The LIGO – Virgo – KAGRA gravitational wave community meeting in Italy again after 15 years

This week (9-13 March) the global gravitational wave community conference, the LIGO – Virgo – KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration Meeting, is taking place in Pisa. 400 scientists from around the world are meeting to discuss the latest results in this field and the scientific and technological prospects of gravitational astronomy.

The global conference of scientists studying gravitational waves, the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration Meeting, returns to Italy for the first time since 2015. The conference brings together hundreds of researchers from the only four large experiments on the planet capable of detecting these extraordinary cosmic signals: the two LIGO detectors in the United States, Virgo in Italy and KAGRA in Japan.

Just a few kilometres away from the Virgo site, at the Pala Todisco in San Giuliano Terme, near Pisa, four hundred participants from all over the world have been meeting since last Monday. They are discussing the latest developments in their research: from the more experimental aspects relating to interferometers and their improvement, to the more astrophysical aspects linked to data analysis and interpretation, and also other topics such as management, computing and outreach.

The conference is organised by the European Gravitational Observatory (EGO), home of Virgo, in collaboration with the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) and the University of Pisa, with the support of the Municipality of Pisa. It will end on Friday with a visit to Virgo. Today, INFN President Antonio Zoccoli and Mayor of Pisa Michele Conti gave a welcome speech at the start of the conference.

“Events such as the LVK conference taking place this week demonstrate how the research infrastructure of the European Gravitational Observatory and Virgo is at the centre of a network of connections and collaborations involving thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions and universities around the world, in addition to the exceptional system of academic and research institutions in the Pisa area. It is this great capacity for cooperation that allows cutting-edge research to overcome the limitations of existing technologies and become an extraordinary driver of innovation and a robust bridge between the local and global dimensions. This is clearly of inestimable value for the region of Tuscany and for the entire country,” said Massimo Carpinelli, director of the European Gravitational Observatory and professor at the University of Milan Bicocca.

“It is a great pleasure to welcome the world conference of the gravitational wave community back to Italy, to Pisa. Italy has always played a prominent role in research in this field, as demonstrated by the decisive contribution of the Virgo experiment (founded by INFN and CNRS more than 30 years ago) to the discovery of gravitational waves and the recent results of the new gravitational and multi-messenger astronomy, of which we at INFN are proud. The strength of this international community makes us look with confidence to the future of the next major European gravitational wave observatory, the Einstein Telescope, which Italy is a candidate to host in Sardinia,” said Antonio Zoccoli, President of the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics.

“Hosting the LIGO – Virgo – KAGRA Collaboration Meeting in Pisa is a source of great pride for us,” said Gianluca Gemme, spokesperson for the Virgo Collaboration and researcher at INFN. “We are just a few kilometres from the Virgo interferometer, where researchers from many, mostly European, countries work every day to listen to the universe through gravitational waves. This week, we are bringing together scientists from five continents, because great discoveries come from cooperation, and none of our detectors alone could have opened up the new field of multi-messenger astronomy. At a time when international collaborations are being put to the test, events like this remind us that science knows no boundaries. Mutual trust and knowledge sharing are investments that yield discoveries — and that no nation can afford to cut back on.”

 “The presence of an international conference of this magnitude in our area demonstrates once again how Pisa is a city with a particular vocation for science and research, thanks to the presence of a unique infrastructure such as the European Gravitational Observatory, but also, of course, one of the oldest universities in the world and other institutions and schools of excellence. We hope to welcome the international guests of the conference in the best possible way and that during their stay they will also have the opportunity to discover and learn about the beauty of our territory and the historical and artistic richness of its cultural heritage,” said the Mayor of Pisa, Michele Conti.

After all, a major international scientific conference is not only an opportunity to work together in person, but also to strengthen the human relationships that underpin any collective endeavour, especially one as complex as this.

The conference’s social activities will allow participants to discover Tuscany and the city of Pisa, with their extraordinary cultural offerings: among others, a guided tour of the Museum of Ancient Ships, the exhibition ‘Ligabue. Il ruggito dell’anima’ (Ligabue. The Roar of the Soul) at the Arsenali Repubblicani, and a concert by the Orchestra della Toscana at the Teatro Verdi organised by the Scuola Normale Superiore.