UK Involvement in the Operation of Advanced LIGO
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: School of Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
Through the design and construction project 'Advanced LIGO UK,' the UK has succeeded in making fundamental contributions to the Advanced LIGO (aLIGO) detectors in the US by transfer of technology originally developed for GEO 600. As a direct result, UK groups are in a position to fully exploit the rich science data that will be produced over the coming decade. There is, therefore, a unique opportunity to ensure that UK scientists maintain leadership in gravitational wave science, by providing the support and infrastructure necessary for the UK to maintain full involvement in the operation of the aLIGO detectors and so to remain active partners in the user-community group, the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC), through which data rights are earned and distributed. Of equal importance is the need to ensure that UK delivered equipment and facilities for the aLIGO detectors are fully exploited to maximise the science output. This is true both in terms of their implementation within aLIGO, and later when it is planned that reconfiguration or upgrading of aLIGO will be undertaken. It is envisaged that the UK equipment which has been designed to meet all long-term project goals, will remain in place even following such upgrades, and continued UK technical support will help to ensure that is the case. The UK membership of the LSC is considerable, and we have been able to leverage data access and science return for a relatively small investment in the total hardware investment (at the few percent level). Further we are in a position to maintain involvement at the highest level for very modest additional investment, as set out in detail in this proposal.
Publications
Abbott B
(2016)
Binary Black Hole Mergers in the First Advanced LIGO Observing Run
in Physical Review X
Abbott B
(2021)
A Gravitational-wave Measurement of the Hubble Constant Following the Second Observing Run of Advanced LIGO and Virgo
in The Astrophysical Journal
Abbott B
(2016)
Publisher's Note: Observing gravitational-wave transient GW150914 with minimal assumptions [Phys. Rev. D 93 , 122004 (2016)]
in Physical Review D
Abbott B
(2016)
Improved Analysis of GW150914 Using a Fully Spin-Precessing Waveform Model
in Physical Review X
Abbott B
(2019)
Properties of the Binary Neutron Star Merger GW170817
in Physical Review X
Abbott B
(2016)
All-sky search for long-duration gravitational wave transients with initial LIGO
in Physical Review D
Abbott B
(2019)
Narrow-band search for gravitational waves from known pulsars using the second LIGO observing run
in Physical Review D
Abbott BP
(2016)
Characterization of transient noise in Advanced LIGO relevant to gravitational wave signal GW150914.
in Classical and quantum gravity
| Description | dedicated computer infrastructure for searches of very weak signals - gravitational waves - in noise dominated data streams This work has led to the direct detection of gravitational waves and the first observation of a binary black hole |
| Exploitation Route | This is part of a many-year long quest for the first detection of gravitational waves. Detection and inference will be based on this work. More generally many techniques that have been developed and used in this study have wider applicability. These results have transformed astronomy and opened the era of gravitational wave astronomy |
| Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Other |
| URL | https://losc.ligo.org/events |
| Description | public engagement, increasing pupils and students interest in STEM subjects, developed data-science techniques with potential wider impact on big data / data science economy |
| First Year Of Impact | 2016 |
| Sector | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Other |
| Impact Types | Cultural |
| Description | ASPERA |
| Amount | £42,468 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2015 |
| End | 03/2016 |
| Description | Astrophysics at the University of Birmingham |
| Amount | £1,830,268 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | ST/S000305/1 |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2019 |
| End | 03/2022 |
| Description | ERF Fellowship - John Veitch |
| Amount | £500,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2014 |
| End | 01/2019 |
| Description | Gravitational Wave Astronomy at the University of Birmingham, STFC Equipment Call 2018 |
| Amount | £81,350 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | ST/S002154/1 |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2018 |
| End | 06/2019 |
| Description | Gravitational Wave Excellence Through Alliance Training (GrEAT) Network with China |
| Amount | £6,405 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | n/a |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2018 |
| End | 12/2020 |
| Description | Newton STFC Capacity Building ith LIGO-India |
| Amount | £7,951 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 06/2017 |
| End | 05/2020 |
| Description | Novel Technologies for Cross-disciplinary Research programme |
| Amount | £2,515,589 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | GG-TOP: Gravity Gradient |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2011 |
| End | 02/2015 |
| Title | GW sources |
| Description | data set of the detected gravitational wave sources |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2016 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | it's the first and only catalogue of astronomical objects known in gravitational waves |
| URL | https://losc.ligo.org/about/ |
| Title | finesse |
| Description | Frequency domain INterfErometer Simulation SoftwarE |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2007 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | it has allowed design and debug laser interferometers with a simple but powerful tool. It has allowed to simulate many different user-defined optical setups. It has been used for Advanced LIGO |
| URL | http://www.gwoptics.org/finesse/ |
| Title | lalinference |
| Description | data analysis technique to study the properties of gravitational-wave sources |
| Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
| Year Produced | 2010 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | it has enabled the characterisation of the physical properties of GW sources |
| URL | https://www.lsc-group.phys.uwm.edu/daswg/projects/lalsuite.html |
| Description | GEO Collaboration |
| Organisation | Max Planck Society |
| Department | Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Data analysis and instrumental development |
| Collaborator Contribution | Data analysis and instrumental development |
| Impact | Many papers, technology developments, and outreach events |
| Description | GEO Collaboration |
| Organisation | University of Glasgow |
| Department | Physics and Astronomy Department |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Data analysis and instrumental development |
| Collaborator Contribution | Data analysis and instrumental development |
| Impact | Many papers, technology developments, and outreach events |
| Title | CPNest |
| Description | A generic nested sampling tool for bayesian model selection and parameter estimation. |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Open Source License? | Yes |
| Impact | Recently released, but intend it to be useful in population modelling and signal extraction, within the gravitational wave and wider community. |
| URL | https://github.com/johnveitch/cpnest |
| Title | lalinference |
| Description | statistical inference package |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2013 |
| Open Source License? | Yes |
| Impact | this is the standard for inference on gravitational-wave data particularly for coalescing binaries |
| URL | https://www.lsc-group.phys.uwm.edu/daswg/projects/lal/nightly/docs/html/group__ch__inference.html |
| Company Name | Laser Labs Games CIC |
| Description | Laser Labs is a small scale developer for educational apps. Our aim is to promote science using well designed and fun apps. Our endeavour can be traced back to the Gravitational Wave Group at the University of Birmingham where we developed our first applications, from simple simulations to arcade-style games. These were soon used at science fairs by ourselves and by other scientists around the world. The apps work well for attracting an audience and for providing talking points to introduce specific research topics. Our applications became an important element in a highly ranked impact case study for the REF 2014, a regular process for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. We are currently preparing a new impact case study for REF 2021 which includes the evolution of this activity. Laser Labs Games CIC, or Laser Labs for short, was founded to provide the legal structure for bringing our applications to the well known app stores. We are now recreating our applications for modern devices and technologies, and continue to work with research groups to discuss new ideas and to develop new apps to help bringing science to the masses. |
| Year Established | 2016 |
| Impact | We succesfull managed to port two of our apps Pocket Black Hole and Strecth and Squash to mobile apps in time for the announcement of the first graviational wave detection. Many of the groups in the LIGO Scientific Collaboration used these apps during the public engagement activities around the event. We later published a mobile version of Space Time Quest and are now preparing Black Hole Master for mobile. We further published Chirp, which has become the main way many people check and access GW alerts from LIGO and Virgo. |
| Website | https://www.laserlabs.org/ |
| Description | BICEP2 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | sparked questions and discussion afterwards people asked to visit research group and talk to scientists |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Astronomy in the City |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Astronomy in the City is our flagship outreach event. It's hosted about 5 times a year, advertised widely by the university in the city and region. Tickets are free and must be booked. We regularly have >100 attendees per event. Each event inlcudes a number of different activities, inlcuding a visit to the University's observatory, a talk by an expert and often hands-on exhibits. We make sure that the talks are related to our own STFC funded research and over the last 12 month gravitational waves and black holes have been the key feature. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015,2016,2017 |
| URL | http://www.sr.bham.ac.uk/observatory/astronomyinthecity.php |
| Description | Astrostatistics Talk to Edward VI School for Boys |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | I spoke to the sixth-form students at King Edward VI school for boys about modern astronomy and the importance of statistics. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | BBC Stargazing live |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | many people visited stand TV and radio coverage |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | BICEP2 Results for Astro in the City |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A talk at our monthly "Astronomy in the City" event describing the (then) recent BICEP2 results for gravitational waves in the early universe. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | BSF 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | press conference and pupil workshop press coverage in BBC, Irish time |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Big Bang Fair |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Type Of Presentation | Workshop Facilitator |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | hundreds of pupils attended - |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | British Science Festival |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Type Of Presentation | Workshop Facilitator |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | people visited exhibition press conference |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | Cavalcando le onde gravitazionali a caccia di buchi neri e chissa' cos'altro |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Many questions and requests for further discussion and participation to events |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.mantovascienza.it/2017/09/15/cavalcando-le-onde-gravitazionali-a-caccia-di-buchi-neri-e-c... |
| Description | Educational computer games |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Development of two completely new computer games (Black Hole Pong) and gravitational wave detection (Space Time Quest). In the first year after its release Space Time Quest achieved 10,000 downloads and Black Hole Pong close to 5000 The games have been used internationally at many science fairs and events and are always a focal point especially for younger children. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017 |
| URL | http://www.gwoptics.org/processing/space_time_quest/ |
