The sensitivity of a resonant gravitational wave detector which is necessary for the detection of pulses from asymmetric stellar collapses or from black-hole collisions in nearby galaxies is examined. Limitations on this sensitivity due to the resonating quality of the detector, thermal noise, and reaction of the detection system upon the detector are studied. No severe difficulties for the detection of the above-mentioned pulses are expected. For the detection of pulses from a cluster at the galactic center, a nonresonant system based on Doppler ranging to a drag-free satellite would be more appropriate. At present the sensitivity of Doppler-ranging is still two orders of magnitude below the requirements.
Read full abstract