Resonant mode for gravitational wave detectors based on atom interferometry
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Earth-based gravitational wave detectors suffer from the need to support the large antenna masses against the earth's gravity without transmitting a significant amount of seismic noise. Passive vibration isolation is difficult to achieve below 1 Hz on the earth. Vibration-free space environment thus gives an opportunity to extend the frequency window of gravitational wave detection to ultralow frequencies. The weightless condition of a space laboratory also enables construction of a highly symmetric multimode antenna which is capable of resolving the direction of the source and the polarization of the incoming wave without resorting to multiantenna coincidence. Two types of earth-orbiting resonant-mass gravitational wave detectors are considered. One is a skyhook gravitational wave detector, proposed by Braginsky and Thorne (1985). The other is a spherical detector, proposed by Forward (1971) and analyzed by Wagoner and Paik (1976).
Cosmological gravitational-wave backgrounds are an exciting science target for next-generation ground-based detectors, as they encode invaluable information about the primordial Universe. However, any such background is expected to be obscured by the astrophysical foreground from compact-binary coalescences. We propose a novel framework to detect a cosmological gravitational-wave background in the presence of binary black holes and binary neutron star signals with next-generation ground-based detectors, including Cosmic Explorer and the Einstein Telescope. Our procedure involves first removing all the individually resolved binary black hole signals by notching them out in the time-frequency domain. Then, we perform joint Bayesian inference on the individually resolved binary neutron star signals, the unresolved binary neutron star foreground, and the cosmological background. For a flat cosmological background, we find that we can claim detection at 5𝜎 level when Ω ref ≥ 2.7 × 10 −12 /$\sqrt{𝑇_{obs}/yr}$, where 𝑇 obs is the observation time (in years), which is within a factor of ≲ 2 from the sensitivity reached in the absence of these astrophysical foregrounds.
Space-based gravitational wave detectors are conceived to detect gravitational waves in the low frequency range by measuring the distance between proof masses in spacecraft separated by millions of kilometers. One of the key elements is the telescope which has to have a dimensional stability better than 1 pm Hz(exp −1/2) at 3 mHz. In addition, the telescope structure must be light, strong, and stiff. For this reason a potential telescope structure consisting of a silicon carbide quadpod has been designed, constructed, and tested. We present dimensional stability results meeting the requirements at room temperature. Results at −60 C are also shown although the requirements are not met due to temperature fluctuations in the setup.
The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) consists of two identical yet independent, widely separated, long-baseline gravitational-wave detectors. Each Advanced LIGO detector consists of complex optical-mechanical systems isolated from the ground by multiple layers of active seismic isolation, all controlled by hundreds of fast, digital, feedback control systems. This article describes a novel state machine-based automation platform developed to handle the automation and supervisory control challenges of these detectors. The platform, called Guardian, consists of distributed, independent, state machine automaton nodes organized hierarchically for full detector control. User code is written in standard Python and the platform is designed to facilitate the fast-paced development process associated with commissioning the complicated Advanced LIGO instruments. While developed specifically for the Advanced LIGO detectors, Guardian is a generic state machine automation platform that is useful for experimental control at all levels, from simple table-top setups to large-scale multi-million dollar facilities.
Future space borne gravitational wave detectors will require a precise definition of calibration signals to ensure the achievement of their design sensitivity. The careful design of the test signals plays a key role in the correct understanding and characterization of these instruments. In that sense, methods achieving optimal experiment designs must be considered as complementary to the parameter estimation methods being used to determine the parameters describing the system. The relevance of experiment design is particularly significant for the LISA Pathfinder mission, which will spend most of its operation time performing experiments to characterize key technologies for future space borne gravitational wave observatories. Here we propose a framework to derive the optimal signals in terms of minimum parameter uncertainty to be injected to these instruments during its calibration phase. We compare our results with an alternative numerical algorithm which achieves an optimal input signal by iteratively improving an initial guess. We show agreement of both approaches when applied to the LISA Pathfinder case.
When a gravitational wave (GW) passes through a dc magnetic field, it couples to the conducting wires carrying the currents which generate the magnetic field, causing them to oscillate at the GW frequency. The oscillating currents then generate an ac component through which the GW can be detected-thus forming a resonant mass detector or a nagnetic Weber bar. We quantify this claim and demonstrate that magnets can have exceptional sensitivity to GWs over a frequency range demarcated by the mechanical and electromagnetic resonant frequencies of the system; indeed, we outline why a magnetic readout strategy can be considered an optimal Weber bar design. The concept is applicable to a broad class of magnets, but can be particularly well exploited by the powerful magnets being deployed in search of axion dark matter, for example, by DMRadio and ADMX-EFR. Explicitly, we demonstrate that the MRI magnet that is being deployed for ADMX-EFR can achieve a broadband GW strain sensitivity of ∼10^{-20}/sqrt[Hz] from a few kHz to about 10 MHz, with a peak sensitivity down to ∼10^{-22}/sqrt[Hz] at a kHz exploiting a mechanical resonance.
