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An experiment to measure the speed of gravitational signals in short distances has been developed with the intention to study its behavior when a medium different from air is allocated between the emitter and the detection and check if the speed of the interaction changes. The experiment is composed of three sapphire bars that vibrates, and as they vibrate its creates a tidal gravitational wave signal that interacts with another sapphire bar, this bar is monitored by a very pure microwave signal and its amplitude and phase are measured and the gravity speed is calculated, all system is cooled to a temperature of 4.2 K to increase sensitivity and kept in high vacuum. The sapphire bar needs to be suspended to avoid seismic noise and other interference. This work models the sapphire bar with the suspension, a wire that suspends the bar by its center and has its performance calculated in a finite element modelling. The final result shows that the mechanical behavior of the sapphire bar is not affected by the suspension.

The resonant-mass gravitational wave detector SCHENBERG is a spherical detector that operates with a central frequency close to 3200 Hz and a bandwidth around 200 Hz. It has a spherical mass that works as an antenna whose weight is 1150 kg and is connected to the outer environment by a suspension system designed to attenuate local noise due to seism as well as other sources; the sphere is suspended by its center of mass. When a gravitational wave passes by the detector, the antenna is expected to vibrate. This motion should be monitored by six parametric microwave transducers whose output signals will be digitally analyzed. In order to determine the detector performance better, it is necessary to obtain the vibration frequencies of the sphere with a better precision. To achieve such a goal the sphere with the holes to mount the transducers and the central hole from which the sphere is suspended is simulated in a finite element method program when the gravity is applied to the sphere and the deformation is kept. After that the vibration normal modes of the sphere are calculated and they are compared to the experimental results.

Interferometric gravitational wave detectors (IGWD) are a very complex detector, the need to lock the detector in a dark fringe condition besides the vibrations that affect the mirrors, creates the necessity of using active suspension systems. These active systems make the system reach the desired sensitivity but make the calibration of such detectors much more difficult. To solve this problem a calibrator is proposed, a resonant mass gravitational wave detector could be used to detect the same signal in a narrower band and use the measured amplitude to calibrate the IGWD, as resonant mass gravitational wave detectors are easily calibrated. This work aims to obtain the expected sensitivity of such a calibrator by using lumped modelling in such mechanical detectors. The calibrator is modelled as a spring mass system and the sensitivity curve is presented calculated in by a matlab program. The curve shows that using state of art parameters for the detector the final sensitivity is close to the quantum limit and can be used to calibrate the IGWDs.

Interferometric gravitational wave detectors (IGWD) are a very complex detector, the need to lock the detector in a dark fringe condition besides the vibrations that affect the mirrors, creates the necessity of using active suspension systems. These active systems make the system reach the desired sensitivity but make the calibration of such detectors much more difficult. To solve this problem a calibrator is proposed, a resonant mass gravitational wave detector could be used to detect the same signal in a narrower band and use the measured amplitude to calibrate the IGWD, as resonant mass gravitational wave detectors are easily calibrated. This work aims to design the mechanical antenna of such a calibrator. The main difficulty is to design the calibrator is the frequencies required to make the detection. These massive detectors usually were made in frequencies close to 1 kHz and the frequency range to operate for better sensitivity is around 100 Hz. The antenna is modelled in finite elements method and a design of such an antenna is presented.

Laser Interferometers Gravitational Wave detectors have more than 100 active attenuator systems, the normal methods for calibration seems to not work properly. This work aims to model a calibrator for this detector in the form of a resonant-mass Nb gravitational detector thar has the same sensitivity of LIGO detector bur operating in a narrow band. This detector will detect the same gravitational wave and use this signal to calibrate LIGO. A simulation in a lumped model is made and it shows that the calibration is achievable.

In order to investigate the behavior of gravitational signals while travelling through a medium an experiment was designed, aimed at measuring the speed of these signals over short distances. The experiment contains 2 sapphire devices that behave as a detector, which are suspended in vacuum and cooled down to 4.2 K. The amplitude of the detecting device is measured by an ultralow, phase-noise microwave signal that uses resonance in the whispering gallery modes. Since sapphire has a quite high mechanical Q, the detection band is expected to be small, thus reducing the detection sensitivity. A new shape for the detecting device is presented in this work, yielding a detection band of several hundred Hertz. With the aid of a Finite Element Program the normal mode frequencies of the detector are determined.

The unstable nuclei 62Ge and 64Ge are analyzed in terms of the α + core structure applying a nuclear potential with (1 + Gaussian)×(W.S. + W.S.3) shape. The ground state bands of 62Ge and 64Ge and first negative parity band of 64Ge are calculated and compared with experimental data. The calculated 64Ge ground state band gives a good account of the experimental energies from 0+ to 8+ state. The rms intercluster separations and B(E2) transition rates are obtained for the 64Ge ground state band and a discussion is presented.

The present work analyzes the α + core structure in 104Te using the local potential model. The α + core interaction is described by a nuclear potential of (1 + Gaussian)×(W.S. + W.S.3) shape. The energy levels, total α widths and rms intercluster separations are determined for the ground state band and compared with a previous calculation which uses a double-folding potential. The two potential forms produce similar spectra between the 0+ and 14+ states. The antistretching effect is predicted for the 104Te ground state band, as is observed in previous α + core calculations in intermediate mass nuclei. An α-decay half-life T1/2,α ≈ 3 ns is predicted for 104Te in the α-decay energy Qα ≈ 5.36 MeV using an α preformation factor P = 1. The calculated T1/2,α value is compatible with the recently reported experimental result on α-decay of 104Te.

Here we present a status report of the Schenberg antenna. In the past three years it has gone to a radical upgrading operation, in which we have been installing a 1K pot dilution refrigerator, cabling and amplifiers for nine transducer circuits, designing a new suspension and vibration isolation system for the microstrip antennas, and developing a full set of new transducers, microstrip antennas, and oscillators. We are also studying an innovative approach, which could transform Schenberg into a broadband gravitational wave detector.

Technologies, design aspects and recent progresses for future gravitational wave (GW) detectors are mentioned in this summary of the C4 session of the Amaldi 10 conference.