1. Gravitational Wave Physics Programme: - new initiative - Group composition (current): 3 staff, 0 postdoc, 2 PhD Investment Budget: under discussion Jo van den Brand First science run: May – September 2007

2. 2 Virgo: 1st generation detector 1 ST GENERATION IS CLOSE TO REACHING THE SENSITIVITY TO DETECT A NS-NS COALESCENCE AS FAR AS VIRGO CLUSTER (17MPc) BUT THE EVENT RATE IS TOO LOW !! EXPECTED EVENT RATE: 0.01-0.1 ev/yr (BNS) FIRST DETECTION: POSSIBLE BUT NOT PROBABLE Credit: M.Lorenzini

3. 3 From discovery to astronomy 100 million light years Enhanced LIGO ~2009 Advanced LIGO ~2014 LIGO today Credit: R.Powell, B.Berger Nikhef contributions to Virgo+ : –New Automatic Alignment electronics –Thermal compensation simulations –Input Mode Cleaner optics 1 ev/week – 1 ev/day expected

4. 4 FP7: 3rd generation baseline concept Underground detector Mirrors at cryogenic temperature Longer arms, new geometry E.T. - Einstein gravitational-wave Telescope Design Study Proposal submitted to EU within FP7 Large part of the European GW community involved (EGO, INFN, MPI, CNRS, NIKHEF, Univ. Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow) Recommended in Aspera / Appec roadmap Credit: H.Lück Creation of Adam - Michelangelo

5. 5 GRB050509B 3 RD GENERATION INTERFEROMETER 2 ND GENERATION 1 ST GENERATION Credit G.Cagnoli NS - NS INSPIRAL RANGE

6. Virgo LOI to ESA – LISA analysis Nikhef, VU, RUN and SRON Netherlands: Bulten/Nelemans

7. Beyond Einstein is the umbrella program for a series of NASA/ESA missions linked by powerful new technologies and common science goals to answer the questions: Gravitational Waves Can Escape from Earliest Moments of the Big Bang Inflation (Big Bang plus 10 -34 Seconds) Big Bang plus 300,000 Years gravitational waves Big Bang plus 14 Billion Years light Now What powered the Big Bang? Is Einstein’s theory still right in these conditions of extreme gravity? Or is new physics awaiting us? Chandra - Each point of x-ray light is a Black Hole! What happens at the edge of a Black Hole? Dark energy and matter interact through gravity We do not know what 95% of the universe is made of! What is the mysterious Dark Energy pulling the Universe apart? September 6, 2007: Committee on NASA's Einstein Program: An Architecture for Implementation, National Research Council Finding 4. LISA is an extraordinarily original and technically bold mission concept. LISA will open up an entirely new way of observing the universe, with immense potential to enlarge our understanding of physics and astronomy in unforeseen ways. LISA, in the committee’s view, should be the flagship mission of a long-term program addressing Beyond Einstein goals. Finding 8. The present NASA Beyond Einstein funding wedge alone is inadequate to develop any candidate Beyond Einstein mission on its nominal schedule. However, both JDEM and LISA could be carried out with the currently forecasted NASA contribution if DOE's contribution that benefits JDEM is taken into account and if LISA's development schedule is extended and funding from ESA is assumed.

8. 8 Summary Gravitational wave physics –Component of our Astroparticle Physics initiative –Exciting new physics program Important questions are addressed Program with a long-term scientific perspective VIRGO –Sensitivity is improving fast –First science run underway –MOU on data sharing between LIGO and Virgo NIKHEF commitment –Modest at this moment –Expand to FOM research program in future

9. 9 Spare slides

10. 10 Recommendation 1. NASA and DOE should proceed immediately with a competition to select a Joint Dark Energy Mission for a 2009 new start. The broad mission goals in the Request for Proposal should be (1) to determine the properties of dark energy with high precision and (2) to enable a broad range of astronomical investigations. The committee encourages the Agencies to seek as wide a variety of mission concepts and partnerships as possible. Recommendation 2. NASA should invest additional Beyond Einstein funds in LISA technology development and risk reduction, to help ensure that the Agency is in a position to proceed in partnership with ESA to a new start after the LISA Pathfinder results are understood. Recommendation 3. NASA should move forward with appropriate measures to increase the readiness of the three remaining mission areas—Black Hole Finder Probe, Constellation-X, and Inflation Probe—for consideration by NASA and the NRC Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics.