• 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

Proposal Review

Review committee: Yanbei Chen, Eric Gustafson, Seiji Kawamura, Guido Mueller, Fred Raab (chair), Alan Weinstein, Rai Weiss and Mike Zucker

Date: Tuesday, Aug 19, 2008
Time: 21:00 UTC (11pm in Central Europe; 5pm Boston; 2 pm Seattle; 6am Wed in Tokyo; 7am Wed in Canberra)

Date: Thursday, January 15, 2009
Time: 23:00 UTC (12pm in Central Europe; 6pm Boston; 3 pm Seattle; 8am Fri in Tokyo; 10am Fri in Canberra)

Documents:

Squeezer Update Review

Review committee: Yanbei Chen, Eric Gustafson, Seiji Kawamura, Guido Mueller, Fred Raab (chair), Alan Weinstein, Rai Weiss and Mike Zucker

Date: Tuesday, Aug 25, 2009
Time: 21:00 UTC (11pm in Central Europe; 5pm Boston; 2 pm Seattle; 6am Wed in Tokyo; 7am Wed in Canberra)

Documents:

Meetings

Dialing Instructions (Accu Conference):

1. At the specified time, dial the Access Number 1.800.704.9896 (direct 1.404.920.6472)
2. When prompted, enter your Participant Code followed by #.
3. Your Participant Code is 79424444.

Participant Star Commands
*4-Volume - Pressing *4 will increase/decrease the volume.
*6-Mute - Participants can mute/unmute their own lines by pressing *6.

Mailing List

A mail list has been set up here. This mail list is dedicated to topics about the LIGO squeezer experiment. All old emails are available in the archive. This email list is open to any member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration.

Supporting Material