Gravitational Wave Telescopes, Time-Delay Interferometers and Choreographic Crystals

Latham Boyle

May 16, 2013

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Abstract: I will present three interesting problems with neat solutions. All three come from thinking about gravitational wave detection; but the latter two are actually of broader interest. The first problem is how to arrange a handful of gravitational wave detectors to obtain the best gravitational wave telescope. In the second problem, we imagine a collection of “nodes” (e.g. satellites) exchanging laser signals, and want to know how to construct interferometric observables that are insensitive to the phase fluctuations of the lasers. Finally, the third problem begins with the question: what is the most symmetrical arrangement of 4 satellites orbits? This simple question is the doorway to the interesting subject of choreographic crystals, which I will introduce.