Virgo & LISA

When shall we measure gravitational radiation? And what can we learn from gravitational waves?

Gravitational waves are ripples in space-time. Using the equations from Einstein's general theory of relativity, we can calculate the gravitational radiation of, for example, two black holes that swallow each other.

Virgo near Pisa in Italy is a Michelson interferometer with two arms that are each 3 kilometres long. They are sensitive to relative changes of 10^-22 in their length.

LISA is an interferometer system, that shall be launched after 2015 and consists of three satellites at a distance of 5 million kilometres from each other.

More information:

website Nikhef department gravitational physics

website Virgo collaboration

website LISA collaboration