Inertial control of the mirror suspensions of the VIRGO interferometer for gravitational wave detection

Abstract

In order to achieve full detection sensitivity at low frequencies, the mirrors of interferometric gravitational wave detectors must be isolated from seismic noise. The VIRGO vibration isolator, called 'superattenuator', is fully effective at frequencies above 4 Hz. Nevertheless, the residual motion of the mirror at the mechanical resonant frequencies of the system are too large for the interferometer locking system and must be damped. A multidimensional feedback system, using inertial sensors and digital processing, has been designed for this purpose. An experimental procedure for determining the feedback control of the system has been defined. In this paper a full description of the system is given and experimental results are presented.

arXiv comment17 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication on Review of Scientific Instruments

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Advanced Virgo: a 2nd generation interferometric gravitational wave detector
• Seismic isolation of Advanced LIGO: Review of strategy, instrumentation and performance
• $\mathtt{bajes}$: Bayesian inference of multimessenger astrophysical data, methods and application to gravitational-waves
• Displacement power spectrum measurement of a macroscopic optomechanical system at thermal equilibrium