The A+ upgrade:Expanding the Advanced LIGO Horizon
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Glasgow
Department Name: School of Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
The discovery of gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO (aLIGO) detectors in 2015 and the observation of mergers of several pairs of Black Holes (BH) and a pair of Neutron Stars (NS) by the Advanced LIGO and, latterly, Advanced Virgo detectors have revolutionised astronomy. The BH merger signals reveal a previously unknown population of BH's in the 10s of solar mass range. The NS merger and the consequential events including a kilonova were observed throughout the EM spectrum, leading to one of the highest-impact observations in astronomy.
Our project - Advanced LIGO plus (A+) - arises in a direct path from the completely successful UK contribution to aLIGO. That project was PPARC/STFC funded from 2002-2011 with operations support from 2012 to 2020. For aLIGO, we designed and delivered a range of equipment, in particular the ultra-low noise fused silica suspension systems that support the main interferometer mirrors. The technology in these suspensions allowed a substantial decrease in the noise in the low-frequency band of the detectors (some 10s of Hz). Of the signals seen thus far, a considerable proportion of the signal to noise ratio (SNR) was accumulated in that band, indicating the primary importance of the UK suspensions in these observations.
The technology for the core aLIGO detectors was frozen about a decade ago. Meanwhile, R&D has continued in the applicant groups. The results of this research provide further refinements in key areas of technology including: new materials and improved techniques for mirror coatings to reduce the background "thermal noise" that limits the mid-band in the detector (around 100 Hz); fused silica suspension fibres of enhanced design and strength that allow further reductions in suspension noise; and newly developed interferometric readout systems that optimise the use of non-classical light (squeezed vacuum) to reduce quantum noise. Quantum noise dominates over all other noise sources in the high frequency range above 100 Hz, and - given the low thermal noise associated with the suspensions - has become important also below 100 Hz. The gain offered by squeezing can be optimised by reducing diffraction and clipping loss by increasing the clear aperture of the main beam-splitter.
By fully exploiting these enhancements resulting from our R&D, in combination with provision of squeezed light and also "filter cavities" that are required to maximally exploit squeezed light, it becomes possible to almost double the sensitivity of Advanced LIGO. More precisely, we expect to obtain event rates 4 to 7 times higher, depending on the particular type of source (i.e. over the mass range of observable compact binary mergers). This will bring a corresponding increase in high-SNR events that are of particular importance in tracing the origins of the BH population and undertaking cosmology with NS merger signals.
The UK contribution to A+ is fully integrated within the US project. We describe our project in terms of seven work packages (WP1-WP7) introduced here: WP1 core optics: main mirrors: to provide replacement interferometer mirrors with upgraded coatings for both detectors; WP2 core optics: beam-splitters: to provide large diameter (450mm) beam-splitters, to reduce diffraction/clipping loss and better permit non-classical detection schemes; WP3 new suspensions: to provide a new suspension to support the WP2 beam-splitters; WP4 enhanced sensing and controls: to upgrade suspension controls for the beam-splitter and other key interferometer systems; WP5: balanced homodyne readout: to provide a novel balanced-homodyne readout scheme compatible with non-classical detection; WP6 suspension enhancement: to upgrade the facility for production of fused silica suspension fibres at the LIGO Hanford Observatory and WP7 project coordination: to support project management and coordination.
Our project - Advanced LIGO plus (A+) - arises in a direct path from the completely successful UK contribution to aLIGO. That project was PPARC/STFC funded from 2002-2011 with operations support from 2012 to 2020. For aLIGO, we designed and delivered a range of equipment, in particular the ultra-low noise fused silica suspension systems that support the main interferometer mirrors. The technology in these suspensions allowed a substantial decrease in the noise in the low-frequency band of the detectors (some 10s of Hz). Of the signals seen thus far, a considerable proportion of the signal to noise ratio (SNR) was accumulated in that band, indicating the primary importance of the UK suspensions in these observations.
