Speaker
Dr
Eric Thrane
(Caltech)
Description
Second-generation gravitational-wave detectors such as Advanced
LIGO and Advanced Virgo are scheduled to begin taking data by 2015. An
expected ten-fold improvement in strain sensitivity, along with a broader
observing band, will enable a wealth of astronomical observations including
the possibility of direct detection of the stochastic gravitational-wave background.
The stochastic background arises from the superposition of many unresolvable
gravitational-wave sources. Measurements of the stochastic background probe
cosmic history by providing information about ensembles of distant sources.
We report on the prospects for detection of the stochastic background with
advanced detectors, the science we can extract from stochastic measurements,
and the characterization of correlated noise in global networks of
gravitational-wave detectors (an important source of potential systematic error).
Primary author
Dr
Eric Thrane
(Caltech)
