Minimisation of optical pathlength noise for the detection of gravitational waves with the spaceborne laser interferometer LISA and LISA pathfinder

Abstract

Gravitational waves were predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916 as a consequence of his theory of general relativity. Hulse and Taylor provided indirect experimental evidence of their existence based on the increasing rotation frequency of a pulsar in the binary star system PSR 1913+16. They were awarded with the Nobel price in 1993. The direct detection of gravitational waves is expected to be one of the most exciting advances in physics in the next year.