Speaker
Description
Current generation Gravitational Wave detectors are sensitive to mergers >20Hz, limited by ground motion and inertial sensing noise. To expand the range to lower frequencies we have developed and demonstrated a range of UHV compatible inertial isolation and position sensing technologies that permit active platform stabilization down to 10mHz in 6 DOF. These technologies are:
- Laser-position sensors (LPS) which reach sub-pm/$\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ sensitivity >10mHz, a 100-fold improvement over current LIGO position sensors.
- 1D leaf-spring seismometers, which offer at least a 5-fold improvement in <1Hz sensitivity compared to state-of-the-art commercial seismometers.
- Our 6D sensor, a suspended fused silica mass, which when sensed with LPS obtains tilt-sensitivity a factor of 30 better than commercial offerings.
These technologies allow us to achieve a world-leading level of platform suppression.
By integrating our devices into a LIGO-like interferometer model, we predict an order of magnitude low-frequency strain-sensitivity improvement at 10Hz, enhanced linearity and calibration stability, increasing the detection horizon for intermediate-mass black hole binaries of mass $10^3\text{M}_\odot$ by a factor of 3. This provides the first experimental demonstration of a practical pathway to sub-10Hz operation of terrestrial GW detectors and establishes key technologies for next-generation observatories like Cosmic Explorer and the Einstein Telescope.