Related papers: Current status of the CLIO project
Gravitational wave astronomy has now left its infancy and has become an important tool for probing the most violent phenomena in our universe. The LIGO/Virgo-KAGRA collaboration operates ground based detectors which cover the frequency band…
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.…
Reduction of thermal noise in dielectric mirror coatings is a key issue for the sensitivity improvement in second and third generation interferometric gravitational wave detectors. Replacing an end mirror of the interferometer by an…
In-vacuo cryogenic environments are ideal for applications requiring both low temperatures and extremely low particle densities. This enables reaching long storage and coherence times for example in ion traps, essential requirements for…
We introduce a concept that uses detuned arm cavities to increase the shot noise limited sensitivity of LIGO without increasing the light power inside the arm cavities. Numerical simulations show an increased sensitivity between 125 and 400…
The cryogenic sapphire oscillator (CSO) is a highly specialized machine, which delivers a reference signal exhibiting the lowest frequency fluctuations. For the best units, the Allan deviation (ADEV) is <1e-15 for integration time between 1…
The recent detections of gravitational waves (GWs) reported by LIGO/Virgo collaborations have made significant impact on physics and astronomy. A global network of GW detectors will play a key role to solve the unknown nature of the sources…
KAGRA is a new gravitational wave detector which aims to begin joint observation with Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo from late 2019. Here, we present KAGRA's possible upgrade plans to improve the sensitivity in the decade ahead. Unlike…
Precision measurements of space and time, like those made by the detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO), are often confronted with fundamental limitations imposed by quantum mechanics. The Heisenberg…
We present the design and implementation of a mechanical low-pass filter vibration isolation used to reduce the vibrational noise in a cryogen-free dilution refrigerator operated at 10 mK, intended for scanning probe techniques. We discuss…
Interferometric gravitational wave antennas are based on Michelson interferometers whose sensitivity to small differential length changes has been enhanced by adding multiple coupled optical resonators. The use of optical cavities is…
The two 4 km long gravitational wave detectors operated by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) were modified in 2008 to read out the gravitational wave channel using the DC readout form of homodyne detection and…
Monitoring motion originating from ultra low-temperature cooling systems like cryocoolers is important for vibration sensitive cryogenic experiments like KAGRA. Since no commercial cryogenic accelerometers are available, we developed a…
The first detection of gravitational waves by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) in 2015 launched the era of gravitational wave astronomy. The quest for gravitational wave signals from objects that are fainter or…
To meet the strain sensitivity requirements [1], [2] of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO), the laser frequency and amplitude noise must initially be reduced by a factor of 1000 in the pre-stabilized portion of…
KAGRA is the first km-scale gravitational wave detector to be constructed underground and employ cryogenics to cool down its test masses. While the underground location provides a quiet site with low seismic noise, the cooling…
In the baseline design for advanced LIGO interferometers, the most serious noise source is tiny, dynamically fluctuating bumps and valleys on the faces of the arm-cavity mirrors, caused by random flow of heat in the mirrors' sapphire…
Mechanical loss of dielectric mirror coatings sets fundamental limits for both gravitational wave detectors and cavity-stabilized optical local oscillators for atomic clocks. Two approaches are used to determine the mechanical loss:…
KAGRA is a 3-km interferometric gravitational wave telescope located in the Kamioka mine in Japan. It is the first km-class gravitational wave telescope constructed underground to reduce seismic noise, and the first km-class telescope to…
We describe the angular sensing and control of the 4 km detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). The culmination of first generation LIGO detectors, Enhanced LIGO operated between 2009 and 2010 with about…