Abstract
IN a series of classic articles, Weber1–3 derived the equations of motion and the response of mass quadrupole detectors to tensor gravitational waves. He has also constructed a detector which is a cylindrical rod tuned to its fundamental longitudinal acoustic resonance. These devices (class 1 detectors) have a definite relationship between the resonant frequency and the dimensions, in consequence of which they become very large (and expensive) at low frequencies. Using a somewhat arbitrary criterion (discussed later), one may state that class 1 detectors are difficult to build at frequencies below 1,000 Hz. There are other mechanically resonant devices (for example, tuning forks, rings and hollow “squares”), which we call class 2 detectors, which have a different relationship between the resonant frequency and their dimensions. Application of the same arbitrary criterion to class 2 detectors establishes that their useful frequency range can be extended to ∼30 Hz and that their sensitivity at the lower frequencies is comparable with class 1 detectors. Thus class 2 detectors are useful in a frequency range not easily accessible to class 1 detectors.
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References
Weber, J., General Relativity and Gravitational Waves (Interscience, New York, 1961).
Weber, J., Phys. Rev. Lett., 17, 1228 (1966).
Weber, J., Phys. Rev. Lett., 18, 498 (1967).
Landau, L., and Lifshitz, E., Theory of Elasticity (Pergamon, Oxford, 1959).
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DOUGLASS, D., TYSON, J. New Class of Gravitational Wave Detectors. Nature 229, 34–36 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1038/229034a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/229034a0
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