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The binary neutron star merger GW170817 was a golden event for multi-messenger astronomy made possible by gravitational wave detection. It allowed us to gleam an insight into short gamma-ray bursts, jet formation and topology, and r-process nucleosynthesis - but information about the merger and post-merger phases still remains unbeknown to us. A gravitational wave detector with significantly improved sensitivity between 1 - 3 kHz would allow us to probe the exotic nuclear physics that govern the insides of neutron stars from their signature in the merger signal. The Australian gravitational wave detector concept NEMO builds on the 4 km long dual recycled Fabry-Perot Michelson design of the Advanced LIGO detectors but employs key upgrades to address the need for higher circulating laser power. Cryogenically cooled silicon test masses and suspensions, a longer laser wavelength, and a long signal recycling cavity are key changes that lead to a strain sensitivity comparable to third generation GW observatories in the frequency band from 1 to 3 kHz. This talk gives a general overview of gravitational wave detection, key technological concepts, the astrophysical motivation for a kHz-band detector, and discusses select implementation details for NEMO. |
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