Black holes, gravitational waves & cohorts
Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics at the COSPAR Conference in Bremen
The 38th International COSPAR Conference (Committee on Space Research), the world’s biggest conference devoted to space research, will take place in Bremen from 18 -25 July 2010. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute/AEI) will give several talks there about the LISA space mission as well as other topics on gravitational wave research. In an exhibition, which will also be open to the general public, the AEI will also present an interactive satellite model of LISA, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna. Location: Congress Centrum Bremen, Bürgerweide 1, 28215 Bremen
Gravitational waves are minuscule changes in space-time, which propagate at the speed of light. They are generated through extremely massive astrophysical processes and have to date not been detected directly through experiments. Earthbound gravitational wave detectors in the USA (LIGO), in Italy (Virgo) and in Germany (GEO600 in Ruthe near Hannover) are, however, hot on the heels of these “ripples in space-time”. In frequency ranges below 1 Hertz, gravitational waves though are only observable from space. From 2020, the space mission LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna), a joint project between ESA and NASA, will search in these low frequency ranges for massive objects such as black holes and merging galactic centres.
Date information:
We cordially invite you to the following events:
Sunday, 18 July 2010, Congress Centrum Bremen, Boardroom 1:
11:55 a.m. - 12:20 p.m., Karsten Danzmann, talk: The Status of LISA
5:30 - 6:55 p.m., Bruce Allen, talk: Ground-based gravitational wave facilities
Monday, 19 July 2010, Congress Centrum Bremen, Boardroom 1:
09:30 - 10:00 a.m., Bernard Schutz: When and how did massive black holes begin to form?
Monday, 19 July 2010, Parkhotel, room 1:
12:15 - 12:35 p.m., Oliver Gerberding, Phasemeter development for future satellite-satellite ranging missions
12:35 - 12:55 p.m., Benjamin Sheard, Laser interferometry for satellite gravimetry
Wednesday, 21 July 2010, Congress Centrum Bremen, Boardroom 1:
11:50 a.m. - 12:10 p.m., Antonio Francisco García Marín, LISA Pathfinder interferometry: space hardware tests
12:10 - 12:30 p.m., Johanna Bogenstahl, Design, construction and implementation of LTP fibre injectors
3:00 - 3:15 p.m., Felipe Guzman, LISA Pathfinder instrument data analysis
3:15 - 3:30 p.m., Miquel Nofrarias Serra, Parameter estimation techniques for LTP system identification
6:10 - 6:30 p.m., Gerhard Heinzel, Phasemeters for heterodyne interferometry in space
Thursday, 22 July 2010, Congress Centrum Bremen, Boardroom 1:
10:30 - 10:45 a.m., Juan Jose Esteban, Inter-spacecraft laser ranging and data communication for the LISA mission
11:30 - 11:45 a.m., Roland Fleddermann, Quasi-monolithic Interferometer for the examination of the fundamental non-reciprocity of a single-mode polarization maintaining Fiber for LISA
11:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., Christian Diekmann, Demonstration of sub-picometer length measurements and subnanoradian angular read-out in the millihertz-frequency range
12:30 - 12:45 p.m., Simon Barke, Phase-stable high-frequency chain for LISA
Exhibition
In an exhibition, the AEI will present in the German Pavilion, stand no. 6 in the Bremen Arena an interactive satellite model of LISA at a scale of 1:4, as well as an animated film about this space mission. The exhibition is open to the public on Tuesday from 5:00 - 9:00 p.m.
