=== Matt Evans - Status of LIGO and GEO ===

- Enhanced LIGO: higher power, new readout, factor x2 sensitivity
- Advanced LIGO: beat seismic wall, factor x10 sensitivity
- Nice picture of Galaxies within Advanced LIGO range (Richard Powell)

=== Leone Bosi - Status of the Virgo interferometer ===

- Noise improving, still 1e2 (ampl.) higher than design
- VSR 1 (Virgo Science Run)
- BNS horizon reaching 4 MPc
- Target: be online with Enhanced LIGO with matching sensitivity (Virgo+)

=== Nobuyuki Kanda - Status of the Japanese detectors ===

- TAMA now in active development
- LCGT/CLIO in Kamioka mine (CLIO is prototype)
- LCGT: criogenic (20 K), underground, large scale; sensitivity similar to Advanced LIGO
- Decigo conceptual design: Fabry-Perot, 1000 km baseline, 1m mirrors
- Decigo pathfinder selected for pre-phase-A; will test drag free, laser, clamp release 2012 target
- Nice Hokusai drawing of noise curve

=== Eugenio Coccia - Status of the resonant mass detectors ===

- IGEC2: Allegro, Auriga, Explorer, Nautilus

=== Tom Prince - LISA (soft "s") prior to decadal review of astronomy and astrophysics ===

- BEPAC: "On purely scientific grounds LISA is the mission that is the most promising and least scientifically risky. [Even with pessimistic assumptions about event rates, it should provide unambiguous and clean tests of the theory of general relativity in the strong field dynamical regime and be able to make detailed maps of space time near black holes.] Thus the committee gave LISA its highest scientific ranking."
- BEPAC: "An extraordinarily originally and technically bold mission."
- BEPAC charter... (Congress -> DOE -> NASA -> OSTP)
- BEPAC Report is impressive achievement; Kennel mentions "tension" and "consensus"; wording is careful
- Arguing LISA science: don't sell GWs as such, show they're important for fundamental physics and astrophysics
- Example: absolute distance determination through binaries
- MLDC as proof of data-analysis feasibility
- But: "more responsible technically and financially to propose a LISA new start after the Pathfinder results are taken into account." This is a license to wait for NASA. In fact NASA is cutting the U.S. budget in half
- Is LISA a $3.2B mission? Real dollars, high estimate for data analysis ($641M vs. $200M real dollars). In FY06 dollars, $1.6-2.0B
- Window of opportunity to advocate for LISA (ESA: Cosmic Vision selection; USA: Decadal Review)
- Advocacy actions: give colloquia and seminar talks; talk to physics and astronomy colleagues; get university magazine to do article; talk to congressional representatives; talk to NASA HQ
- Goal for advocacy: LISA can't wait for LISA Pathfinder results
- Talking points: BEPAC, many guaranteed sources, well-developed concept, flight systems exists

=== Neil Gehrels - GRB overview ===

- Short and long bursts: 0.01--2 and 10--1000 s
- Long bursts in distant star-forming galaxies, very luminous; beamed to 5 deg, 10^51 ergs. Accompanied by supernova, explained by collapsar model (gravitational infall on newly born BH)
- GRBs are small fraction of supernovae, but many underluminous GRBs fround recently
- Short bursts look like long bursts, just spread out in time
- Found in star-forming and non-star-forming galaxies, closer (<z> = 0.4 vs 2.3), less energetic, less beamed, no supernova detected, associated with old stellar populations, possible merger model
- Short GRB rate from BATSE is 250/yr; if half are within z = 0.25 and beaming is 10 deg and all are due to NS-NS mergers, NS-NS merger rate is 300 Gpc^-3 yr^-1; for LIGO detection range of 170 Mpc, LIGO detection rate would be 7/yr.
- Question about timescale for LIGO alerts: afterglows are hours to day; some ground-based detectors (RATSE) can slew in seconds; but good position is needed to search for afterglow; error box of 1 sq. deg needed

=== Nick Fotopoulos - GRB-triggered searches for inspiral signals in LIGO data ===

- GRBs: known time (unbiased background from off-source segment, stronger statistical statement) and known direction (tighter coincidence and lower threshold -> farther detection horizon)
- Also, external trigger would help plausibility of detection; coincident observation will tell us more about the source
- GRB 070201: error box overlapped with arms of M31 (770 kpc); ruled out with 99% confidence
- In S5, 21 short GRBs with off-source data in at least two LIGO instruments