Stochastic gravitational-wave backgrounds can be of either cosmological or astrophysical origin. The detection of an astrophysical stochastic gravitational-wave background with ground-based interferometers is expected in the near future. Perhaps even more excitingly, the detection of stochastic backgrounds of cosmological origin by future ground-based interferometers could reveal invaluable information about the early Universe. From this perspective, the astrophysical background is a foreground that can prevent the extraction of this information from the data. In this paper, we revisit a time-frequency domain notching procedure previously proposed to remove the astrophysical foreground in the context of next-generation ground-based detectors, but we consider the more realistic scenario where we remove individually detectable signals by taking into account the uncertainty in the estimation of their parameters. We find that time-frequency domain masks can still efficiently remove the astrophysical foreground and suppress it to about 5% of its original level. Further removal of the foreground formed by unresolvable events (in particular, unresolvable binary neutron stars), which is about 10 times larger than the residual foreground from realistic notching, would require detector sensitivity improvements. Therefore, the main limitation in the search for a cosmological background is the unresolvable foreground itself, and not the residual of the notching procedure.
Stochastic gravitational-wave backgrounds can be of either cosmological or astrophysical origin. The detection of an astrophysical stochastic gravitational-wave background with ground-based interferometers is expected in the near future. Perhaps even more excitingly, the detection of stochastic backgrounds of cosmological origin by future ground-based interferometers could reveal invaluable information about the early Universe. From this perspective, the astrophysical background is a {\it foreground} that can prevent the extraction of this information from the data. In this paper, we revisit a time-frequency domain notching procedure previously proposed to remove the astrophysical foreground in the context of next-generation ground-based detectors, but we consider the more realistic scenario where we remove individually detectable signals by taking into account the uncertainty in the estimation of their parameters. We find that time-frequency domain masks can still efficiently remove the astrophysical foreground and suppress it to about $5\%$ of its original level. Further removal of the foreground formed by unresolvable events (in particular, unresolvable binary neutron stars), which is about $10$ times larger than the residual foreground from realistic notching, would require detector sensitivity improvements. Therefore, the main limitation in the search for a cosmological background is the unresolvable foreground itself, and not the residual of the notching procedure.
The spectrum of primordial gravitational waves (GWs), especially its tilt n {sub T} , carries significant information about the primordial universe. Combining recent aLIGO and Planck2015+BK14 data, we find that the current limit is n {sub T} =0.016{sup +0.614}{sub −0.989} at 95% C.L. We also estimate the impacts of Einstein Telescope and LISA on constraining n {sub T} . Moreover, based on the effective field theory of cosmological perturbations, we make an attempt to confront some models of early universe scenarios, which produce blue-tilted GWs spectrum ( n {sub T} {sub >0}), with the corresponding datasets.
We present an explicitly gauge-invariant observable of any general gravitational perturbation, ℎ 𝜇𝜈 [not necessarily due to gravitational waves (GWs)], in a laser interferometry-based GW detector, identifying the signature as the proper time elapsed of the beamsplitter observer, between two events: when a photon passes through the beamsplitter, and when the same photon returns to the beamsplitter after traveling through the interferometer arm and reflecting off the far mirror. Our formalism applies to simple Michelson interferometers and can be generalized to more advanced setups. We demonstrate that the proper time observable for a plane GW is equivalent to the detector strain commonly used by the GW community, though now the common framework can be easily generalized for other types of signals, such as dark matter clumps or spacetime fluctuations from quantum gravity. We provide a simple recipe for computing the proper time observable for a general metric perturbation in linearized gravity and explicitly show that it is invariant under diffeomorphisms of the perturbation, as any physical observable should be.
Ground-based interferometers are not perfect all-sky instruments, and it is important to account for their behavior when considering the distribution of detected events. In particular, the LIGO detectors are most sensitive to sources above North America and the Indian Ocean, and as the Earth rotates, the sensitive regions are swept across the sky. However, because the detectors do not acquire data uniformly over time, there is a net bias on detectable sources’ right ascensions. Both LIGO detectors preferentially collect data during their local night; it is more than twice as likely to be local midnight than noon when both detectors are operating. We discuss these selection effects and how they impact LIGO’s observations and electromagnetic (EM) follow-up. Beyond galactic foregrounds associated with seasonal variations, we find that equatorial observatories can access over 80% of the localization probability, while mid-latitudes will access closer to 70%. Facilities located near the two LIGO sites can observe sources closer to their zenith than their analogs in the south, but the average observation will still be no closer than 44° from zenith. We also find that observatories in Africa or the South Atlantic will wait systematically longer before they can begin observing compared to the rest of the world; though, there is a preference for longitudes near the LIGOs. These effects, along with knowledge of the LIGO antenna pattern, can inform EM follow-up activities and optimization, including the possibility of directing observations even before gravitational-wave events occur.
