Advanced LIGO

Understand

The Advanced LIGO gravitational wave detectors are second generation instruments designed and built for the two LIGO observatories in Hanford, WA and Livingston, LA.

• The two instruments are identical in design, and are specialized versions of a Michelson interferometer with 4 km long arms.
• As in initial LIGO, Fabry-Perot cavities are used in the arms to increase the interaction time with a gravitational wave, and power recycling is used to increase the effective laser power.
• Signal recycling has been added in Advanced LIGO to improve the frequency response.