The technology for the core aLIGO detectors was frozen about a decade ago. Meanwhile, R&D has continued in the applicant groups. The results of this research provide further refinements in key areas of technology including: new materials and improved techniques for mirror coatings to reduce the background "thermal noise" that limits the mid-band in the detector (around 100 Hz); fused silica suspension fibres of enhanced design and strength that allow further reductions in suspension noise; and newly developed interferometric readout systems that optimise the use of non-classical light (squeezed vacuum) to reduce quantum noise. Quantum noise dominates over all other noise sources in the high frequency range above 100 Hz, and - given the low thermal noise associated with the suspensions - has become important also below 100 Hz. The gain offered by squeezing can be optimised by reducing diffraction and clipping loss by increasing the clear aperture of the main beam-splitter.
By fully exploiting these enhancements resulting from our R&D, in combination with provision of squeezed light and also "filter cavities" that are required to maximally exploit squeezed light, it becomes possible to almost double the sensitivity of Advanced LIGO. More precisely, we expect to obtain event rates 4 to 7 times higher, depending on the particular type of source (i.e. over the mass range of observable compact binary mergers). This will bring a corresponding increase in high-SNR events that are of particular importance in tracing the origins of the BH population and undertaking cosmology with NS merger signals.
The UK contribution to A+ is fully integrated within the US project. We describe our project in terms of seven work packages (WP1-WP7) introduced here: WP1 core optics: main mirrors: to provide replacement interferometer mirrors with upgraded coatings for both detectors; WP2 core optics: beam-splitters: to provide large diameter (450mm) beam-splitters, to reduce diffraction/clipping loss and better permit non-classical detection schemes; WP3 new suspensions: to provide a new suspension to support the WP2 beam-splitters; WP4 enhanced sensing and controls: to upgrade suspension controls for the beam-splitter and other key interferometer systems; WP5: balanced homodyne readout: to provide a novel balanced-homodyne readout scheme compatible with non-classical detection; WP6 suspension enhancement: to upgrade the facility for production of fused silica suspension fibres at the LIGO Hanford Observatory and WP7 project coordination: to support project management and coordination.
Planned Impact
The consortium involved in this capital proposal has a strong and extensive track record in working with industry, in public outreach and schoolteacher CPD, which will continue throughout and beyond the construction period. Beneficiaries will include the optics industry e.g. companies such as Gooch and Housego - enhancing capability in the area of manufacture of optical components, and such as Helia Photonics via development of low loss optical coatings. Beneficiaries will also include those working in the sectors of energy and security via the application of MEMS gravimeters. The consortium has transferred technical knowledge and will further do so to help company competitiveness and success, all feeding back into the UK economy. The UK economy will further benefit through the spinning off of new companies arising from the research or licensing out of the technology being developed.
We anticipate research developments, spinning off from the gravitational wave work to contribute to the grand challenge areas of health and wellbeing via developments of software algorithms which can help with removal of artifacts in scanning medical imaging devices and in the development of hardware which can lead to the differentiation of a variety of stem cells with major implications for medicine. More globally, as a spin-off from the gravitational waves work at Cardiff a Data Innovation Institute has been established to conduct fundamental research into the aspects of managing, analysing and interpreting massive volumes of textual and numerical information. This will benefit projects in a wide-ranging spectrum of disciplines including social, biological, life and engineering sciences, e.g. in the biological and life sciences by extracting information from data sets without compromising privacy and confidentiality, and interpreting large data sets into reliable and understandable mathematical models.
Public outreach involving television, radio, science festivals, masterclasses and public lectures feature strongly in our present and proposed programmes and the legacy of the effort we have devoted to celebrate the international year of light - such as the development of a laser harp - fit well with the wider public outreach work we undertake in collaboration with the LIGO Scientific Collaboration on the physics of neutron stars, black holes and the Universe as a whole. Working with the Scottish government and Education Scotland members of the consortium will build on previous work contributing strongly to the curriculum for physics in Scotland by extending provision of CPD for schoolteachers in Scotland, producing videos and other material helping them to tackle the challenges introduced by the more interdisciplinary nature of the new school qualifications, and this support is very transportable to be used throughout the UK. The wide range of impact provided by the scale of our programme is excellent for the training of early career researchers and graduate students and we aim to ensure that all our young scientists have experience in these areas, enabling them to have access to a wide range of career opportunities.
