leave the infrasound (0.1–10 Hz) band uncovered. GW detectors based on matter wave interferometry promise to fill such a sensitivity gap. We propose the European Laboratory for Gravitation and Atom-interferometric Research (ELGAR), an underground infrastructure based on the latest progress in atomic physics, to study space–time and gravitation with the primary goal of detecting GWs in the infrasound band. ELGAR will directly inherit from large research facilities now being built in Europe for the study of large scale atom interferometry and will drive new pan-European synergies from top research centers developing quantum sensors. ELGAR will measure GW radiation in the infrasound band with a peak strain sensitivity of at 1.7 Hz. The antenna will have an impact on diverse fundamental and applied research fields beyond GW astronomy, including gravitation, general relativity, and geology.
Highlights
The first confirmed observation of gravitational waves (GWs) [1] opened a new window into the study of the Universe by accessing signals and revealing events hidden to standard observatories, i.e. electromagnetic [2] and neutrino [3] detectors
European Laboratory for Gravitation and Atom-interferometric Research (ELGAR) will be based on the latest developments of quantum physics and will use a geometry based on an 2D array of atom interferometer (AI)
Based on the preliminary design presented in √this paper, an ELGAR detector tens of km long could achieve a sensitivity of 3.3 × 10−22/ Hz at 1.7 Hz, assuming key developments in cold atom technologies mainly related to source parameters and atomic manipulation, and improvements in Newtonian noise (NN) reduction techniques
Summary
The first confirmed observation of gravitational waves (GWs) [1] opened a new window into the study of the Universe by accessing signals and revealing events hidden to standard observatories, i.e. electromagnetic [2] and neutrino [3] detectors. The European Laboratory for Gravitation and Atom-interferometric Research (ELGAR) proposes matter-wave interferometry to fill the sensitivity gap in this mid-band. Triggered by the latest progress in this field, ELGAR will use a large scale, multidimensional array of correlated AIs in free fall [40] In such a scheme, the GW signal is obtained by an a set of differential measurements between the different matter wave interferometers, providing a strong immunity to seismic noise and an important rejection of Newtonian noise (NN), i.e. two of the most important effects impacting the performances of infrasound GW detectors. This paper is organized as follows: section 1 first introduces the measurement concept of large-scale atom interferometry It details the ELGAR geometry, derives its sensitivity to GWs and noise sources, and presents its main technological bricks.
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