Staff

Marco Bazzan, Giacomo Ciani, Claudia Lazzaro, Livia Conti (INFN PD), Matteo Pegoraro (INFN PD), Gabriele Vedovato (INFN PD), Jean-Pierre Zendri (INFN PD)

Fellows

Stefano Bordignon

PhD students

Luis Diego Bonavena, Gabriella Chiarini, Giulio Favaro

Research activities

The gravitational-wave experimental group is a member of the Virgo collaboration , which has built and operates Advanced Virgo, the gravitational wave interferometric detector near Cascina (Pisa); it is also part of the Einstein Telescope collaboration, which is planning the next-generation European gravitational-wave observatory. The group research focuses both on instrument science, mainly in the field of laser/quantum optics and thermal noise, and on data analysis aimed at searching for transient gravitational-wavesignals.

The technological research and development activities of the group includes a wide range of topics related to the improvement of the performance of present and future gravitational wave detectors, including :

• study and reduction of thermal noise in high-performance optical coatings
• study of thermal noise in mechanical systems out of thermodynamic equilibrium
• development of systems for real-time measurement and correction of the coupling between laser and optical cavities
• absorption and scattering measurements of very high quality optical materials and surfaces
• injection of “squeezed” quantum vacuum into gravitational wave detectors
• development of electronics for high performance laser phase-locking and control systems

The data analysis activity of the group is focused on the search for generic transient (i.e. of short duration) gravitational wave signals in the data of the LIGO, Virgo  and KAGRA detectors. Such searches offer great potential for discovery since they can reveal both signals of known type (for example the signal from the coalescence of a binary system of black holes), and signals that are not well modeled or of unknown origin. The Padua group, in collaboration with researchers from Trento, Parma and Trieste, is a leader in this type of analysis and works closely with other groups within the LIGO-Virgo-Kagra (LVK) collaboration.

Collaborations

As a member of the Virgo and ET collaborations, the group directly cooperates with many Italian and European institutes and groups that are part of the same collaborations and share scientific responsibilities and research lines. Some examples include the Albert Einstein Institute in Hannover, the Laboratoire d'Annecy de Physique des Particules, the European Gravitational Observatory (home of the Virgo instrument), the University of Florida, the Laboratoire des Matériaux Avancés.

Other groups and institutes with active collaborative relationships include the KAGRA group at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, the Laboratoire de Physique ENS de Lyon and the University of Luxembourg.

Our group is also part of a large paduan community distributed between the DFA and the local INFN and INAF sections, and involved in the various aspects of gravitational-wave science and multi-messenger astrophysics.