*ITAMP Lunch Seminar** * *Speaker:* Swati Singh (Williams College) *Date:* Thursday, November 17th *Time:* 12:00-1:30 pm Pizza will be served. *Title: *Detecting continuous gravitational waves with superfluid helium *Abstract: *When properly engineered, simple quantum systems such as harmonic oscillators or spins can be excellent detectors of feeble forces and fields. Following a general introduction to this fast growing area of research I will focus on a proposal to use the acoustic modes of superfluid helium parametrically coupled to a superconducting microwave cavity to detect gravitational waves. This narrowband detection scheme can operate at very high Q-factors, while the resonant frequency is tunable through pressurization of the helium in the 0.1-1.5 kHz range. The detector can therefore be tuned to a variety of astrophysical sources and can remain sensitive to a particular source over a long period of time. We estimate that for reasonable experimental parameters the gravitational metric strain fields from nearby pulsars could be detected in a few months of integration time. *Location:* B-106 @ Center for Astrophysics (60 Garden Street) Directions: After entering the lobby of the CfA, turn right to enter the hallway of the B building. In the hallway, turn right again, and B-106 is there at the end of the hallway on the left side. -- Stefan Pabst ITAMP Postdoc Alexander von Humboldt Fellow Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics 60 Garden Street Cambridge, MA 02138, USA phone: +1-617-495-7239 fax: +1-617-496-7668 email: stefan.pabst(a)cfa.harvard.edu website: www.stefanpabst.name