Weber Bars
A simple device to detect the expected wave motion is called a Weber bar – a large, solid bar of metal isolated from outside vibrations. This type of instrument was the first type of gravitational-wave detector. Strains in space due to an incident gravitational wave excite the bar's resonant frequency and could thus be amplified to detectable levels. Conceivably, a nearby supernova might be strong enough to be seen without resonant amplification. Modern forms of the Weber bar are still operated, cryogenically cooled, with superconducting quantum interference devices to detect vibration (see for example, ALLEGRO). Weber bars are not sensitive enough to detect anything but extremely powerful gravitational waves.
MiniGRAIL is a spherical gravitational-wave antenna using this principle. It is based at Leiden University, consisting of an exactingly machined 1150 kg sphere cryogenically cooled to 20 mK. The spherical configuration allows for equal sensitivity in all directions, and is somewhat experimentally simpler than larger linear devices requiring high vacuum. Events are detected by measuring deformation of the detector sphere. MiniGRAIL is highly sensitive in the 2–4 kHz range, suitable for detecting gravitational waves from rotating neutron star instabilities or small black hole mergers.
AURIGA is an ultracryogenic resonant bar gravitational wave detector based at INFN in Italy. It is based on a cylindrical bar detector. The AURIGA and LIGO teams have collaborated in joint observations.
Read more about this topic: Gravitational Wave Detector
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—Max Weber (1864–1920)
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