To determine whether particular sources of gravitational radiation will be detectable by a specific gravitational wave detector, it is necessary to know the sensitivity limits of the instrument. These instrumental sensitivities are often depicted ~after averaging over source position and polarization! by graphing the minimal values of the gravitational wave amplitude detectable by the instrumen...

We review the tests of general relativity that will become possible with space-based gravitational-wave detectors operating in the ∼ 10-5 - 1 Hz low-frequency band. The fundamental aspects of gravitation that can be tested include the presence of additional gravitational fields other than the metric; the number and tensorial nature of gravitational-wave polarization states; the velocity of prop...

A laser interferometer gravitational wave detector is, in essence, a device for monitoring a classical force (the gravitational wave) that acts on freely moving test masses (the interferometer's suspended mirrors). \Advanced" detectors, expected to operate in the LIGO/VIRGO interferometric network [1] in the middle or later part of the next decade, will be constrained by the standard quantum li...

An analysis of the time correlation between Gamma-Ray Bursts from BATSE detector and EXPLORER Gravitational Wave Antenna data was performed from april 1991 to december 1996. A time interval of ±5 minutes around the trigger time of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) was explored. No significant excess of coincidences between GRBs and EXPLORER events with an energy of about 100 mK was found. This result all...

The number of known millisecond pulsars has dramatically increased in the last few years. Regular observations of these pulsars may allow gravitational waves with frequencies ∼ 10 Hz to be detected. A “pulsar timing array” is therefore complimentary to other searches for gravitational waves using ground-based or space-based interferometers that are sensitive to much higher frequencies. In this ...

We review the different aspects of the interaction of mesoscopic quantum systems with gravitational fields. We first discuss briefly the foundations of general relativity and quantum mechanics. Then, we consider the non-relativistic expansions of the Klein-Gordon and Dirac equations in the post-Newtonian approximation. After a short overview of classical gravitational waves, we discuss two prop...

An international network of laser-interferometric gravitational wave detectors is nearing the end of the main commissioning phase and will soon enter into an extended observational period, collecting data for a duration of order one year. This article outlines the construction, design and commissioning of the GEO 600 gravitational wave observatory. GEO 600 is a laserinterferometric gravitationa...