• H1Squeezer

Squeezing on H1

We propose to inject squeezed light into the Hanford 4 km interferometer to improve its sensitivity by 3 dB in the frequency band dominated by shot noise. At the LIGO Hanford Observatory there are about six months between the end of the 6^{th} science run and the beginning of installation for advanced LIGO. We propose to use this time frame to install a squeezed light source and validate the concept of gravitational wave detection below the standard quantum limit.

Advanced LIGO demands very high power levels in the long Michelson arms. Close to a mega Watt of laser light has to be stored in the arm cavities in order to reach the sensitivity goal. This will be challenging. Optical waveform distortion due to absorption and the excitation of parasitic instabilities both have the risk to limit the maximum arm cavity power. Using non-classical light states have the potential to achieve similar performance with less power. We see this proposal as an important step to mitigate the technical risk associated with high power operations in advanced LIGO.

The technology to generate squeezed vacuum states has progressed quickly over the past few years. A suitable light source which generates squeezing down to 10 Hz has recently been demonstrated. Interferometric detectors have been squeezed before—however, no experiment was performed at frequencies or sensitivities directly relevant for future detectors.

People involved

Ping Koy Lam^3, Nergis Mavalvala^2, David McClelland^3, Roman Schnabel^4, Daniel Sigg^1, Henning Vahlbruch^4 and Stan Whitcomb^5 (so far)

1. LIGO Hanford Observatory, Richland, WA
2. LIGO Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
3. Gravitational Physics Group, Australian National University
4. Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik, Leibniz Universität Hannover
5. LIGO Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

H1 Proposal

A review team has been formed:

• Yanbei Chen
  Eric Gustafson
  Seiji Kawamura
  Guido Mueller
  Fred Raab (chair)
  Alan Weinstein
  Rai Weiss
  Mike Zucker
  

Meetings

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Supporting Material

TBD