BROADBAND RESONANT MASS GRAVITATIONAL WAVE DETECTION

By changing from a resonant multimode paradigm to a free mass paradigm for transducers in resonant mass gravitational wave detection, an array of six spheres can achieve a sensitivity response curve competitive with interferometers, being as sensitive as GEO600 and TAMA300 in the 3–6 kHz band and more sensitive than LIGO for 50% of the 6–10 kHz band. This approach has additional benefits. First, due to the relatively inexpensive nature of this technology (~US$1 million), it is accessible to a broader part of the world's scientific community. Additionally, spherical resonant mass detectors have the ability to discern both the direction and polarization resolutions.