Gravitational waves are expected from many different astrophysical sources:
brief transients from violent events like supernova explosions and collisions
of neutron stars and black holes, coalescence of compact binary systems,
continuous waves from rotating systems, and stochastic signals from
cosmological origin or unresolved transients. The LIGO gravitational wave
detectors have achieved unprecedented sensitivity to gravitational waves, and
future upgrades promise to open a window to a new observational science. I
will describe the present status of the detectors, describe the results
obtained from the data taken already, and discuss the possibilities for the
near future.
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