Design of a speed meter interferometer proof-of-principle experiment

Gräf, C. et al. (2014) Design of a speed meter interferometer proof-of-principle experiment. Classical and Quantum Gravity, 31(21), p. 215009. (doi: 10.1088/0264-9381/31/21/215009)

Abstract

The second generation of large scale interferometric gravitational wave (GW) detectors will be limited by quantum noise over a wide frequency range in their detection band. Further sensitivity improvements for future upgrades or new detectors beyond the second generation motivate the development of measurement schemes to mitigate the impact of quantum noise in these instruments. Two strands of development are being pursued to reach this goal, focusing both on modifications of the well-established Michelson detector configuration and development of different detector topologies. In this paper, we present the design of the worldʼs first Sagnac speed meter (SSM) interferometer, which is currently being constructed at the University of Glasgow. With this proof-of-principle experiment we aim to demonstrate the theoretically predicted lower quantum noise in a Sagnac interferometer compared to an equivalent Michelson interferometer, to qualify SSM for further research towards an implementation in a future generation large scale GW detector, such as the planned Einstein telescope observatory.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Bell, Dr Angus and Hammond, Professor Giles and Hild, Professor Stefan and Barr, Dr Bryan and Sorazu Lucio, Dr Borja and Leavey, Mr Sean and Houston, Mr Ewan and Rigby, Mr Stewart and Graef, Dr Christian and Cumming, Dr Alan and Steinlechner, Dr Sebastian and Huttner, Dr Sabina and Strain, Professor Kenneth and Jones, Mr Russell
• Authors: Gräf, C., Barr, B. W., Bell, A. S., Campbell, F., Cumming, A. V., Danilishin, S. L., Gordon, N. A., Hammond, G. D., Hennig, J., Houston, E. A., Huttner, S. H., Jones, R. A., Leavey, S.S., Lück, H., Macarthur, J., Marwick, M., Rigby, S., Schilling, R., Sorazu, B., Spencer, A., Steinlechner, S., Strain, K. A., and Hild, S.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy
• Research Centre: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy > Institute for Gravitational Research
• Journal Name: Classical and Quantum Gravity
• Publisher: IOP Publishing
• ISSN: 0264-9381
• ISSN (Online): 1361-6382
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2014 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Classical and Quantum Gravity 31(21):215009
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License