Scientists have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) program that can design gravitational wave detectors outperforming those made by humans, potentially revolutionizing our ability to "hear" signals from across the universe. Gravitational waves are ripples in spacetime caused by catastrophic events such as merging black holes. These waves are detected using enormous L-shaped devices called interferometers, which measure minuscule changes in spacetime as these waves pass Earth. Existing detectors like LIGO and Virgo have been successful, but a new study suggests that there remains an "unimaginably large" unexplored range of experimental designs that humans have yet to discover.
This vast unexplored design space offers an excellent opportunity for AI to rapidly generate novel and efficient detector configurations far beyond human capabilities, opening fresh pathways to listen to cosmic events in unprecedented ways, the researchers state.
One AI-driven algorithm called Urania recently identified 50 innovative detector designs that surpass the best blueprints created by human experts. According to the study, these new designs could increase the observable volume of the universe by a factor of 50 — an improvement likened to going from hearing whispers in a nearby room to conversations spanning an entire city.
Mario Krenn, the study’s lead author and a quantum physicist at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Germany, explained: “We are entering an era where machines discover super-human scientific solutions, and it is our task to understand the innovations they produce. This will be a major part of science’s future.”
Urania’s AI-generated detectors cover a wide frequency range, from 10 Hz to 5000 Hz, allowing them to detect gravitational signals from a variety of cosmic phenomena including black hole mergers from the universe’s earliest stars. Understanding these events could shed light on mysterious "dark sirens" and improve measurements of the Hubble constant, which quantifies the universe’s expansion rate.
One AI-designed detector notably enhances sensitivity to gravitational waves from supernova explosions by 1.6 times compared to LIGO’s forthcoming Voyager upgrade, potentially increasing the number of detectable events by up to four times by capturing fainter, more distant signals.
Another detector design excels at identifying early stages of binary neutron star mergers, enabling advance warning so telescopes can observe their associated electromagnetic emissions and gather richer data. These detectors could also capture post-merger gravitational waves, which carry crucial information about the ultra-dense matter inside neutron stars, potentially revealing exotic states of matter and deepening our understanding of fundamental physics in extreme environments.
The researchers emphasize that their AI-driven approach could inspire innovations in other scientific domains, aiding the design of next-generation precision instruments to explore the universe in ways currently unimaginable.
The team has published a “gravitational wave detector zoo,” a collection of the 50 top designs generated by Urania, aiming to inspire novel approaches for future detectors. Some of these AI-designed configurations might be incorporated as upgrades to existing gravitational wave observatories after successful testing.
This breakthrough research was published on April 11 in the journal Physical Review X.