Collaborative Research: Enabling Megawatt Optical Power in Cosmic Explorer

引力波天文学为研究宇宙打开了一扇新的窗口。在爱因斯坦预言引力波一个世纪之后，激光干涉仪引力波天文台（LIGO）首次直接观测到黑洞和中子星合并产生的引力波，从而回报了数十年的投资。宇宙探索者是美国下一代引力波天文台的概念，旨在将引力波天文学的范围推向可观测宇宙的边缘，在一个十倍大的设施中使用经过验证的LIGO技术。通过观察黑洞和中子星，探索宇宙中最极端物质的本质，以及探索重力和基础物理学的问题，宇宙探索者号将在物理学、天文学和宇宙学领域实现革命性的发现。该合同支持设计自适应光学传感和控制系统的研究，该系统对宇宙探索者至关重要。宇宙探索者的成功将重塑引力波天体物理学领域和当前早期职业研究人员的未来。通过清除实现这一目标的关键技术障碍，该奖项将确保引力波科学继续激励全国各地的年轻科学家发挥他们作为未来世界领先研究人员的潜力。为了达到前所未有的灵敏度，宇宙探索者将需要比大型干涉仪更高的循环激光功率（1.5 MW）。这项工作的目标是通过为宇宙探测器开发一种模式传感和控制系统的初步设计，使激光干涉测量达到兆瓦级，该系统能够克服限制当前探测器的热致光学像差。具体来说，宇宙探测器的热补偿要求将被建模，记录已知的波前误差源必须被检测和纠正的程度，以达到探测器的设计灵敏度。然后，将全面评估当前和新兴的技术选择，在可能的情况下进行下行选择，以提供用于光学模式传感和控制的探测器子系统概念设计。该合同支持的这项工作将纳入探测器的整体设计，预计从合同开始日期起大约五年内进行概念设计审查。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Gravitational-wave astronomy has opened a new window on the universe. A century after Einstein predicted gravitational waves, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) has rewarded decades of investment with the first direct observations of gravitational waves from merging black holes and neutron stars. Cosmic Explorer, a concept for a next-generation gravitational-wave observatory in the United States, aims to push the reach of gravitational-wave astronomy to the edge of the observable universe, using proven LIGO technology in a ten times larger facility. Cosmic Explorer will enable transformative discoveries across physics, astronomy, and cosmology, by observing black holes and neutron stars across cosmic time, probing the nature of the most extreme matter in the universe, and exploring questions in gravity and fundamental physics. This award supports research to design an adaptive optical sensing and controls system critical to enabling Cosmic Explorer. The success of Cosmic Explorer will reshape the field of gravitational-wave astrophysics and the futures of current early-career researchers. By clearing a key technological hurdle towards its realization, this award will ensure that gravitational-wave science continues inspiring young scientists across the country to fulfill their potential as the world-leading researchers of the future.To achieve its unprecedented sensitivity, Cosmic Explorer will require much higher circulating laser power (1.5 MW) than has ever been demonstrated in a large interferometer. The objective of this work is to enable laser interferometry at the megawatt scale, by developing the initial design of a Mode Sensing and Control system for Cosmic Explorer capable of overcoming the thermally-induced optical aberrations that limit current detectors. Specifically, Cosmic Explorer’s thermal compensation requirements will be modeled, documenting the degree to which known sources of wavefront error must be sensed and corrected to achieve the detector design sensitivity. Then, current and emerging technological options will be comprehensively assessed, making down-selections where possible, to deliver a detector subsystem conceptual design for optical mode sensing and control. This work supported by this award will feed into the overall detector design, ahead of a conceptual design review anticipated to take place roughly five years from the award start date.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.