Core-collapse supernovae are among the astrophysical sources of gravitational waves that could be detected by third-generation gravitational-wave detectors. Here, we analyze the gravitational-wave strain signals from two- and three-dimensional simulations of core-collapse supernovae generated using the code FORNAX. A subset of the two-dimensional simulations has non-zero core rotation at the core bounce. A dominant source of time changing quadrupole moment is the l = 2 fundamental mode (f- mode) oscillation of the proto-neutron star. From the time-frequency spectrogram of the gravitational-wave strain we see that, starting ~ 400 ms after the core bounce, most of the power lies within a narrow track that represents the frequency evolution of the f-mode oscillations. The f-mode frequencies obtained from linear perturbation analysis of the angle averaged profile of the protoneutron star corroborate what we observe in the spectrograms of the gravitational wave signal. We explore the measurability of the f-mode frequency evolution of protoneutron star for a supernova signal observed in the third-generation gravitational-wave detectors. Measurement of the frequency evolution can reveal information about the masses, radii, and densities of the proto-neutron stars. We find that if the third generation detectors observe a supernova within 10 kpc, we can measure these frequencies to within ~90% accuracy. Here, we can also measure the energy emitted in the fundamental f-mode using the spectrogram data of the strain signal. We find that the energy in the f-mode can be measured to within 20% error for signals observed by Cosmic Explorer using simulations with successful explosion, assuming source distances within 10 kpc.
An extension of the input–output relation for a conventional Michelson interferometric gravitational-wave detector is carried out to treat an arbitrary coherent state for the injected optical beam. This extension is one of necessary researches toward the clarification of the relation between conventional gravitational-wave detectors and a simple model of a gravitational-wave detector inspired by weak-measurements in Nishizawa (2015). The derived input–output relation describes not only a conventional Michelson-interferometric gravitational-wave detector but also the situation of weak measurements. As a result, we may say that a conventional Michelson gravitational-wave detector already includes the essence of the weak-value amplification as the reduction of the quantum noise from the light source through the measurement at the dark port.
We consider a class of proposed gravitational wave detectors based on multiple atomic interferometers separated by large baselines and referenced by common laser systems. We compute the sensitivity limits of these detectors due to intrinsic phase noise of the light sources, non-inertial motion of the light sources, and atomic shot noise and compare them to sensitivity limits for traditional light interferometers. We find that atom interferometers and light interferometers are limited in a nearly identical way by intrinsic phase noise and that both require similar mitigation strategies (e.g. multiple arm instruments) to reach interesting sensitivities. The sensitivity limit from motion of the light sources is slightly different and favors the atom interferometers in the low-frequency limit, although the limit in both cases is severe.
We discuss how to optimize the third-generation gravitational-wave detector to maximize the range to detect core-collapse supernovae. Based on three-dimensional simulations for core-collapse and the corresponding gravitational-wave waveform emitted, the corresponding detection range for these waveforms is limited to within our Galaxy even in the era of third-generation detectors. The corresponding event rate is two per century. We find from the waveforms that to detect core-collapse supernovae with an event rate of one per year, the gravitational-wave detectors need a strain sensitivity of 3 × 10 -27 Hz -1/2 in a frequency range from 100 to 1500 Hz. We also explore detector configurations technologically beyond the scope of third-generation detectors. We find with these improvements, the event rate for gravitational-wave observations from core-collapse supernovae is still low, but is improved to one in twenty years.
Compact binary systems with neutron stars or black holes are one of the most promising sources for ground-based gravitational-wave detectors. Gravitational radiation encodes rich information about source physics; thus parameter estimation and model selection are crucial analysis steps for any detection candidate events. Detailed models of the anticipated waveforms enable inference on several parameters, such as component masses, spins, sky location and distance, that are essential for new astrophysical studies of these sources. However, accurate measurements of these parameters and discrimination of models describing the underlying physics are complicated by artifacts in the data, uncertainties in the waveform models and in the calibration of the detectors. Here we report such measurements on a selection of simulated signals added either in hardware or software to the data collected by the two LIGO instruments and the Virgo detector during their most recent joint science run, including a blind injection where the signal was not initially revealed to the collaboration. We exemplify the ability to extract information about the source physics on signals that cover the neutron-star and black-hole binary parameter space over the component mass range 1M25M and the full range of spin parameters. The cases reported in this study provide a snapshot of the status of parameter estimation in preparation for the operation of advanced detectors.
We study the detectability of postmerger QCD phase transitions in neutron star binaries with next-generation gravitational-wave detectors Cosmic Explorer and Einstein Telescope. We perform numerical relativity simulations of neutron star mergers with equations of state that include a quark deconfinement phase transition through either a Gibbs or Maxwell construction. These are followed by Bayesian parameter estimation of the associated gravitational-wave signals using the nrpmw waveform model, with priors inferred from the analysis of the inspiral signal. We assess the ability of the model to measure the postmerger peak frequency $f$$^{peak}_{2}$ and identify aspects that should be improved in the model. We show that, even at postmerger signal to noise ratios as low as 10, the model can distinguish (at the 90% level) $f$$^{peak}_{2}$ between binaries with and without a phase transition in most cases. Phase-transition induced deviations in the $f$$^{peak}_{2}$ from the predictions of equation-of-state insensitive relations can also be detected if they exceed 1.6σ. Our results suggest that next-generation gravitational wave detectors can measure phase transition effects in binary neutron star mergers. Furthermore, unless the phase transition is “strong,” disentangling it from other hadronic physics uncertainties will require significant theory improvements.