We anticipate research developments, spinning off from the gravitational wave work to contribute to the grand challenge areas of health and wellbeing via developments of software algorithms which can help with removal of artifacts in scanning medical imaging devices and in the development of hardware which can lead to the differentiation of a variety of stem cells with major implications for medicine. More globally, as a spin-off from the gravitational waves work at Cardiff a Data Innovation Institute has been established to conduct fundamental research into the aspects of managing, analysing and interpreting massive volumes of textual and numerical information. This will benefit projects in a wide-ranging spectrum of disciplines including social, biological, life and engineering sciences, e.g. in the biological and life sciences by extracting information from data sets without compromising privacy and confidentiality, and interpreting large data sets into reliable and understandable mathematical models.
Public outreach involving television, radio, science festivals, masterclasses and public lectures feature strongly in our present and proposed programmes and the legacy of the effort we have devoted to celebrate the international year of light - such as the development of a laser harp - fit well with the wider public outreach work we undertake in collaboration with the LIGO Scientific Collaboration on the physics of neutron stars, black holes and the Universe as a whole. Working with the Scottish government and Education Scotland members of the consortium will build on previous work contributing strongly to the curriculum for physics in Scotland by extending provision of CPD for schoolteachers in Scotland, producing videos and other material helping them to tackle the challenges introduced by the more interdisciplinary nature of the new school qualifications, and this support is very transportable to be used throughout the UK. The wide range of impact provided by the scale of our programme is excellent for the training of early career researchers and graduate students and we aim to ensure that all our young scientists have experience in these areas, enabling them to have access to a wide range of career opportunities.
Organisations
- University of Glasgow (Lead Research Organisation)
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (Collaboration)
- California Institute of Technology (Collaboration)
- Australian Research Council (Collaboration)
- Kavli Institute for Theoretical Sciences (Collaboration)
- LIGO Scientific Collaboration (Collaboration)
- LIGO (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE (Collaboration)
- University of Warwick (Collaboration)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Collaboration)
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (Collaboration)
- Max Planck Society (Collaboration)
- Australia Telescope National Facility (Collaboration)
Publications
Brooks AF
(2021)
Point absorbers in Advanced LIGO.
in Applied optics
Davis D
(2021)
LIGO detector characterization in the second and third observing runs
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Nguyen P
(2021)
Environmental noise in advanced LIGO detectors
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Spencer A
(2021)
Experimental investigation of the limitations of polarisation optics for future gravitational wave detectors based on the polarisation Sagnac speedmeter
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Soni S
(2021)
Reducing scattered light in LIGO's third observing run
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
McCuller L
(2021)
LIGO's quantum response to squeezed states
in Physical Review D
Jia W
(2021)
Point Absorber Limits to Future Gravitational-Wave Detectors
in Physical Review Letters
Tse M
(2019)
Quantum-Enhanced Advanced LIGO Detectors in the Era of Gravitational-Wave Astronomy.
in Physical review letters
Ken Strain
(2021)
BHD 3-inch Relay Optics (Mirror) Specification
Stephen Webster
(2021)
A+ BHD: Location and orientation of L0 in HAM5
Ken Strain
(2021)
A+ OMC optical testing procedure and data
Stephen Webster
(2022)
A+ BHD Stray Light Control
Stephen Webster
(2020)
A+ BHD HAM6 Layout of Sensing and Control Elements
Ken Strain
(2021)
HRTS MATLAB-Simulink model and selected results
Stephen Webster
(2021)
A+ BHD: Affect of thermal state of interferometer on LO beam
Stephen Webster
(2021)
A+ BHD: LHO, Zemax model
Joseph Briggs
(2020)
A+ IFO beam to OMCs mode matching solution space exploration
Ken Strain
(2020)
BHD Design Readiness Review & Conceptual Design Review
Ken Strain
(2021)
50 mm Ø LOPO Mirror Specification
Ken Strain
(2021)
Consideration of a HAM5-6 septum window design compatible with BHD in A+
Ken Strain
(2020)
A+ BHD ISC Additional Design Requirements
Stephen Webster
(2022)
A+ BHD Secondary Optics - High Reflectors
Joseph Briggs
(2020)
Local oscillator phase noise requirement for A+
Ken Strain
(2021)
Preliminary Design Review
Ken Strain
(2021)
A+ SUS HRTS BHD three inch lens
Stephen Webster
(2020)
A+ BHD HAM6 Interferometer Sensing and Control
Stephen Webster
(2021)
BHDL0 lens specification
Stephen Webster
(2020)
A+ BHD: Effect of defocus on astigmatism
Mark Barton
(2020)
Three-Blade Platform Suspension Dynamical Model for the BHSS in Mathematica
Ken Strain
(2022)
BHD Final Design Document
Ken Strain
(2021)
OFI wedge - implications for BHD O5
Ken Strain
(2021)
BHD three inch plane mirror for HRTS
Russell Jones
(2020)
A+ SUS HAM6 Conceptual Layout Investigation
Stephen Webster
(2022)
A+ BHD Stray Light Investigation
Mark Barton
(2022)
