I. Interaction of gravitational waves with matter. II. The design and construction of a cryogenic gravitational wave detector

The interaction of gravitational waves with elastic matter is treated in detail in part 1. In particular, gravitationally induced modifications of the Coulomb interaction are examined. The results are related to previous analyses. The electromagnetic radiation induced by a gravitational wave incident on a point charge and static point dipole is calculated and the astrophysical significance of this process discussed. Existing and proposed gravitational radiation detectors are discussed and theory of the mass quadrupole detector reviewed. Finally, a laboratory experiment designed to detect the non-Newtonian structure of the gravitational field is proposed. The design and operation of the cryogenic system of a low temperature gravity wave detector is discussed in part 2. A unique feature of this system is the magnetic levitation of the gravity wave antenna. This system is discussed in detail. An experimental investigation of the behavior of type II superconducting magnet shields was undertaken and the results are reported. Important noise sources for the gravity wave detector are discussed and an optimum method of linear filtering developed. A description is given of a signal processing system designed to identify short kilocycle pulses of gravitational radiation. Finally, the results of preliminary experiments with the Stanford cryogenic gravity wave detector are reported