Enhancing the sensitivity of the LIGO gravitational wave detector by using squeezed states of light

Document #:

LIGO-P1200041-v19

Document type:

P - Publications

Abstract:

Nearly a century after Einstein first predicted the existence of gravitational waves, a global network of earth-based gravitational wave observatories is seeking to directly detect this faint radiation using precision laser interferometry. Photon shot noise, due to the quantum nature of light, imposes a fundamental limit on the attometer level sensitivity of the kilometer-scale Michelson interferometers deployed for this task. Here we inject squeezed states to improve the performance of one of the detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) beyond the quantum noise limit, most notably in the frequency region down to 150 Hz, critically important for several astrophysical sources, with no deterioration of performance observed at any frequency. With the injection of squeezed states, this LIGO detector demonstrated the best broadband sensitivity to gravitational waves ever achieved, with important implications for observing the gravitational wave Universe with unprecedented sensitivity.

Files in Document:

• [PDF] P1200041_v19.pdf (P1200041_v19.pdf, 566.6 kB)

Other Files:

• [PDF] MIT waiver (MITwaiver.pdf, 50.5 kB)
• [PDF] Supplementary Material (SupplMat_v3.pdf, 316.1 kB)
• [TEX] P1200041_v19.tex (P1200041_v19.tex, 52.1 kB)
• [ZIP] TEX and figures of Supplementary Material (SuppMat_v3.zip, 212.8 kB)
• [ZIP] Zipped file of PDF figures (Figures.zip, 257.9 kB)

Topics:

• Squeezer
• Basic R&D

Author Groups:

• LSC

Notes and Changes:

Final version for Nature Photonics, after final comments from Stan, Peter and Roman.

The only change to the paper is a sentence following up on Roman's comment about the increased light power between eLIGO and aLIGO.

" significant upgrade, known as Advanced LIGO~\cite{aLIGO2010}, is currently underway with the goal of increasing the strain sensitivity of the LIGO detectors by a factor of 10. An important element of the improved sensitivity is the increased light power. "

Referenced by:

Publication Information:

Nature Photonics 7 (2013) 613:
http://www.nature.com/nphoton/journal/v7/n8/abs/nphoton.2013.177.html

Public outreach science summary:
http://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-SqueezedVacuum/index.php