Gabriela González 25 years at @lsu.bsky.social @lsuscience.bsky.social @lsuphysastro.bsky.social @lsuresearch.bsky.social
@jorgepullin.bsky.social
Physicist, motorcyclist, bagpiper, marathon runner, blogger, open access editor.
The series of conferences we started with Rodolfo Gambini, Victor Rivelles, Carmen Núñez and Jorge Zanelli 30 years ago is taking place in Chile in its 9th edition. qgsoutherncone.wixsite.com/ixqgsc
Introduction | IX QGSC
qgsoutherncone.wixsite.com
The partial upgrade started in December is over. Pumping down started at LIGO - Livingston
We moved the cleanroom that was on top of BSC2 to BSC1. @ LIGO - Livingston.
Positioning the crane spreader bar to lift the cleanroom. @ LIGO - Livingston
Gabriela González, en exclusiva con Astronomía Gualeguay www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7jc...
Dr. Gabriela González, en exclusiva con Astronomía Gualeguay
YouTube video by Astronomía Gualeguay
youtube.com
Another B&K hammer test. This time the suspensions were too small to install accelerometers, so we used the laser vibrometer (yellow). The green arrows show some of the vibration dampers I built a few weeks ago, they have installed them. @ LIGO - Livingston
The suspension we spent last semester building (green outline) is now installed in HAM6. The optics team has added a bunch of stuff on it and around it. @ LIGO - Livingston
The installation of the suspension we built last semester is now complete. This requires rebalancing the active seismic isolation system it is built on (ISI), so it is within its allowed range. This is done by adding and removing masses, indicated by green arrows in the picture. @ LIGO - Livingston
Topgunning a suspension. We spray suspensions and optics with ionized nitrogen. This blows off dust, but more importantly, it discharges potential buildups of static electricity, which attracts dust and creates other problems. @ LIGO - Livingston
Installing the dome at the X end (accelerated video) @ LIGO - Livingston
The B&K hammer test. A sensor is placed on a structure and it is hit with a hammer also containing a sensor. Software then analyzes the resonances, modes and damping of the structure. @ LIGO - Livingston
Installing back the door in the chamber that hosts the interior text mass Y (ITMY), called BSC1. @ LIGO - Livingston
LIGO jargon: "running a B&K test on a BRD". Brüel & Kjær sell the laser vibrometer (yellow) that it is being used to study the resonances of a Blade Resonance Damper that goes on the Bigger Beam Splitter Suspension (illuminated by the laser on the optical table). @ LIGO Livingston.
Lots of rain in Baton Rouge. Our flooded backyard is a favorite feeding place for egrets apparently.
Building more vibration dampers for the suspensions. @ LIGO - Livingston
Installing the baffles in one of the inner test masses. They look shiny to us, but for the interferometer light they are quite absorbent. They catch stray light and prevent it from reflecting on the walls and other parts of the interferometer that are not isolated seismically. @ LIGO-Livingston
The Bigger Beam Splitter is fully assembled, cabled and in position and its active isolation system is balanced an ready for testing. @ LIGO - Livingston
Raising the clean room that sits on the Beam Splitter Chamber (BSC2), now that it is installed. It had been lowered for installation. Each leg has an actuator (that yellow thing behind the curtain) and is controlled by the box visible in front. @ LIGO - Livingston
Anamaria Effler and Gabriela González make empanadasaurs for the end of semester party of Gaby's LIGO group. @ LIGO - Livingston
Using the autolevel on the keel of the active isolation system (ISI) that holds the Bigger Beam Splitter @ LIGO - Livingston
www.routledge.com/Modelling-Pr... From my friend Hugo Fort.
Modeling Practical Problems in Complex Systems: Simulation, Forecasting, and Management
Complex systems—characterized by self-organization, emergence, and profound non-linearity—govern everything from global financial markets to ecological stability. Navigating this complexity requires a...
routledge.com
The optical sensor electromagnetic actuators for the Bigger Beam Splitter are known as qosems. Because they were built in Australia, the electronic chassis that takes their readout bears a koala. @ LIGO - Livingston
The online seminar I have been running every two weeks for the last 20 years (yes, I was running an online seminar in 2006!) will now become the official seminars of the International Society on Loop Quantum Gravity.
"The flight" of the Bigger Beam Splitter into its final position in the vertex of the interferometer. It is the first time in history an advanced interferometer had its beam splitter replaced. (Video credit: Michael F and Kwentin R).
