2002/03/07 by Ph. Bernard, A. Chincarini, Bernard, Ph. +7 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.gr-qc/0203024
29 pages, 12 eps figures. Typeset by REVTeX
arxiv created 2002/03/07 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30
Since 1978 superconducting coupled cavities have been proposed as sensitive detector of gravitational waves. The interaction of the gravitational wave with the cavity walls, and the resulting motion, induces the transition of some electromagnetic energy from an initially excited cavity mode to an empty one. The energy transfer is maximum when the frequency of the wave is equal to the frequency difference of the two cavity modes. In this paper the basic principles of the detector are discussed. The interaction of a gravitational wave with the cavity walls is studied in the proper reference frame of the detector, and the coupling between two electromagnetic normal modes induced by the wall motion is analyzed in detail. Noise sources are also considered; in particular the noise coming from the brownian motion of the cavity walls is analyzed. Some ideas for the developement of a realistic detector of gravitational waves are discussed; the outline of a possible detector design and its expected sensitivity are also shown.