Collaborative Research: Enabling Megawatt Optical Power in Cosmic Explorer

引力波天文学为我们打开了一扇了解宇宙的新窗口。在爱因斯坦预测引力波一个世纪后，激光干涉仪引力波天文台(LIGO)回报了数十年的投资，首次直接观测到来自合并的黑洞和中子星的引力波。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覆盖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。宇宙探险家将通过跨宇宙时间观察黑洞和中子星，探索宇宙中最极端物质的性质，以及探索引力和基础物理问题，从而实现跨越物理学、天文学和宇宙学的变革性发现。该奖项支持设计一种对实现宇宙探索者至关重要的自适应光学传感和控制系统的研究。宇宙探索者的成功将重塑引力波天体物理学领域和当前职业生涯早期研究人员的未来。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。为了实现其前所未有的灵敏度，宇宙探索者将需要比大型干涉仪中展示的更高的循环激光功率(1.5兆瓦)。这项工作的目标是通过开发宇宙探测器模式传感和控制系统的初步设计，使激光干涉测量能够达到兆瓦级，该系统能够克服限制电流探测器的热诱导光学像差。具体地说，将对宇宙探索者的热补偿要求进行建模，记录必须在多大程度上感测和校正已知的波前误差源，以实现探测器设计的灵敏度。然后，将对当前和新兴的技术选择进行全面评估，在可能的情况下做出选择，以提供光学模式传感和控制的探测器子系统概念设计。这项由该奖项支持的工作将纳入整个探测器设计，预计将在奖项开始后大约五年内进行概念设计审查。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.