The International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) was founded in 1978 and was the first institution in Italy to promote post-graduate courses leading to a Doctor Philosophiae (or PhD) degree. A centre of excellence among Italian and international universities, the school has around 65 teachers, 100 post docs and 245 PhD students, and is located in Trieste, in a campus of more than 10 hectares with wonderful views over the Gulf of Trieste.
SISSA hosts a very high-ranking, large and multidisciplinary scientific research output. The scientific papers produced by its researchers are published in high impact factor, well-known international journals, and in many cases in the world's most prestigious scientific journals such as Nature and Science. Over 900 students have so far started their careers in the field of mathematics, physics and neuroscience research at SISSA.
Virgo: a laser interferometer to detect gravitational waves
T Accadia23, F Acernese8,10, M Alshourbagy13,14, P Amico11,12, F Antonucci16, S Aoudia28, N Arnaud21, C Arnault21, K G Arun21, P Astone16, S Avino8, D Babusci41, G Ballardin2, F Barone8,10, G Barrand21, L Barsotti13,14, M Barsuglia1, A Basti13,14, Th S Bauer26, F Beauville23, M Bebronne23, M Bejger36, M G Beker26, F Bellachia23, A Belletoile23, J L Beney21, M Bernardini13, S Bigotta13,14, R Bilhaut21, S Birindelli28, M Bitossi13, M A Bizouard21, M Blom26, C Boccara22, D Boget23, F Bondu29, L Bonelli13,14, R Bonnand25, V Boschi13, L Bosi11, T Bouedo23, B Bouhou1, A Bozzi2, L Bracci3,5, S Braccini13, C Bradaschia13, M Branchesi3,4, T Briant24, A Brillet28, V Brisson21, L Brocco16, T Bulik35,36, H J Bulten26,27, D Buskulic23, C Buy1, G Cagnoli3, G Calamai3,6, E Calloni8,9, E Campagna3,4, B Canuel2, F Carbognani2, L Carbone11, F Cavalier21, R Cavalieri2, R Cecchi13, G Cella13, E Cesarini4, E Chassande-Mottin1, S Chatterji16, R Chiche21, A Chincarini7, A Chiummo2, N Christensen2, A C Clapson21,22, F Cleva28, E Coccia18,19, P -F Cohadon24, C N Colacino13,14, J Colas2, A Colla16,17, M Colombini17, G Conforto3,4, A Corsi16, S Cortese2, F Cottone11,12, J -P Coulon28, E Cuoco2, S D'Antonio18, G Daguin23, A Dari11,12, V Dattilo2, P Y David23, M Davier21, R Day2, G Debreczeni40, G De Carolis13, M Dehamme21, R Del Fabbro13, W Del Pozzo26, M del Prete31, L Derome23, R De Rosa8,9, R DeSalvo1, M Dialinas21, L Di Fiore8, A Di Lieto13,14, M Di Paolo Emilio18,20, A Di Virgilio13, A Dietz23, M Doets26, P Dominici3,4, A Dominjon23, M Drago30,31, C Drezen23, B Dujardin28,29, B Dulach41, C Eder21, A Eleuteri8, D Enard2, M Evans2, L Fabbroni3,5, V Fafone18,19, H Fang41, I Ferrante13,14, F Fidecaro13,14, I Fiori2, R Flaminio25, D Forest25, L A Forte8, J -D Fournier28, L Fournier23, J Franc25, O Francois2, S Frasca16,17, F Frasconi13, A Freise2, A Gaddi13, M Galimberti25, L Gammaitoni11,12, P Ganau25, C Garnier21, F Garufi8,9, M E Gáspár40, G Gemme7, E Genin2, A Gennai13, G Gennaro13, L Giacobone23, A Giazotto13, G Giordano41, L Giordano8, C Girard23, R Gouaty23, A Grado8, M Granata1, V Granata23, X Grave23, C Greverie28, H Groenstege26, G M Guidi3,4, S Hamdani2, J -F Hayau29, S Hebri2, A Heidmann24, H Heitmann28,29, P Hello21, G Hemming2, E Hennes26, R Hermel23, P Heusse21, L Holloway2, D Huet2, M Iannarelli41, P Jaranowski37, D Jehanno21, L Journet23, S Karkar23, T Ketel26,27, H Voet27, J Kovalik11, I Kowalska35, S Kreckelbergh21, A Krolak34,38, J C Lacotte23, B Lagrange25, P La Penna2, M Laval28,29, J C Le Marec23, N Leroy21, N Letendre23, T G F Li26, B Lieunard23, N Liguori30,31, O Lodygensky21, B Lopez2, M Lorenzini3, V Loriette22, G Losurdo3, M Loupias2, J M Mackowski25, T Maiani13, E Majorana16, C Magazzù13, I Maksimovic22, V Malvezzi18, N Man28, S Mancini13, B Mansoux21, M Mantovani13,15, F Marchesoni11, F Marion23, P Marin21, J Marque2, F Martelli3,4, A Masserot23, L Massonnet23, G Matone41, L Matone21, M Mazzoni3,4,5,6, F Menzinger2, C Michel25, L Milano8,9, Y Minenkov18, S Mitra28,29, M Mohan2, J -L Montorio25, R Morand23, F Moreau23, J Moreau22, N Morgado25, A Morgia18,19, S