arXiv subjects

J. Alberto Lobo

Publications and source records attributed to J. Alberto Lobo.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2004

Lisa

The extreme weakness of the gravitational interaction has as one of its consequences that appreciable intensities of gravitational waves (GW) can only be generated in large size astrophysical and cosmological sources. Earth based detectors face unsurmountable problems to be sensitive to signals at frequencies below 10 Hz due to seismic vibrations. In order to see lower frequency signals, a space based detector is the natural solution. LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) is a joint ESA-NASA project aimed at detecting GWs in a range of frequencies between 10^{-4} Hz and 10^{-1} Hz, and consists in a constellation of three spacecraft in heliocentric orbit, whose GW-induced armlength variations are monitored by high precision interferometry. This article reviews the main features and scientific goals of the LISA mission, as well as a shorter description of its precursor tecnological mission LPF (LISA Pathfinder).

gr-qc↗

arXiv2002

Resonance widening in spherical GW detectors: model descriptions of the dissipation processes

Internal friction effects are responsible for line widening of the resonance frequencies in mechanical oscillators and result in damped oscillations of its eigenmodes with a decay time Q/ω. We study the solutions to the equations of motion for the case of spherical oscillators, to be used as next generation of acoustic gravitational wave detectors, based on various different assumptions about the material's constituent equations. Quality factor dependence on mode frequency is determined in each case, and a discussion of its applicability to actual gravitational wave detectors is made on the basis of available experimental evidence.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2002

Stochastic backgrounds of gravitational waves and spherical detectors

The analysis of how a stochastic background of gravitational radiation interacts with a spherical detector is given in detail, which leads to explicit expressions for the system response functions, as well as for the cross-correlation matrix of different readout channels. It is shown that distinctive features of GW induced random detector excitations, relative to locally generated noise, are in practice insufficient to separate the signal from the noise by means of a single sphere, if prior knowledge on the GW spectral density is nil. The situation significantly improves when such previous knowledge is available, due to the omnidirectionality and multimode capacities of a spherical GW antenna.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2002

The detection of Gravitational Waves

This chapter is concerned with the question: how do gravitational waves (GWs) interact with their detectors? It is intended to be a theory review of the fundamental concepts involved in interferometric and acoustic (Weber bar) GW antennas. In particular, the type of signal the GW deposits in the detector in each case will be assessed, as well as its intensity and deconvolution. Brief reference will also be made to detector sensitivity characterisation, including very summary data on current state of the art GW detectors.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2001

Hollow sphere, a flexible multimode Gravitational Wave antenna

Hollow spheres have the same theoretical capabilities as the usual solid ones, since they share identical symmetries. The hollow sphere is however more flexible, as thickness is an additional parameter one can vary to approach given specifications. I will briefly discuss the more relevant properties of the hollow sphere as a GW detector (frequencies, cross sections), and suggest some scenarios where it can generate significant astrophysical information.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2000

Multimode gravitational wave detection: the spherical detector theory

A spherical gravity wave (GW) detector, unlike interferometers and bars, is a natural multi-mode device, i.e., it is capable of independently gathering information on all five quadrupole and one monopole amplitudes of a general incoming GW. This is because the sphere's degenerate oscillation eigenmodes are uniquely matched to the structure of the GWs' Riemann tensor components. Suitable linear combinations of the system readout channels completely deconvolve the six GW amplitudes. The present article is concerned with the theoretical reasons for the remarkable properties of a spherical GW detector. The analysis proceeds from first principles and is based on essentially no 'ad hoc' hypotheses. The mathematical beauty of the theory is outstanding, and abundant detail is given for a thorough understanding of the fundamental facts and ideas. Experimental evidence of the accuracy of the model is also provided, where possible.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2000

The mathematical theory of resonant transducers in a spherical gravity wave antenna

The rigoruos mathematical theory of the coupling and response of a spherical gravitational wave detector endowed with a set of resonant transducers is presented and developed. A perturbative series in ascending powers of the square root of the ratio of the resonator to the sphere mass is seen to be the key to the solution of the problem. General layouts of arbitrary numbers of transducers can be assessed, and a specific proposal (PHC), alternative to the highly symmetric TIGA of Merkowitz and Johnson, is described in detail. Frequency spectra of the coupled system are seen to be theoretically recovered in full agreement with experimental determinations.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2000

What can we learn about GW Physics with an elastic spherical antenna?

A general formalism is set up to analyse the response of an arbitrary solid elastic body to an arbitrary metric Gravitational Wave perturbation, which fully displays the details of the interaction antenna-wave. The formalism is applied to the spherical detector, whose sensitivity parameters are thereby scrutinised. A multimode transfer function is defined to study the amplitude sensitivity, and absorption cross sections are calculated for a general metric theory of GW physics. Their scaling properties are shown to be independent of the underlying theory, with interesting consequences for future detector design. The GW incidence direction deconvolution problem is also discussed, always within the context of a general metric theory of the gravitational field.

gr-qc↗

arXiv1999

Resonant Spheres: Multifrequency Detectors of Gravitational Waves

We discuss the capabilities of spherical antennæas single multifrequency detectors of gravitational waves. A first order theory allows us to evaluate the coupled spectrum and the resonators readouts when the first and the second quadrupole bare sphere frequencies are simultaneously selected for layout tuning. We stress the existence of non-tuning influences in the second mode coupling causing draggs in the frequency splittings. These URF effects are relevant to a correct physical description of resonant spheres, still more if operating as multifrequency appliances like our PHCA proposal.

gr-qc↗

arXiv1999

Multiple mode gravitational wave detection with a spherical antenna

Apart from omnidirectional, a solid elastic sphere is a natural multimode and multifrequency device for the detection of Gravitational Waves (GW). Motion sensing in a spherical GW detector thus requires a multiple set of transducers attached to it at suitable locations. Resonant transducers exert a significant back action on the larger sphere, and as a consequence the joint dynamics of the entire system has to be properly understood before reliable conclusions can be drawn from its readout. In this paper, we present and develop a mathematical formalism to analyse such dynamics, which generalises and enhances currently existing ones, and which clarifies their actual range of validity, thereby shedding light into the physics of the detector. In addition, the new formalism has enabled us to discover a new resonator layout (we call it PHC) which only requires five resonators per quadrupole mode sensed, and has mode channels, i.e., linear combinations of the transducers' readouts which are directly proportional to the GW amplitudes. The perturbative nature of our proposed approach makes it also very well adapted to systematically assess the consequences of small mistunings in the device parameters by robust analytic methods. These prove to be very powerful, not only theoretically but also practically: confrontation of our model's predictions with the experimental data of the LSU prototype detector TIGA reveals an agreement between both consistently reaching the fourth decimal place.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1997

Resonant transducers for a spherical Gravitational Wave antenna

Motion sensing in a spherical GW detector requires a multiple set of transducers attached to its surface at suitable locations. If transducers are of the resonant type then their motion couples to that of the sphere and the joint dynamics of the system has to be properly understood before reliable conclusions can be drawn from its readout. In this paper we address the problem of the coupled motion of a sphere and a set of resonators attached to it at arbitrary points. A remarkably elegant and powerful scheme emerges from the general equations which shows how coupling takes place as a power series in the small coupling constant ratio m(resonator)/M(sphere). We reasses in the new light the response of the highly symmetric TIGA and also present a new proposal (called PHC) which has less symmetry but which is based on 5 rather than 6 transducers per quadrupole mode sensed. We finally assess how the system charac- teristics are affected by slight departures from ideality, and find it to be quite robust to them. In particular we recover with full accuracy the reportedly measured frequencies of the LSU prototype TIGA.

gr-qc↗