A+ BHSS Phase 1 Final Design Review
Russell Jones
(2021)
A+ BHSS Assembly Procedure
Russell Jones
(2021)
A+ SUS Balanced Homodyne Single Suspension (BHSS) Top Level Assembly
Mark Barton
(2021)
Tip locus of a blade spring
Stephen Webster
(2021)
A+ BHD: Orientation of BHDL1 and LO beam switch
Stephen Webster
(2020)
A+ BHD HAM6 ISC: locations of ISC components
Stephen Webster
(2022)
A+ BHD Secondary Optics - Beamsplitters
Stephen Webster
(2020)
A+: Candidate Layouts for HAM6
Stephen Webster
(2020)
A+ BHD Mode-matching of LO beam
Stephen Webster
(2020)
A+ BHD HAM6 ISC Co-ordinates
Ken Strain
(2021)
76.2 mm Ø Lens Specification
Ken Strain
(2020)
A+ HAM6 Preliminary BoM
| Description | SWebster UK Quantum Strategy Call for Evidence |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Description | Visiting Student Researcher Program |
| Amount | $15,000 (USD) |
| Organisation | California Institute of Technology |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United States |
| Start | 02/2023 |
| End | 06/2023 |
| Description | LSC |
| Organisation | LIGO Scientific Collaboration |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The LSC carries out the science of the LIGO Observatories, located in Hanford, Washington and Livingston, Louisiana as well as that of the GEO600 detector in Hannover, Germany. Our collaboration is organized around three general areas of research: analysis of LIGO and GEO data searching for gravitational waves from astrophysical sources, detector operations and characterization, and development of future large scale gravitational wave detectors. As evidenced by our outputs that emerge from this collaboration, we contribute strongly to these three areas. In particular we develop low-noise suspension technology and design new optical techniques for the detectors. We also contribute strongly to data analysis particularly in the searches for pulsars and "ringing down" of newly formed black holes. One of our most significant contributions in the area of data analysis has been in the application of Bayesian techniques to parameter estimation in gravitational wave searches. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) is a group of scientists seeking to make the first direct detection of gravitational waves, use them to explore the fundamental physics of gravity, and develop the emerging field of gravitational wave science as a tool of astronomical discovery. The LSC works toward this goal through research on, and development of techniques for, gravitational wave detection; and the development, commissioning and exploitation of gravitational wave detectors. Membership of the LSC fundamentally enables our research. It provides access to gravitational wave data, opportunities to contribute to instrument upgrades, and training for our graduate students, and is the primary locus for application of our technology developments. As the World-leading collaboration in the field membership of the LSC is vital to our ongoing research. Collaborators operate the four LSC detectors to produce gravitational wave data. With us they archive this and enable us to access it for analysis. The collaboration carries out joint analysis of the data from all four instruments. Collaborators host our equipment at the detectors, and also at test facilities at which we undertake joint technology developments, supplementing those we carry out in Glasgow. Collaborators provide training in the operation of detectors, and detector subsystems. Within the technical working groups set up by the collaboration, there is exchange of ideas on advanced interferometer techniques and topologies, on data analysis, on laser sources, on optics, including optical coatings and thermal noise, and on suspension technology. |
| Impact | Philip Leverhulme Prize RCUK Fellowship Post-doctoral Fellowship EC Framework 7 Infrastructures program International Joint Project Award scheme Travel grant RCUK Science Bridges RCUK Science Bridges Seedcorn grant Research Merit Award JISC Grant SUPA Studentship Science in Society Fellowship RSE/Scottish Executive Personal Research Fellowship MP FS AH MB SR Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition 2008 Appearance on Radio 4 programme "In our time" Appearance on BBC One Countryfile Regular visits to local schools Public lectures at Science Centres and Science Festivals Events for International Year of Astronomy 2009 Lectures to amateur astronomical societies Meet the Scientist @ Glasgow Science Centre Science @ the Scottish Parliament Astronomy's New Messengers Icarus at the Edge of Time CPD Training for schoolteachers ScienceFace Scottish Science Advisory Council Technology Development Hydroxy-catalysis bonding for technology applications Hydroxy-catalysis bonding for research Fused silica suspension fibres for application in technology Fused silica suspension fibres for gravitational wave detectors Bayesian Techniques in precision optical sensing Bayesian Techniques in gravitational wave data analysis Amplitude or arbitrary phase sideband optical cavity probes Technology Development Diffractively coupled high finesse optical cavities Silicon Carbide bonding Berlin 2009 GWADW 2009 Amaldi 2009 RAS NAM 2009 GWADW 2009 RAS NAM 2008 Texas 2008 Moscow 2008 Schuster Colloquium Elizabeth Spreadbury Lecture RSE Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize Lectureship Wolfson Research Merit Award Tannahill Lecture and Medal Fellow ISGRGI FRSE (1) FInstP (1) FRAS (1) FRSE (2) Max-Planck-Society FRAS (2) History and Development of Knowledge IOP Nuclear and Particle Physics Divisional Conference