Squeezing the quantum noise of a gravitational-wave detector below the standard quantum limit.
Wenxuan JiaVictoria XuKevin KunsMasayuki NakanoLisa BarsottiMatthew EvansNergis Mavalvalanull nullR AbbottI AbouelfettouhR X AdhikariA AnanyevaS AppertK AraiN AritomiS M AstonM BallS W BallmerD BarkerB K BergerJ BetzwieserD BhattacharjeeGariLynn BillingsleyN BodeE BonillaV BossilkovA BranchA F BrooksD D BrownJ BryantC CahillaneH CaoE CapoteY ChenF ClaraJ CollinsC M ComptonR CottinghamD C CoyneR CrouchJ CsizmaziaT J CullenL P DartezN DemosE DohmenJ C DriggersS E DwyerA EfflerA EjlliT EtzelJ FeichtR FreyW FrischhertzP FritschelV V FrolovP FuldaM FyffeD GanapathyB GateleyJ A GiaimeK D GiardinaJ GlanzerE GoetzA W Goodwin-JonesS GrasC GrayD GriffithH GroteT GuidryE D HallJ HanksJ HansonM C HeintzeA F Helmling-CornellH Y HuangY InoueA L JamesA JenningsS KaratM KasprzackK KawabeN KijbunchooJ S KisselA KontosR KumarM LandryB LantzM LaxenK LeeM LesovskyF LlamasM LormandHudson A LoughlinR MacasM MacInnisC N MakaremB MannixG L MansellR M MartinN MaxwellG McCarrolR McCarthyD E McClellandS McCormickL McCullerT McRaeF MeraE L MerilhF MeylahnR MittlemanD MoraruG MorenoM MouldA MullaveyT J N NelsonA NeunzertJ OberlingT O'HanlonC OsthelderDavid J OttawayH OvermierW ParkerA PeleH PhamM PirelloV QuetschkeK E RamirezJ ReyesJ W RichardsonM RobinsonJ G RollinsJ H RomieM P RossT SadeckiA SanchezE J SanchezL E SanchezR L SavageD SchaetzlM G SchiworskiR SchnabelR M S SchofieldEyal SchwartzD SellersT ShafferR W ShortD SiggB J J SlagmolenS SoniL SunD B TannerM ThomasP ThomasK A ThorneC I TorrieG TraylorGabriele VajenteJ VanoskyA VecchioP J VeitchA M VibhuteE R G von ReisJ WarnerB WeaverR WeissC WhittleB WillkeC C WipfH YamamotoH YuL ZhangM E ZuckerPublished in: Science (New York, N.Y.) (2024)
The Heisenberg uncertainty principle dictates that the position and momentum of an object cannot be simultaneously measured with arbitrary precision, giving rise to an apparent limitation known as the standard quantum limit (SQL). Gravitational-wave detectors use photons to continuously measure the positions of freely falling mirrors and so are affected by the SQL. We investigated the performance of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) after the experimental realization of frequency-dependent squeezing designed to surpass the SQL. For the LIGO Livingston detector, we found that the upgrade reduces quantum noise below the SQL by a maximum of three decibels between 35 and 75 hertz while achieving a broadband sensitivity improvement, increasing the overall detector sensitivity during astrophysical observations.