Andréa Bertoldi — MIGA and Gravitational Wave detection at low frequency with Atom Interferometry

The recent detection of Gravitational Waves (GWs) by LIGO and VIRGO opened a new observation window on the Universe and started the era of Gravitational Astronomy. Atom interferometry has been proposed to extend the detection bandwidth of GW detectors in the infrasound band (10 mHz – 10 Hz) [1], where actual ground based detectors are limited by low frequency gravity noise. Adopting as probes arrays of atomic ensembles in free fall, and tracking their motion on geodesics with atom interferometry allows the suppression of Newtonian Noise [2], enables low frequency sensitivity, and opens the way toward the realization of low frequency GW detectors on Earth. I will report on the « Matter wave – laser based Interferometer Gravitation Antenna » (MIGA) project [3], whose target is to build an atom interferometry based demonstrator for GW detection in the underground environment of LSBB (Rustrel, France).

[1] S Dimopoulos et al, Phys Lett B 678, 37 (2009)
[2] W Chaibi et al, Phys Rev D 93 (2), 021101 (2009)
[3] B Canuel, A. Bertoldi et al, Sci. Rep. 8, 14064 (2018)