RUI: Search for a Stochastic Background of Gravitational Radiation with LIGO and the ALLEGRO Resonant Detector

Loyola University New Orleans, New Orleans LA

Investigators

Abstract

This project takes advantage of the proximity of the ALLEGRO resonant bar gravitational wave detector at LSU to the LIGO Livingston Observatory to search for a stochastic background of gravitational radiation. The new ability of the ALLEGRO bar to rotate allows the introduction of a modulation to the signal by alternately aligning and mis-aligning the bar with the LIGO interferometer. This gives the signal a definite periodicity and distinguishes it from any correlated noise that does not have the expected quadrupolar spatial dependence of the gravitational radiation. Undergraduate students from Loyola University will participate in this project. A stochastic background of gravitational radiation could be a relic of the early Universe, produced by inflation or a phase transition. The current limits on such a background are very loosely constrained. Thus any observation or upper limit placed on a stochastic background of gravitational waves could bring new information about the Universe.