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P RE S S RE LE AS E
Special Breakthrough Prize for the detection
of gravitational waves
Three million US dollar for a sensational scientific breakthrough: The Selection Committee of the Breakthrough Prize
in Fundamental Physics announced the award of a Special
Breakthrough Prize for the first detection of a gravitational
wave. Besides the founders of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) Prof. em. Ronald W. P. Drever, Prof. em. Kip S.
Thome and Prof. em. Rainer Weiss, 1012 contributors share
the award. Among the laureates are also several scientists
from the Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH).
 Press release
Hannover, July 5th, 2016
 Contact
Dr. Nadine Tinne
Marketing & Communications
+49 511 2788-238
[email protected]
In September last year, the LSC researcher team had succeeded
in experimentally recording the merger of two black holes for the
first time. In February 2016, the evaluation was presented to the
world press. Thus, the international LSC researcher team, including among many other institutions the Albert-Einstein-Institut
(AEI) Hannover too, was able to prove one of the most important
predictions of Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity after
100 years.
Laser systems come from the LZH
Under the leadership of the Albert-Einstein-Institut (AEI), the LZH
has been working on the development of the laser system for the
gravitational wave detectors LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory) for more than ten years. The lasers in
the LIGO detectors were jointly constructed and integrated into
the US observatories as a ready-to-run-system by the LZH, AEI
and neoLASE, an LZH spin-off company.
In the meantime, the Advanced LIGO (aLIGO) with the third generation of laser systems have been put into operation. Compared
to the previous lasers, the new systems have a five times higher
output power. The detections confirmed so far had been recorded by the previous Enhanced LIGO (eLIGO) systems. The evaluation of the second detection was published in June 2016.
Editing:
Dr. Nadine Tinne | Marketing & Communications | +49 511 2788-238 | [email protected]
Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. | Hollerithallee 8 | 30419 Hannover | +49 511 2788-0 | www.lzh.de
Award ceremony in spring
The official award of the Special Breakthrough Prize will take
place on the occasion of the 2017 Breakthrough Prize ceremony
in spring this year, where the annual winners in the individual
categories of the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics will
be announced, too.
The astrophysicist Stephen Hawking had won the Special Breakthrough Prize already in 2013. About the current laureates he
says: “This discovery has huge significance: firstly, as evidence
for general relativity and its predictions of black hole interactions,
and secondly as the beginning of a new astronomy that will reveal the universe through a different medium. The LIGO team
richly deserves the Special Breakthrough Prize.”
There are two figures for this press release.
Figure 1: Adjusting the LZH laser in the LIGO cleanroom, Livingston (US). (Photo: LZH)
Editing:
Dr. Nadine Tinne | Marketing & Communications | +49 511 2788-238 | [email protected]
Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. | Hollerithallee 8 | 30419 Hannover | +49 511 2788-0 | www.lzh.de
Figure 2: Integration of the LZH laser in the LIGO cleanroom, Livingston (US). (Photo: LZH)
Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH)
As an independent, non-profit research institute, the Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH) stands for innovative
research, development and consulting. The LZH is supported by the Lower Saxony Ministry for Economics, Labour and Transport and is dedicated to the selfless promotion of applied research in the field of photonics and
laser technology. Founded in 1986, over 170 employees are now working for the LZH.
The focus of the LZH lies on the fields of optical components and systems, optical production technologies, and
biomedical photonics. Interdisciplinary cooperation between natural scientists and mechanical engineers makes
innovative approaches to challenges from the most different areas possible: from the development of components
for specific laser systems to process developments for the most diverse laser applications, for example for medical technology or lightweight construction in the automotive sector. Seventeen spin off companies have emerged
from the LZH up to now. Thus, the LZH has created a strong transfer between fundamental science, application
oriented research, and industry.
Editing:
Dr. Nadine Tinne | Marketing & Communications | +49 511 2788-238 | [email protected]
Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. | Hollerithallee 8 | 30419 Hannover | +49 511 2788-0 | www.lzh.de