Demonstration of a next-generation wavefront actuator for gravitational-wave detection

Abstract

In the last decade, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and the European Virgo observatory have opened a new observational window on the universe. These cavity-enhanced laser interferometers sense spacetime strain, generated by distant astrophysical events such as black hole mergers, to an RMS fluctuation of a few parts in $10^{21}$ over a multi-kilometer baseline. Optical advancements in laser wavefront control are key to advancing the sensitivity of current detectors and enabling a planned next-generation 40-km gravitational wave observatory in the United States, known as Cosmic Explorer. We report the first experimental demonstration of a new wavefront control technique for gravitational-wave detection, obtained from testing a full-scale prototype on a 40-kg LIGO mirror. Our results indicate that this design can meet the unique and challenging requirements of providing higher-order precision wavefront corrections at megawatt laser power levels, while introducing extremely low effective displacement noise into the interferometer. This new technology will have a direct and enabling impact on the observational science, expanding the gravitational-wave detection horizon to very early times in the universe, before the first stars formed, and enabling new tests of gravity, cosmology, and dense nuclear matter.

9 pages, 11 figures

References in corpus (18)

• Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger
• A Comprehensive Measurement of the Local Value of the Hubble Constant with 1 km/s/Mpc Uncertainty from the Hubble Space Telescope and the SH0ES Team
• The Sensitivity of the Advanced LIGO Detectors at the Beginning of Gravitational Wave Astronomy
• A 2 per cent Hubble constant measurement from standard sirens within 5 years
• Sensitivity and Performance of the Advanced LIGO Detectors in the Third Observing Run
• The observational evidence for horizons: from echoes to precision gravitational-wave physics
• Tests for the existence of horizons through gravitational wave echoes
• The fuzzball proposal for black holes
• Resonant Shattering of Neutron Star Crusts
• Seismic isolation of Advanced LIGO: Review of strategy, instrumentation and performance
• A Future Percent-Level Measurement of the Hubble Expansion at Redshift 0.8 With Advanced LIGO
• A Horizon Study for Cosmic Explorer: Science, Observatories, and Community
• Overview of Advanced LIGO Adaptive Optics
• LIGOs Quantum Response to Squeezed States
• Point absorbers in Advanced LIGO
• The Holometer: An Instrument to Probe Planckian Quantum Geometry
• Quantum hair of black holes out of equilibrium
• Matrix Heater in the Gravitational Wave Observatory GEO 600

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Thermal Deformation Reduction in High-Power Interferometry with Higher-Order Laser Modes