Design of gravitational antennae for use at 3 m°K

Abstract

The design, construction, and testing of a gravitational antenna for use at 3 m°K is discussed. New developments include the ’’weak spring ring’’ and ’’resonant ring’’ mounting systems, and a highly sensitive magnetic detector with remotely controlled continuously variable coupling to the antenna. For a prototype aluminum antenna a value of Q=4×10⁶ was obtained at 4.2 °K and calculations predict a sensitivity sufficient to detect thermal oscillations at 3 m°K.