Commissioning of the LIGO detectors

The goal of the laser interferometer gravitational-wave observatory (LIGO) project is to detect and study gravitational waves from astrophysical sources. Currently, three interferometers with arm lengths of several kilometres and a design strain sensitivity of order 2 × 10−23 Hz−1/2 are being commissioned at two independent sites in Hanford (WA) and Livingston (LA). This paper describes the current work towards achieving LIGO's final sensitivity.

[1]  A. Gillespie,et al.  Thermal noise in the test mass suspensions of a laser interferometer gravitational-wave detector prototype , 1993 .

[2]  Albrecht Rüdiger,et al.  A Mode Selector to Suppress Fluctuations in Laser Beam Geometry , 1981 .

[3]  A. Araya,et al.  Optical mode cleaner with suspended mirrors. , 1997, Applied optics.

[4]  Shot noise in gravitational-wave detectors with Fabry-Perot arms. , 2000, Applied optics.

[5]  Paul Melchior,et al.  The Tides of Planet Earth , 1978 .

[6]  M. Regehr,et al.  Demonstration of a power-recycled Michelson interferometer with Fabry-Perot arms by frontal modulation. , 1995, Optics letters.

[7]  R L Byer,et al.  Spatial and temporal filtering of a 10-W Nd:YAG laser with a Fabry--Perot ring-cavity premode cleaner. , 1998, Optics letters.

[8]  Joshua R. Smith,et al.  LIGO: the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory , 1992, Science.

[9]  Andreas Tünnermann,et al.  GEO 600. A 600 m Laser Interferometric Gravitational Wave Antenna , 1994 .

[10]  Vinet,et al.  Optimization of long-baseline optical interferometers for gravitational-wave detection. , 1988, Physical review. D, Particles and fields.

[11]  John L. Hall,et al.  Laser phase and frequency stabilization using an optical resonator , 1983 .

[12]  B. Caron,et al.  The Virgo interferometer for gravitational wave detection , 1997 .

[13]  B. J. Meers.  The frequency response of interferometric gravitational wave detectors , 1989 .

[14]  A. Grant,et al.  Test of an 18‐m‐long suspended modecleaner cavity , 1996 .

[15]  M. Zucker,et al.  Improved multistage wide band laser frequency stabilization , 1997 .

[16]  P. Fritschel.  High Power Interferometric Phase Measurement Limited by Quantum Noise , 1998 .

[17]  L. Sievers,et al.  A passive vibration isolation stack for LIGO: Design, modeling, and testing , 1996 .

[18]  Rainer Weiss,et al.  Improved sensitivity in a gravitational wave interferometer and implications for LIGO , 1996 .

[19]  B. Lantz,et al.  Quantum-limited optical phase detection at the 10(-10)-rad level. , 2002, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision.