Giant Tunnels of Concrete Cross the Surface

In the Washington desert, near Richland, is a space research facility named LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory), one of two identical observatories built in the United States between 1994 and 1997. Their planned purpose was and still is to conduct a physics experiment with the aim of detecting cosmic gravitational waves by laser interferometry.

The project broke ground in Hanford, Washington, in late 1994 and in Livingston, Louisiana, in 1995. The LIGO experiment concept was built on early work from a number of scientists, all focused on testing a component of Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, the existence of gravitational waves.

Gravitational waves are invisible, inaudible waves which ripple across the universe through spacetime, through the planet earth and through each creature living here, moving at the speed of light  (186,000 miles per second).

The LIGO experiment operates two gravitational wave observatories in unison: the LIGO Livingston Observatory in Livingston, Louisiana, and the LIGO Hanford Observatory, on the DOE Hanford Site, located near Richland, Washington. These sites are separated by 3,002 kilometers (1,865 miles) straight line distance through the earth, but 3,030 kilometers (1,883 miles) over the surface.

Each observatory supports an L-shaped ultra high vacuum system, measuring 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) on each leg. The legs are each housed in a concrete tube.

Western leg of LIGO on Hanford Reservation as seen from east

Northern arm of the LIGO interferometer on Hanford Reservation

At the LIGO Hanford Observatory, an interesting historical bit mentioned in the video stated that when construction of the concrete tube to house the high vacuum system was taking place, each concrete tube had to be built factoring in the curvature of the earth, not straight as it would be for a flat surface. Over the four kilometer distance of one concrete tube, the earth’s surface experienced a meter and a half drop due to the earth’s curvature. This change had to be factored in when construction of each leg’s concrete tube was built.

Simplified diagram of an Advanced LIGO detector (not to scale).

In an effort to enhance the sensitivity of the detectors and improve the ability to catch more of the small gravitational waves, a major upgrade was started in 2011, keeping the Advanced LIGO detectors offline until September 2015. Since then, there have been two completed observing runs performed by the Advanced LIGO detectors recording large gravitational wave events. A third observing run began in April 2019, and will continue into 2020.

International Efforts

Construction of the Virgo detector project began in 1996, located at the Cascina site near Pisa, Italy, and completed in 2003. The second generation detector, called Advanced Virgo, went online in 2016 and in combination with the advanced LIGO observatories in the United States, detected in 2017 a gravitational wave signal from a binary black hole merger event.

Scheduled to come online in 2024, INDIGO (Indian Initiative in Gravitational-wave Observations) will be built at a site near Aundha Nagnath in the Hingoli District, Maharashtra. It is one of three sites in India where planned Advanced LIGO detectors will be installed.

A fourth detector located underground in Kamioka, Japan, known as KAGRA, is almost ready to begin collecting data. The KAGRA detector aims to locate spacetime ripples through the use of advanced technological concepts. The physics experiment at this observatory will chill key equipment components to temperatures hovering just above absolute zero, and place the ultrasensitive setup in an enormous underground cavern in an effort to dampen localized background noise.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LIGO

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgo_interferometer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Initiative_in_Gravitational-wave_Observations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KAGRA

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