Spheres - Omni-directional multi-mode gravitational-wave antennas for the next generation

The construction of a massive (~ 40 ton) spherical antennas for gravitational wave astronomy has been proposed by a number of groups worldwide. Summed over all five quadrupole modes, the sphere has a direction-independent cross section, permitting full-sky coverage. Combined with its enhanced sensitivity due to its multi-nature and increased mass, sphereical detectors make ideal instruments for observational astronomy. Numerical calculations have shown that gravitational-wave signals from coalescing neutron star binaries and dynamic instabilities of rapidly rotating stars in the Virgo cluster can be resolved with a spherical antenna with a near quantum-limited sensitivity.