Probing the origin of our universe with gravitational waves.

This project is aimed to expand the research activities of the elementary particle physics group in the domain of fundamental interactions towards a study of gravity. The strong coupling regimes of Einstein's theory of general relativity can now be probed by gravitational wave observatories, several of which are online in the world. We propose to join the VIRGO collaboration and exploit the VIRGO/LIGO gravitational wave data to search for the existence of stochastic gravitational waves, the gravitational wave analogy of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). In contrast to the CMB, which only gives us a view on the universe when it was 370 thousand years old, the primordial gravitational wave signals will allow us to study the universe at its birth, at the period of inflation. The search for stochastic gravitational waves will in the longer term require a network of observatories with increased strain sensitivity. A future 3rd generation gravitational wave observatory will enhance the sensitivity to these and other types of gravitational waves significantly. With this project we also start an instrumental R&D program to develop key components for this future observatory.

Keywords:GRAVITY, FUNDAMENTAL INTERACTIONS, COSMOLOGY, GENERAL RELATIVITY

Disciplines:Cosmology and extragalactic astronomy, General relativity and gravitation, Gravitational radiation astrophysics