Advanced Detector Workshop Kyoto LISA Symposium Stanford Optical Fibre Sensors Edinburgh Advanced Detector Workshop Florida Gravitational Wave Bursts meeting Mexico ILIAS Dresden IoP NPPD conference Glasgow 12th Marcel Grossman meeting Paris Lomonosov conference Moscow Advanced Detector Workshop Florida GR19 Meeting Mexico LISA International Symposium Stanford OECD Global Science Forum India IAU Rio de Janeiro Amaldi NY Fujihara Seminar Tokyo OECD Global Science Forum Cracow NEB X111 Thessaloniki New Worlds Portugal PASCOS 07 London LEOS Montreal XX1X Spanish Relativity Meeting Mallorca Rencontres de Moriond Italy Texas Symposium Heidelberg Aspera Workshop Paris IoP HEPP and AP Annual Meeting Frontiers in Optics, OSA, San Jose Amaldi NY Fujiwara Foundation Seminar Japan Advanced Detector Workshop Florida IoP Astroparticle meeting Oxford Cosmo 07 Sussex Aspera Workshop Paris Workshop on Charging Issues MIT IoP NPPD Annual conference Surrey RAS ordinary meeting London ILIAS Italy IAU General Assembly Prague NPPD Conference Glasgow Statistical Challenges Penn State Amaldi student talk Visiting Professorship Jena STFC Particle Astrophysics Advisory panel Physical and Engineering Committee of ESF SSAC Chair GWIC Chair STFC Panels Royal Society Research Grants Panel Aspera/ApPEC Science Advisory Committee Trustee RSE RSE Fellowship Committee IoP Awards Committee Chair LIGO Election & Membership GWIC Deputy Chair PPAN RSE Grants Committee RSE Sectional Committee Stanford-Scotland Photonics GEO Executive Committee FP7 ET Design Study Member STFC Science Committee PPAN GWIC Roadmap committee STFC Oversight Committee Zeplin III Aspera/ApPEC Peer Review Committee Governing Council FP6 ILIAS Aspera/ApPEC Roadmap Committee Advanced Detector committee LSC Publication Policy committee LSC LSC CW Group co-Chair reelected SUPA Astro theme leader LSC CW Group co-chair LSC Detection Committee LSC Data Analysis Council FRSE Aspen Center for Physics 2008 Aspen Center for Physics 2011 Advanced Detectors Workshop Kyoto Cosmic Co-Motion Queensland SAMSI North Carolina Center for Astrostatistics Penn State RAS NAM Llandudno Cosmology and Machine Learning UCL ILIAS Dresden PF PhD FB PhD KC Ugrad LO Ugrad RD Ugrad LM Ugrad LMac Ugrad AB Ugrad EWB Ugrad DF PhD ST Staff BL Staff HW PhD KB RA SF Staff KS staff LSF staff ZP Ugrad DH PhD RU Ugrad NH Ugrad MC Ugrad SL Ugrad NG Ugrad CS PhD OB PhD OB PhD MB PhD EJ Ugrad RM Ugrad RW Ugrad SJ Ugrad SL Ugrad BL Staff BG Ugrad AP PhD PS staff VM staff LG Staff CC PhD SZ Ugrad NM PhD MJ staff AG PhD FGC PhD |
| Description | MEMS vapour cell sealing |
| Organisation | University of Strathclyde |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Team members worked with a researcher from Strathclyde providing a CO2 laser system and delivery equipment to enable that researcher to investigate laser sealing of anodic bonded MEMs vapour cells. It provided very promising results and indicated that it was worth pursuing a a joint enterprise. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The partners are allowing us to start engaging with research outside our core area and utilising our equipment more fully |
| Impact | The collaboration is multidisciplinary invoving Quantum Technology, Gravitational Wave Instrumentation and Atomic Physics |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Partnership between the Institute for Gravitational Research and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) |
| Organisation | Australia Telescope National Facility |
| Country | Australia |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | The Institute for Gravitational Research has had long-standing links with researchers in Australia who are the key contributors to OzGrav. Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from our collaboration with the Centre are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. The In-Kind support from the Institute for gravitational Research in Glasgow to this collaboration consists of researcher time and facility access for computer moddelling. It comes to a total of 537,700 AUD. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Institute for Gravitational Research has had long-standing links with researchers in Australia who are the key contributors to OzGrav. Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from our collaboration with the Centre are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. |
| Impact | Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from this collaboration are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Partnership between the Institute for Gravitational Research and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) |
| Organisation | Australian Research Council |
| Department | Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery |
| Country | Australia |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | The Institute for Gravitational Research has had long-standing links with researchers in Australia who are the key contributors to OzGrav. Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from our collaboration with the Centre are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. The In-Kind support from the Institute for gravitational Research in Glasgow to this collaboration consists of researcher time and facility access for computer moddelling. It comes to a total of 537,700 AUD. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Institute for Gravitational Research has had long-standing links with researchers in Australia who are the key contributors to OzGrav. Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from our collaboration with the Centre are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. |
