What is the interferometric gravitational wave antenna TAMA300?

TAMA300 is an interferometer-type gravitational waves telescope with a baseline length of 300 meters, which was constructed at the Mitaka Campus of National Astronomical Observatory of Japan in 1995. As a first-generation gravitational waves telescope, TAMA300 was completed ahead of its predecessors in Europe and the United States, and achieved the world's highest sensitivity at the time, as well as the first long-term observation success as a large interferometer.

Although it is no longer serving as a gravitational wave telescope, development facilities of this scale are rare and valuable worldwide, and we are developing technologies for the Large-scale Cryogenic Gravitational Wave Telescope KAGRA and future gravitational wave telescopes. For example, we achieved the world's first demonstration of frequency-dependent squeezing (quantum optics technology) in the practical band in 2020.

TAMA300 will continue to develop cutting-edge interferometer technology in Joint Development Research with universities and research institutes in Japan and abroad.