Daniele Vetrugno

UniTN and TIFPA

LISA, the gravitational wave observatory from space

video-meeting,
July 8, 2020; 9:30 AM

ABSTRACT

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, LISA, is the third large mission of the European Space Agency Cosmic Vision program and its launch is foreseen for the 2034. The observatory aims to look at the Universe through a yet undisclosed window, that of the mHz and sub-mHz gravitational wave signals, unravelling phenomena from the secret dance of supermassive black holes to that of million of Galactic binaries and extending potential discoveries from the astrophysics of the Milky Way to cosmography and cosmology. Building LISA is a challenging task, requiring cutting edge technologies, such as picometer interferometry at million kilometres distances, sub femto-g residual acceleration of proof masses in satellites and novel post-processing techniques such as the Time Delay Interferometry (TDI). In this talk, we will review some of the LISA mission technological challenges, the most important steps done in paving the way to such a mission, like the paramount results of LISA Pathfinder, and their implications in the new design of LISA.