| Impact | Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from this collaboration are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Partnership between the Institute for Gravitational Research and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) |
| Organisation | California Institute of Technology |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The Institute for Gravitational Research has had long-standing links with researchers in Australia who are the key contributors to OzGrav. Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from our collaboration with the Centre are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. The In-Kind support from the Institute for gravitational Research in Glasgow to this collaboration consists of researcher time and facility access for computer moddelling. It comes to a total of 537,700 AUD. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Institute for Gravitational Research has had long-standing links with researchers in Australia who are the key contributors to OzGrav. Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from our collaboration with the Centre are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. |
| Impact | Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from this collaboration are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Partnership between the Institute for Gravitational Research and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) |
| Organisation | Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation |
| Country | Australia |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | The Institute for Gravitational Research has had long-standing links with researchers in Australia who are the key contributors to OzGrav. Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from our collaboration with the Centre are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. The In-Kind support from the Institute for gravitational Research in Glasgow to this collaboration consists of researcher time and facility access for computer moddelling. It comes to a total of 537,700 AUD. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Institute for Gravitational Research has had long-standing links with researchers in Australia who are the key contributors to OzGrav. Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from our collaboration with the Centre are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. |
| Impact | Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from this collaboration are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Partnership between the Institute for Gravitational Research and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) |
| Organisation | Kavli Institute for Theoretical Sciences |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | The Institute for Gravitational Research has had long-standing links with researchers in Australia who are the key contributors to OzGrav. Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from our collaboration with the Centre are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. The In-Kind support from the Institute for gravitational Research in Glasgow to this collaboration consists of researcher time and facility access for computer moddelling. It comes to a total of 537,700 AUD. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Institute for Gravitational Research has had long-standing links with researchers in Australia who are the key contributors to OzGrav. Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from our collaboration with the Centre are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. |
| Impact | Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from this collaboration are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Partnership between the Institute for Gravitational Research and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) |
| Organisation | LIGO |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The Institute for Gravitational Research has had long-standing links with researchers in Australia who are the key contributors to OzGrav. Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from our collaboration with the Centre are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. The In-Kind support from the Institute for gravitational Research in Glasgow to this collaboration consists of researcher time and facility access for computer moddelling. It comes to a total of 537,700 AUD. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Institute for Gravitational Research has had long-standing links with researchers in Australia who are the key contributors to OzGrav. Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from our collaboration with the Centre are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. |
| Impact | Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from this collaboration are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Partnership between the Institute for Gravitational Research and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) |
