GWFP Seminar - The Perfect Reflection: Mirrors for Gravitational Wave Detectors

Tuesday 14 Jul 2026, 11:00 → 12:00 Europe/Amsterdam

Speaker: Dr. Jessica Steinlechner

Gravitational Waves and Fundamental Physics

Maastricht University

 

About the speaker: Jessica Steinlechner is Assistant Professor in the Gravitational Waves and Fundamental Physics department of Maastricht University. She obtained her PhD in Physics from Leibniz University Hannover before undertaking postdoctoral research in Glasgow and Hamburg. In 2019, she joined Maastricht University, where she leads a research group specialising in advanced mirror coatings for gravitational-wave detectors. Her research has been recognised with prestigious funding awards, including an NWO KLEIN grant, an NWO Vidi grant, and an ERC Starting Grant. She is a member of the LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA collaborations and serves as Co-chair of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration Optics Working Group and Senior Representative of the LIGO Academic Advisory Committee. She also co-chairs the Optics Division of the Instrument Science Board for the Einstein Telescope

11:00 → 12:00 Title: The Perfect Reflection: Mirrors for Gravitational Wave Detectors

Gravitational waves are exciting tools for discovering our Universe. For their measurement, incredibly sensitive Michelson Interferometers have been developed, observing tiny length changes. Key components of these interferometers are highly-reflective coated mirrors. However, thermal noise of the mirror coatings limits our ability to detect gravitational waves.
This talk will start with a very brief introduction to gravitational wave detectors and their mirrors. I will explain the principle of highly-reflective coatings. Finally, I will give an overview of the mirror development within the gravitational-wave community with a focus on the work done at Maastricht University.