CAREER: Detector Technology and Science Education in the Era of Gravitational Wave Astrophysics

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This CAREER award funds research at Syracuse University to support Advanced LIGO's quest to observe the gravitational wave universe. The research will include monitoring Advanced LIGO's data quality and developing hardware for upgrading the detectors. Specifically supported are i) The design and development of adaptive mode-matching for Advanced LIGO's output mode cleaner, enabling the use of non-classical squeezed-vacuum in the detector to improve the observational range. ii) A search for rare detector artifacts and low-level environmental correlations, prone to diminish the scientific return from Advanced LIGO. Einstein's general theory of relativity predicts that violent cosmic events, such as for example colliding neutron stars, lead to tiny distortions of space-time here on earth, measurable as minuscule fluctuations in the distance between suspended optical mirrors. The NSF-funded Advanced LIGO project intends to precisely measure these so-called gravitational waves. Advanced LIGO's sensitivity is limited by the quantization of light, but can be improved by using an additional non-classical light source. Such light sources are however extremely sensitive to optical losses. This award supports the development of adaptive elements in the beam path to guarantee that all the light coming from the interferometer can be detected. Additionally, environmental disturbances have the potential to mimic the tiny distance fluctuations due to gravitational waves. This award supports monitoring Advanced LIGO's data for such disturbances. The first direct observation of gravitational waves will be a scientific break-through echoed in the news media, providing an outreach opportunity. The award supports workshops for high school teachers to bring the excitement of new scientific discoveries in this brand-new field of astronomy to high school class rooms.