| Organisation | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Department | MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The Institute for Gravitational Research has had long-standing links with researchers in Australia who are the key contributors to OzGrav. Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from our collaboration with the Centre are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. The In-Kind support from the Institute for gravitational Research in Glasgow to this collaboration consists of researcher time and facility access for computer moddelling. It comes to a total of 537,700 AUD. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Institute for Gravitational Research has had long-standing links with researchers in Australia who are the key contributors to OzGrav. Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from our collaboration with the Centre are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. |
| Impact | Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from this collaboration are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Partnership between the Institute for Gravitational Research and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) |
| Organisation | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The Institute for Gravitational Research has had long-standing links with researchers in Australia who are the key contributors to OzGrav. Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from our collaboration with the Centre are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. The In-Kind support from the Institute for gravitational Research in Glasgow to this collaboration consists of researcher time and facility access for computer moddelling. It comes to a total of 537,700 AUD. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Institute for Gravitational Research has had long-standing links with researchers in Australia who are the key contributors to OzGrav. Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from our collaboration with the Centre are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. |
| Impact | Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from this collaboration are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Partnership between the Institute for Gravitational Research and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) |
| Organisation | Max Planck Society |
| Department | Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The Institute for Gravitational Research has had long-standing links with researchers in Australia who are the key contributors to OzGrav. Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from our collaboration with the Centre are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. The In-Kind support from the Institute for gravitational Research in Glasgow to this collaboration consists of researcher time and facility access for computer moddelling. It comes to a total of 537,700 AUD. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Institute for Gravitational Research has had long-standing links with researchers in Australia who are the key contributors to OzGrav. Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from our collaboration with the Centre are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. |
| Impact | Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from this collaboration are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Partnership between the Institute for Gravitational Research and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) |
| Organisation | National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) |
| Department | Goddard Space Flight Center |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | The Institute for Gravitational Research has had long-standing links with researchers in Australia who are the key contributors to OzGrav. Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from our collaboration with the Centre are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. The In-Kind support from the Institute for gravitational Research in Glasgow to this collaboration consists of researcher time and facility access for computer moddelling. It comes to a total of 537,700 AUD. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Institute for Gravitational Research has had long-standing links with researchers in Australia who are the key contributors to OzGrav. Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from our collaboration with the Centre are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. |
| Impact | Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from this collaboration are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Partnership between the Institute for Gravitational Research and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) |
| Organisation | University of Warwick |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The Institute for Gravitational Research has had long-standing links with researchers in Australia who are the key contributors to OzGrav. Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from our collaboration with the Centre are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. The In-Kind support from the Institute for gravitational Research in Glasgow to this collaboration consists of researcher time and facility access for computer moddelling. It comes to a total of 537,700 AUD. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Institute for Gravitational Research has had long-standing links with researchers in Australia who are the key contributors to OzGrav. Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from our collaboration with the Centre are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. |
| Impact | Some of the key activities that have arisen to date from this collaboration are in the areas of low frequency performance gravitational wave detectors, future detector planning and detector commissioning. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Title | Finesse model for Balanced Homodyne Detection in LIGO A+ |
