IFAE has joined the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, strengthening its contributions to international gravitational wave research using terrestrial interferometry. This milestone further establishes IFAE as a key player in global efforts to push the boundaries of our understanding of the cosmos.
The Institut de Física d'Altes Energies (IFAE), a CERCA center located on the campus of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, has recently joined the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) . This prestigious global network comprises over 1,200 scientists from more than 100 institutions in 18 countries, working together to advance gravitational wave (GW) science.
By joining the LIGO Collaboration, the GW group at IFAE expands its involvement in GW detection using terrestrial interferometry. The group is now actively engaged in two major international efforts: the Virgo Collaboration , which operates the GW detector at EGO in Italy, and LIGO, which runs two observatories at Livingston and Hanford in the United States.
LIGO Livingston
LIGO Laboratory operates two detector sites, one near Hanford in eastern Washington, and another near Livingston, Louisiana. This photo shows the Livingston detector site. Credit: Caltech/MIT/LIGO Lab
The group also contributes to the Einstein Telescope Collaboration, a pioneering initiative to develop a European third-generation GW observatory. The presence in LIGO will facilitate exploring synergies with the corresponding USA-based Cosmic Explorer project.
Gravitational waves—ripples in spacetime first predicted by Albert Einstein in 1915—were directly observed for the first time by LIGO in 2015. This groundbreaking discovery, recognized with the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics, ushered in a transformative era of astronomical discovery. By detecting these signals, scientists can probe extreme phenomena in the universe, such as black hole mergers and neutron star collisions, while gaining new insights into the fundamental nature of physics.
The Growth of IFAE's Gravitational Wave Group
IFAE's Gravitational Wave Group was established in 2018 following its entry into the Virgo Collaboration. Over the years, the group has played an important role in hardware development and physics analysis. It has also taken leadership in next-generation initiatives, such as coordinating the European preparatory phase of the Einstein Telescope project (ET-PP) . Joining the LIGO Collaboration marks an important progression for the group, enhancing its global contributions to gravitational wave science.
In September 2024, the GW group welcomed Prof. Andrew Lundgren as an ICREA Research Professor. Prof. Lundgren, an expert in data analysis and detector characterization, previously served as co-chair of the LIGO Detector Characterization Working Group, where he helped improve detector performance during several observation runs. He brings extensive experience from his prior position at the University of Portsmouth's Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation.
LIGO, Virgo (and KAGRA in Japan) are now taking data in the so-called O4 observation run, acting as a network of GW detectors, sharing the data and participating together in on-line GW detections and their sky localization. Such tight coordination is governed by an MoU that will be replaced by a new IGWN (International GW Network) organization in which the existing LIGO and Virgo groups in IFAE (already acting as a single team) will merge. IFAE participation in LIGO opens the door for a tighter collaboration with the most prestigious institutions in the USA, UK and Germany, inside an experiment considered the leader in the field.
Contributions to the LIGO Collaboration
The IFAE Gravitational Wave Group will contribute to LIGO's efforts in several key areas:
Computing: Leveraging the resources of the Port d'Informació Científica (PIC) , a computing center co-managed by IFAE and CIEMAT.
Calibration and Data Characterization: Drawing on Prof. Lundgren's expertise to enhance detector sensitivity and performance.
Physics Analysis: Expanding data analysis capabilities to improve LIGO's discovery potential.
Hardware Contributions: In close collaboration with Virgo, IFAE will explore exporting the novel instrumented baffle technology developed at IFAE overseas.
Joining the LIGO Collaboration underscores IFAE's commitment to gravitational wave science and its mission to uncover the universe's deepest mysteries. This milestone further establishes IFAE as a key player in global efforts to push the boundaries of our understanding of the cosmos.
