Inaugural Lecture Guido Müller: The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA)

Since their first detection, gravitational waves (GW) have become a major part of current and future plans to study the universe. The current ground based observatories opened an observational channel which allows us to listen to GW from mergers between neutron stars and black holes up to about 100 solar masses. The first space-based observatory, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), will enable us to listen to the mHz gravitational wave band which is the natural frequency of GW sources involving a million solar mass black holes. LISA is currently passing through the first project phases and is expected to be adopted by ESA as its next L-class mission later this year with a launch anticipated in the mid 2030s. I will discuss the science case for LISA as well as the measurement principle and provide an overview of key technologies required for LISA.