NETWORKS OF RESONANT GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE ANTENNAS

There are many reasons, other than that of excluding local disturbances, for using more gravitational antennas at the same time. In fact a network of resonant antennas allows the detection of radiation coming from any direction and in any polarization state (sky coverage problem). the estimate of some parameters of the source (information gain). the verification of the predictions of general relativity regarding the features of gravitational waves (e.g. their propagation velocity, their quadrupole nature etc.) and the existence of celestial objects which cannot be observed other than through the gravitational effects they produce (e.g. black holes). the enhancement of the noise rejection capability of the instrument thus enhancing its sensitivity (network filtering). Regarding this feature, some very interesting characteristics are exhibited by local networks of equal antennas (gravitational arrays). In this paper the major issues related to these problems will be presented and discussed and the experimental and theoretical results will briefly be reviewed. Some new ideas will also be introduced.