Review Paper Astrophysics-Shibam Ghosh

In this review paper we will discuss the latest developments in gravitational wave detection and present strategies to detect gravitational waves, discuss potential sources and the information which these detectors can provide. We also give particular attention to the LIGO/VIRGO network, an array of earth based, kilometre scale, laser interferometers currently under construction which will operate at the high frequency end (1 to 10,000 Hz), and the proposed Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), a five million kilometre long facility that will orbit the sun and operate at the low frequency end (10,000 to 1 Hz). LISA is planned to significantly increase the capabilities of LIGO/VIRGO by enhancing exploration of stellar mass black holes (a few to a few hundred solar mass) down to supermassive black holes (a few thousand to a hundred million solar masses) in the centres of galaxies and quasars.