Since 1978 superconducting coupled cavities have been proposed as sensitive
detector of gravitational waves. The interaction of the gravitational wave with
the cavity walls, and the resulting motion, induces the transition of some
electromagnetic energy from an initially excited cavity mode to an empty one.
The energy transfer is maximum when the frequency of the wave is equal to the
frequency difference of the two cavity modes. In this paper the basic
principles of the detector are discussed. The interaction of a gravitational
wave with the cavity walls is studied in the proper reference frame of the
detector, and the coupling between two electromagnetic normal modes induced by
the wall motion is analyzed in detail. Noise sources are also considered; in
particular the noise coming from the brownian motion of the cavity walls is
analyzed. Some ideas for the developement of a realistic detector of
gravitational waves are discussed; the outline of a possible detector design
and its expected sensitivity are also shown.Comment: 29 pages, 12 eps figures. Typeset by REVTe
