The Search for Gravitational waves and its Spin-off into Life Sciences and Energy Research

Gravitational waves – a prediction of Einstein’s General Relativity – are still among the most elusive signals from far out in the Universe. Over the past decade the laser interferometric detectors LIGO, Virgo and GEO 600 have been commissioned and operated at their design or close to design sensitivity, and the design for a space borne interferometer of very long base-line, eLISA, has been optimised. However, in keeping with source strength predictions and, as expected, no gravitational wave signals have been observed as yet.
Now the ground based detectors are being upgraded and observations will begin again around 2015 with the real expectation that signals from coalescing binary systems will be observed. Such is the confidence currently, that a new detector is being built in Japan in the Kamioka mine and the third of the LIGO detectors is to be transferred to India, thus creating a truly world-wide network
In this talk I will explain the nature of gravitational waves, why it is scientifically important to observe them, and the challenges faced by the experimenters. I will also discuss how some of the expertise and techniques are being used for stem cell differentiation and for the construction of optical components for laser fusion experiments.