| Description | Nodal model of the optical system for Balanced Homodyne Detection written using optical design software developed for the simulation of the interferometers used in gravitational wave detection. Integrated with top-level model for LIGO. |
| Type Of Technology | Physical Model/Kit |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Impact | The techniques embodied within this tool, developed for the LIGO project have been applied to a number of different projects outside of the LIGO collaboration. Notably, they have been of use in offering technical assistance to two different SME businesses operating in the UK. They have also been applied to research being conducted under STFC grant, ST/V005634/1, Investigations in Gravitational Radiation, and have formed the basis of a master's project. |
| URL | https://dcc.ligo.org/LIGO-T2000677 |
| Title | Mechanical Design |
| Description | Detailed Mechanical Design of Balanced Homodyne Detection System for LIGO A+. Comprising: Mechanical Drawings: 187 Engineering Specifications: 37 Presentations: 42 Technical Notes: 20 Contractual Documents: 10 Quality Assurance: 1 |
| Type Of Technology | Systems, Materials & Instrumental Engineering |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | Mechanical Design to the highest professional standards is instrumental to the success of LIGO A+ and represents a substantial part of the output from the project. |
| Title | Mode-Matching Calculator |
| Description | A tool to perform mode matching calculations including astigmatism, with LIGO mode-matching as an example. Library of Python scripts. |
| Type Of Technology | Physical Model/Kit |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Impact | The techniques embodied within this tool, developed for the LIGO project have been applied to a number of different projects outside of the LIGO collaboration. Notably, they have been invaluable in offering technical assistance to two different SME businesses operating in the UK. They have also been applied to research being conducted under STFC grant, ST/V005634/1, Investigations in Gravitational Radiation, and have formed the basis of three master's projects. |
| URL | https://github.com/jhb123/mode-matching-calculator |
| Title | PendUtil library in Mathematica for simulation of vibration isolation systems in gravitational wave detectors |
| Description | A set of Mathematica packages for modeling pendulum suspensions used for vibration isolation of optics in gravitational wave detectors. It supports rigid-body mass elements, springs, and wires with longitudinal, bending and torsional elasticity, and allows each element to have frequency-dependent complex damping function so that it can calculate suspension thermal noise of the optic or other point of interest. Using this toolkit, suspension models have been developed for seven different suspension types of interest to LIGO, as well as many others for Virgo, KAGRA, GEO and various research-lab suspensions. All of models support export of numeric state-state matrices to Matlab for more convenient controls design, and most also support export of symbolic state-space matrices in Matlab code. Anyone in the GW community is welcome to use the software if credit is given, but it has not been formally open-sourced. The reference copy is in the LIGO SUS SVN repository, but non-LIGO people can contact the author (Mark Barton) for a copy. |
| Type Of Technology | Physical Model/Kit |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Impact | The main toolkit has been developed over several decades, especially at LIGO in the period 2008-2014, but continues to be maintained and extended. Since 2019, when the lead author joined A+UK, several new models have been developed, especially one for a single stage payload platform supported by three blades (2020) for the BHSS suspension being developed by A+UK (or, with a different parameter set, its predecessor, the aLIGO OPOS suspension). Parameter sets for the generic LIGO triple suspension model have been developed for the HRTS and BBSS suspensions being developed by A+UK for LIGO A+. Outside of A+UK, a new model for a "heavy" quad suspension has been developed for a possible post-A+ upgrade of LIGO. A KAGRA "Type A" cryogenic suspension model was done to explore issues related with correctly calculating thermal noise in suspensions with significant temperature differentials, and several candidate cryogenic test suspensions to be built at Glasgow have also been modeled. |
| URL | https://dcc.ligo.org/LIGO-T020205/public |
| Title | Zemax model for Balanced Homodyne Detection in LIGO A+ |
| Description | Zemax model of the optics and beam path on HAM6 in the BHD scheme for A+. Zemax model of LO beam from PR2 (HAM3) to BHDBS2 (HAM6). Model in ray-tracing software interfacing with top-level model for LIGO. Separate models for each detection site (LHO and LLO). |
| Type Of Technology | Physical Model/Kit |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Impact | The techniques embodied within this tool, developed for the LIGO project have been applied to a number of different projects outside of the LIGO collaboration. Notably, they have been useful in offering technical assistance to two different SME businesses operating in the UK. They have also been applied to research being conducted under STFC grant, ST/V005634/1, Investigations in Gravitational Radiation. |
| URL | https://dcc.ligo.org/LIGO-E2000608 |