Mosca8,9, V Moscatelli16, B Mours23, P Mugnier23, F -A Mul27, L Naticchioni16,17, I Neri11,12, F Nocera2, E Pacaud23, G Pagliaroli18,20, A Pai16, L Palladino18,20, C Palomba16, F Paoletti2,13, R Paoletti13, A Paoli2, S Pardi8, G Parguez2, M Parisi8,9, A Pasqualetti2, R Passaquieti13,14, D Passuello13, M Perciballi16, B Perniola3,4,5,6, G Persichetti8,9, S Petit23, M Pichot28, F Piergiovanni3,4, M Pietka37, R Pignard25, L Pinard25, R Poggiani13,14, P Popolizio2, T Pradier21, M Prato7, G A Prodi30,31, M Punturo11, P Puppo16, K Qipiani8, O Rabaste1, D S Rabeling26,27, I Rácz40, F Raffaelli13, P Rapagnani16,17, S Rapisarda13, V Re18,19, A Reboux21, T Regimbau28, V Reita22, A Remilleux25, F Ricci16,17, I Ricciardi8, F Richard2, M Ripepe3,5, F Robinet21, A Rocchi18, L Rolland23, R Romano8,10, D Rosińska36,39, P Roudier21, P Ruggi2, G Russo8, L Salconi2, V Sannibale23, B Sassolas25, D Sentenac2, S Solimeno8, R Sottile23, L Sperandio18, R Stanga3,4,5,6, R Sturani3,4, B Swinkels2, M Tacca2, R Taddei2, L Taffarello32, M Tarallo13,14, S Tissot23, A Toncelli13,14, M Tonelli13,14, O Torre13,15, E Tournefier23, F Travasso11,12, C Tremola13,14, E Turri41, G Vajente13,14, J F J van den Brand26,27, C Van Den Broeck26, S van der Putten26, M Vasuth40, M Vavoulidis21, G Vedovato32, D Verkindt23, F Vetrano3,4, O Véziant23, A Viceré3,4, J -Y Vinet28, S Vilalte23, S Vitale26, H Vocca11, R L Ward1, M Was21, K Yamamoto31,33, M Yvert23, J -P Zendri32 and Z Zhang2
Published 29 March 2012 •
Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd
Journal of Instrumentation,
Volume 7,
March 2012
Citation T Accadia et al 2012 JINST7 P03012DOI 10.1088/1748-0221/7/03/P03012
1 APC, AstroParticule et Cosmologie, Université Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Observatoire de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 10, rue Alice Domon et Léonie Duquet, 75205 Paris Cedex 13, France
2 European Gravitational Observatory (EGO), I-56021 Cascina (PI), Italy
3 INFN, Sezione di Firenze, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
4 Università degli Studi di Urbino `Carlo Bo', I-61029 Urbino, Italy
5 Università degli Studi di Firenze, I-50121 Firenze, Italy
6 Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, I-50125 Firenze, Italy
7 INFN, Sezione di Genova; I-16146 Genova, Italy
8 INFN, Sezione di Napoli , Italy
9 Università di Napoli `Federico II', Italy
10 Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo, I-80126 Napoli; Università di Salerno, Fisciano, I-84084 Salerno, Italy
11 INFN, Sezione di Perugia, I-06123 Perugia, Italy
12 Università di Perugia, I-06123 Perugia, Italy
13 INFN, Sezione di Pisa, Italy
14 Università di Pisa, Italy
15 I-56127 Pisa; Università di Siena, I-53100 Siena, Italy
16 INFN, Sezione di Roma, I-00185 Roma, Italy
17 Università 'La Sapienza', I-00185 Roma, Italy
18 INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, Italy
19 Università di Roma Tor Vergata, I-00133 Roma, Italy
This paper presents a complete description of Virgo, the
French-Italian gravitational wave detector. The detector, built at
Cascina, near Pisa (Italy), is a very large Michelson
interferometer, with 3 km-long arms.
In this paper, following a presentation of the physics requirements,
leading to the specifications for the construction of the detector, a
detailed description of all its different elements is given. These
include civil engineering infrastructures, a huge ultra-high vacuum
(UHV) chamber (about 6000 cubic metres), all of the optical
components, including high quality mirrors and their seismic isolating
suspensions, all of the electronics required to control the
interferometer and for signal detection. The expected performances of
these different elements are given, leading to an overall sensitivity
curve as a function of the incoming gravitational wave frequency.
This description represents the detector as built and used in the
first data-taking runs. Improvements in different parts have been and
continue to be performed, leading to better sensitivities. These will
be detailed in a forthcoming paper.