The MIGA (Mater Wave Laser Interferometric Gravita- tion Antenna) is an experiment of an underground long baseline atom interferometer to study gravity at large scale. The 150 meters long instrument will be a demonstrator for GW detection in a low frequency band (100mHz-1Hz) not explored by classical ground and space-based observatories. French ANR funded “Equipement d’excellence”.
The LSBB (Laboratoire Souterrain à Bas Bruit) comes from the transformation of a former launching control system of nuclear missiles into a unique European interdisciplin- ary laboratory for science and technology. Located away from major anthropogenic disturbances and benefiting from very low background noise, the laboratory is an ide- al environment for site studies of next generation GW detectors and improvement of GW antennas. The LSBB currently hosts the French MIGA project.
The VLBAI (Very Large Baseline Atom Interferometer) is a multi-functional platform for conducting experiments in matter-wave inertial sensors for geodesy and basic re- search in physics. It consists in a ~10 meters test stand for vertical Atom Interferometer that allows for interro- gation times in the range of seconds. VLBAI stands in the new HiTech building as part of the collaborative re- search centres 1128 (geo-Q) and 1227 (DQ-mat).
The GEODETIC OBSERVATORY WETZELL provides a highly accurate reference frame, which demonstrates long-term stability, as basis for the monitoring and in- terpretation of mass distribution processes in the Earth system, such as the rise of global sea level. The observa- tory hosts major geodetic techniques and instruments from Interferometry telescopes to hydrological sensors.
The ICS (Institute of Computer Sciences) has world-rec- ognized expertise in the areas of data management, sig- nal processing, and computing/storage infrastructures. The Forth Institute participates in several EU Research Infrastructures and represents Greece in the EU Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM).
The MAGIA atomic fountains (Misura Accurata di G me- diante Interferometria Atomica) is an advanced atomic quantum sensor for gravitational physics. Like the VLBAI, it consists in a multi-functional platform for conducting experiments in matter-wave inertial sensors for geodesy and basic research in physics (sensitivity to differential gravity: 3×10-9 g/√Hz, sensitivity in G measurements: 5.7×10-2/√Hz).
VIRGO (named after the Virgo cluster that includes about 1500 galaxies located about 50 million light years from Earth) is a GW detector operating in the band 10Hz-10kHz. It consists in a 3km Michelson interferome- ter isolated from external disturbances using suspended mirrors and instrumentation. The EGO (European Gravi- tational Observatory) ensures the longterm scientific ex- ploitation of the VIRGO antenna and fosters European collaboration in the field of GW. EGO is a CNRS/INFN consortium.
The KAGRA (Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector), is a Japanese gravitational wave observatory which has entered into service at the end of 2019. It uses the technique of interferometry and includes two arms three kms long. Compared to the operational gravitational wave observatories – Virgo and LIGO – it has the particularity of being installed in an underground mine, which allows it to benefit from a low noise seismic environment, and it uses mirrors cooled down to 20 Kelvin.
The AION (Atom Interferometer Observatory and Net- work) proposes to construct and operate a next-gener- ation Atomic Interferometric Observatory and Network that will enable the exploration of properties of dark matter as well as searches for new fundamental inter- actions. In addition, it will provide a pathway towards detecting gravitational waves and astrophysical sources in the mid-frequency band ranging from several mHz to a few Hz.
The ET (Einstein Telescope) is a research infrastructure project to build a 3rd generation optical GW detector in Europe. The detector would be underground and would use 3 arms of 10km in an equilateral triangle. ET would enable to observe GW sources in the band 1Hz-10kHz.
The LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) is a large-scale physics experiment aimed at directly detecting gravitational waves. LIGO is a joint project between scientists from MIT, Caltech and many other institutions and universities and has been internationally supported. LIGO holds two detectors which are giant Michelson interferom- eters with a length of four kms based in Washington State and in Louisiana.
The MAGIS 100 is a 100-meter-deep shaft at Fermi- lab, first constructed for neutrino experiment, that now includes larges scale atom interferometers of baseline up to a km built at Stanford, Fermilab and Sanford Underground Research Facility for quan- tum experiment. The experiment aims to reveal the presence of ultralight dark matter particles and pave the way for detecting gravitational waves of lower frequency. Groups of atoms will be dropped down in a vacuum tube, followed by laser light, to explore aspects of quantum physics.
The ZAIGA (Zhaoshan long-baseline Atom Interfer- ometer Gravitation Antenna) is an underground la- ser-linked interferometer facility under construction. It will be equipped with long-baseline atom interfer- ometers, high-precision atom clocks, and large-scale gyrometers. Its configuration is an equilateral triangle with two 1-km-apart atom interferometers in each arm, a 300-meter vertical tunnel with atom fountain and atom clocks mounted, and a tracking-and-rang- ing 1-km-arm-length prototype with lattice optical clocks linked by locked lasers.