RUI: Improving LIGO Optics and Data Quality to Increase the Rate and Accuracy of Gravitational-Wave Observations

RUI：改进 LIGO 光学器件和数据质量，提高引力波观测的速率和精度

• 批准号: 1807069
• 负责人: Joshua Smith
• 金额: $ 29.95万
• 依托单位: CSU Fullerton Auxiliary Services Corporation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-08-15 至 2022-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1807069&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Improving; LIGO; Optics; Data

A century after the prediction of gravitational waves by Albert Einstein, the NSF-funded Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (Advanced LIGO) opened a new window on the Universe by discovering gravitational waves from merging binary systems of black holes and neutron stars. This award will extend the reach of Advanced LIGO, helping it to achieve its full promise. In particular, it will support research to reduce the amount of light that is "lost" when it hits the optics in gravitational-wave detectors and to apply Machine Learning techniques to find and remove disturbances in the detector data. This research will involve and provide transferable skills to a diverse team of undergraduate and Master's students at California State University Fullerton, a primarily undergraduate and Hispanic-serving institution. The results of this research will improve upon the state-of-the art in optics and deepen our understanding of the Universe through new gravitational-wave discoveries. This award renews support for California State University Fullerton's experimental gravitational-wave physics program. The PI will lead a team of undergraduate and master's students in research focused on two areas critical to extending the reach of Advanced LIGO. First, they will adapt techniques from Machine Learning to identify the physical processes that cause time-varying noise in the instruments and work to ameliorate them. This will increase the rate of gravitational-wave observations and the accuracy of the information extracted from them. Second, they will conduct experiments to identify the mechanisms behind light scattering in gravitational-wave detector optics, a key to the quantum noise that directly limits LIGO's sensitivity. A new instrument will be developed to test whether the long mysterious point-like scatter from LIGO optics is related to micro-crystals formed during annealing of the optics. This work will lead to higher quality optics and improve quantum-noise reduction techniques such as squeezed light in future gravitational-wave observatories.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

在阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦（Albert Einstein）预测引力波之后的一个世纪之后，NSF资助的高级激光干涉仪重力波动台（Advanced Ligo）通过发现从黑洞和中子星的二元系统中发现引力波，从而在宇宙上打开了一个新窗口。该奖项将延长高级Ligo的影响力，帮助其实现其全部承诺。特别是，它将支持研究，以减少在重力波检测器中击中光学元件并应用机器学习技术以查找和消除检测器数据中的干扰时“丢失”的光量。这项研究将涉及并提供可转移的技能，并在加利福尼亚州立大学富勒顿大学的多元化本科生和硕士学生团队中提供可转移的技能，这是一家主要是本科和西班牙裔服务机构。这项研究的结果将改善光学技术的最新技术，并通过新的引力波发现加深我们对宇宙的理解。 该奖项更新了加利福尼亚州立大学富勒顿的实验重力波物理计划的支持。 PI将领导一支本科生和硕士学生的研究团队，重点是扩大高级Ligo覆盖范围的两个领域。首先，它们将从机器学习中调整技术，以确定在仪器中引起时变噪声并改善它们的物理过程。这将增加重力波观测的速率以及从中提取的信息的准确性。其次，他们将进行实验，以确定重力波检测器光学散射背后的机制，这是直接限制Ligo灵敏度的量子噪声的关键。将开发一种新仪器来测试Ligo光学的长长的神秘点状散射是否与光学退火过程中形成的微晶有关。这项工作将导致更高质量的光学功能，并改善量子噪声减少技术，例如未来重力波观察者中的挤压光。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛影响的审查标准来评估的支持。

项目成果

Imaging Scatterometer for Observing Changes to Optical Coatings During Air Annealing

用于观察空气退火过程中光学涂层变化的成像散射仪

• DOI: 10.1364/oic.2022.thb.3
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Optical Interference Coatings Conference (OIC
• 作者: Rezac, Michael;Martinez, Daniel;Gleckl, Amy;Smith, Joshua R.
• 通讯作者: Smith, Joshua R.

Apparatus to Measure Optical Scatter of Coatings Versus Annealing Temperature

测量涂层光学散射与退火温度的仪器

• DOI: 10.1364/oic.2019.fa.2
• 发表时间: 2019
• 作者: Smith, Joshua R.;Adhikari, Rana X;Aleman, Katerin M.;Avila-Alvarez, Adrian;Billingsley, Garilynn;Gleckl, Amy;Guerrero, Jazlyn;Markosyan, Ashot;Penn, Steven;Rocha, Juan A.
• 通讯作者: Rocha, Juan A.

Identifying correlations between LIGO’s astronomical range and auxiliary sensors using lasso regression

• DOI: 10.1088/1361-6382/aae593
• 发表时间: 2018-07
• 期刊: Classical and Quantum Gravity
• 影响因子: 3.5
• 作者: M. Walker;A. F. Agnew;J. Bidler;A. Lundgren;A. Macedo;D. Macleod;T. Massinger;O. Patane;J. Smith

GWTC-2: Compact Binary Coalescences Observed by LIGO and Virgo during the First Half of the Third Observing Run

• DOI: 10.1103/physrevx.11.021053
• 发表时间: 2021-06-09
• 期刊: PHYSICAL REVIEW X
• 影响因子: 12.5
• 作者: Abbott, R.;Abbott, T. D.;Zweizig, J.
• 通讯作者: Zweizig, J.

GWTC-1: A Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog of Compact Binary Mergers Observed by LIGO and Virgo during the First and Second Observing Runs

• DOI: 10.1103/physrevx.9.031040
• 发表时间: 2019-09-04
• 期刊: PHYSICAL REVIEW X
• 影响因子: 12.5
• 作者: Abbott, B. P.;Abbott, R.;Zweizig, J.
• 通讯作者: Zweizig, J.