Prospects of High Precision Fiber for Gravitational Wave Detection

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract: All current gravitational wave (GW) detectors, such as those of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) and Virgo, are precision optical interferometers with sub-attometer displacement sensitivity. Free space propagation of the optical beams of LIGO requires large (meter diameter and kilometers of length) evacuated stainless steel beam tubes that come with sizable manufacturing and operational costs. A fiber-based detector – with the free space beams of present schemes replaced by concentrated fiber spools – could mitigate these costs while simultaneously offering a more compact experimental setup. This thesis proposes a design for and carries out the strain calculations for a hypothetical Michaelson Morley fiber interferometer over a wide frequency range. Limits on thermoconductive, thermomechanical, and shot noise sources are established and compounded to arrive at an estimate of the overall noise floor. Considering an interferometer arm length comparable to that used in the current generation of detectors, we estimate the strain sensitivity at 1 kHz to be around 10^(−16)√Hz. Advanced cooling strategies, the novel fiber technologies mentioned above, and parameter tuning in the thermal noise are all potential options for improving on this baseline sensitivity. The thesis concludes by summarizing the major developments in each area, and the long-term outlook of using such detectors for detecting gravitational waves.

Type of resource	text
Date created	May 2021

Author	Shadmany, Danial
Degree granting institution	Stanford University, Department of Physics
Primary advisor	Mavalvala, Nergis
Advisor	Graham, Peter

Subject	gravitational wave detection
Subject	optical fiber
Subject	optical fiber technology
Genre	Thesis

Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/pr899zh2360

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License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).

Preferred Citation: Shadmany, Danial. (2021). Prospects of High Precision Fiber for Gravitational Wave Detection. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/pr899zh2360

Undergraduate Theses, Department of Physics

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