Development of New Diagnostic Techniques for Preliminary and in Situ Characterization of Advanced LIGO Optical Components

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A research program carried out by scientists at the University of Florida and the Institute in collaboration with the Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences to investigate how high power laser beams can distort precision optical components in gravitational wave detectors through absorption and heating. Methods will be developed for remotely measuring optical path distortions on the order of one billionth of a meter. In addition, novel methods for isolating back-propagating high power laser beams will be developed to prevent interactions with sensitive, phase-stabilized lasers. This research will play a major role in facilitating the operation of ground-based gravitational wave detectors such as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO). The detection of gravitational waves by large-scale high power laser-based interferometers will open a new window on the universe through the detection of cataclysmic astrophysical phenomena such as black hole-neutron star collisions. To enhance the sensitivity of future interferometers, highly sensitive measurement techniques such as those developed here are crucial for sensing the operational state of these interferometers, the most sensitive instruments ever constructed.