Gravitation Waves

We will present a brief introduction to the physics of gravitational waves and their properties. We will review potential astrophysical sources of gravitational waves, and the physics and astrophysics that can be learned from their study. We will survey the techniques and technologies for detecting gravitational waves for the first time, including bar detectors and broadband interferometers, and give a brief status report on the international search effort, with special emphasis on the LIGO detectors and search results.