Related papers: Stringent requirements for detecting light-induced…
Gravitational waves potentially represent our only direct probe of the universe when it was less than one second old. In particular, first-order phase transitions in the early universe can generate a stochastic background of gravitational…
Gravitational waves provide a laboratory for general relativity and a window to energetic astrophysical phenomena invisible with electromagnetic radiation. Several terrestrial detectors are currently under construction, and a space-based…
Laser light with squeezed quantum uncertainty is a powerful tool for interferometric sensing. A routine application can be found in gravitational wave observatories. A significant quantum advantage is only achievable if a large fraction of…
We study possibilities of creation and detection of oscillating gravitational fields from lab-scale high energy, relativistic sources. The sources considered are high energy laser beams in an optical cavity and the ultra-relativistic proton…
Atom interferometers are powerful tools for both measurements in fundamental physics and inertial sensing applications. Their performance, however, has been limited by the available interrogation time of freely falling atoms in a…
We suggest an experiment to observe vacuum birefringence induced by intense laser fields. A high-intensity laser pulse is focused to ultra-relativistic intensity and polarizes the vacuum which then acts like a birefringent medium. The…
We demonstrate the potential of new adaptive optical technology to expand the detection horizon of gravitational-wave observatories. Achieving greater quantum-noise-limited sensitivity to spacetime strain hinges on achieving higher…
It is demonstrated that the nonlinear, and as yet unobserved, QED effect of slowing down light by application of a strong magnetic field may be observable with large laser interferometers like for instance LIGO or GEO600.
We describe an optical simulation program that models a complete, coupled-cavity interferometer like those used by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) Project. A wide variety of interferometer deformations can be…
Quantum effects of radiation pressure are expected to limit the sensitivity of second-generation gravitational-wave interferometers. Though ubiquitous, such effects are so weak that they haven't been experimentally demonstrated yet. Using a…
Gravitational waves have predominantly been detected using interferometric techniques, with standard approaches limited to 10 kHz and with modern advancements extending this bound to 300 kHz. To explore the largely uncharted…
We discuss the particle-physics discovery potential of ground-based gravitational-wave interferometers. With the use of pulsed magnetic fields, current and future gravitational-wave interferometers could not only be utilized to observe…
Recently, a static gravitational field, such as that of the Earth, was proposed as a new source of decoherence [1]. We study the conditions under which it becomes the dominant decoherence effect in typical interferometric experiments. The…
Since the first appearance of general relativity in 1916, various experiments have been conducted to test the theory. Due to the weakness of the interactions involved, all of the documented tests were carried out in a gravitational field…
I analyze the change of the interference pattern in an optical interferometer when it passes from rest to free fall. It is shown that the "disconnection" of the gravitational field causes a jump in the phase difference that could be…
LIGO's detection of gravitational waves marks a first step in measurable effects of general relativity on quantum matter. In its current operation, laser interferometer gravitational-wave detectors are already quantum limited at high…
We show that a laser beam can be diffracted by a more concentrated light pulse due to quantum vacuum effects. We compute analytically the intensity pattern in a realistic experimental configuration, and discuss how it can be used to measure…
This paper discusses new fundamental physics experiment that will test relativistic gravity at the accuracy better than the effects of the second order in the gravitational field strength, $\propto G^2$. The Laser Astrometric Test Of…
It has been proposed to study gravitational lenses from measurements of the spectrum of the fluctuations of the output current of a quadratic detector. The spatial correlation coefficient of the source is the fundamental parameter of the…
Gravitational wave emission is expected to arise from a variety of astrophysical phenomena. A new generation of detectors with sensitivity consistent with expectation from such sources is being developed. The Laser Interferometer…