| Description | Founder and editor on chief of the LIGO Magazine |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A new magazine was founded in 2012 to cover the activities of the 900 scientists strong LIGO Scientific Collaboration. The magazine's prime audience is the collaboration itself. However, we chose to provide a professionally produced and layouted magazine so that members of the public and policy makes can be targeted as well. So far the magazine has been downloaded more than 10000 times. The magazine was founded by Prof Andreas Freise, who has been editor in chief until 2017, Hannah Middletos is deputy editor in chief. Several individual contributions from the Birmingham group have been published in the magazine over the years. We received several commendation from policy makes and external scientists alike on the professional image that the magazine conveys about our collaboration. However, a detailed impact analysis has not been done. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017 |
| URL | http://www.ligo.org/magazine/ |
| Description | Institute of Physics public lecture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | sparked questions and discussion and increased interest in related subject areas |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Interview by Guardian |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Interviewed by The Guardian newspaper. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/jun/15/gravitational-waves-detected-from-collision-of-secon... |
| Description | Interview by Science Studio |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Interviewed for Science Studio programme on KTEP radio station, Texas plus their podcast. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://ktep.org/post/science-studio-ligo |
| Description | King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | spark questions and discussion afterwards received requests for more sessions like this and to visit research group |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Maths Public Lecture on Astrostatistics in Modern Astronomy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I spoke about the importance of astrostatistics in modern astronomy for a Maths Department public lecture. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Pint of Science |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Public talk "Einstein's Last Quest" on gravitational waves as part of the Pint of Science nation-wide event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://pintofscience.co.uk/ |
| Description | Public lecture (National Astronomy Meeting Schools Day) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Was invited to give a talk at the National Astronomy Meeting Schools Day 2016 to around 300 school-children (ages 16+). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://www.nam2016.org/public-and-schools-events/schools-and-teachers |
| Description | Public talk for Walsall Astronomical Society |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | about 50 people attended the talk which sparked discussion and other talks were requested |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Public talk for the Association for Science Education annual conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | lively discussion |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | RAS public lecture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | about 250 people from the general public attended the public lectures that sparkled interest and questions |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://ras.ac.uk |
| Description | Redditch Astro Society GW Talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A talk at the Redditch astronomy society about the black holes discovered by Advanced LIGO in its first observing run and the dawn of gravitational wave astronomy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | School Visit, King Edward VI |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | School talk |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | School visit (Queensbridge) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to talk to around 50 secondary students (ages 14-16) about my research, the discovery of gravitational waves, choosing a career in science and studying at university. Feedback from teachers suggests it was very well received by students. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Talk for school children at university residential summer school |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Talk for school children on GW astronomy |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | The birth of gravitational wave astronomy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | about 100 people attended the talk that was followed by many questions and conversations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.atomfestival.org.uk/our-team/atom-2017/ |
| Description | astronomy in the city |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The intended outcomes are to enthuse young people about astronomy and STEM subjects in general and to show that astronomers and physical scientists in general are real people with whom it is possible to have fun and stimulating discussions. These evenings are full of discussion and lively interaction between our staff, postdocs, students, and the general public. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012,2014,2016 |
| URL | http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/astro-in-the-city |
| Description | astrostatistics |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | sparked questions and discussion afterwards received requests for more discussions in this area |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | public talk at UCL for Spins UK |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | about 100 people attended the talk that sparkled questions and interest |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | http://www.spins-uk.net |
| Description | public talks |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | Keynote/Invited Speaker |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | between 10 and 100 people attended events received requests from other organisations to give talks |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013 |
| Description | visit of Andrew Cohen, head of BBC science |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | Keynote/Invited Speaker |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | discussed research with Andrew Cohen, head of BBC science - |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | visit of David Willets |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | Keynote/Invited Speaker |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | showed lab and activities - |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |