Decisive Contributions to the LIGO Detector and the Observation of Gravitational Waves (The Nobel Prize in Physics 2017)

Abstract

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) project in the United States successfully detected a gravitational wave generated during the coalescence of a binary black hole on September 17, 2015. This achievement was realized approximately 100 years after Einstein’s prediction of the existence of gravitational waves. In recognition of this accomplishment, the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three U.S. physicists who made significant contributions to LIGO. In this paper, we will describe this achievement and the subsequent progress.