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的世纪后，激光干涉引力波天文台（LIGO）已经回报了数十年的投资，首次直接观测到了黑洞和中子星合并产生的引力波。Cosmic Explorer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。宇宙探索者将通过观察宇宙时间中的黑洞和中子星，探索宇宙中最极端物质的性质，并探索引力和基础物理学中的问题，实现物理学，天文学和宇宙学的变革性发现。该奖项支持设计自适应光学传感和控制系统的研究，这对实现宇宙探测器至关重要。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。为了实现前所未有的灵敏度，宇宙探索者将需要比大型干涉仪更高的循环激光功率（1.5兆瓦）。这项工作的目的是使激光干涉测量在兆瓦级，通过开发的模式传感和控制系统的宇宙探测器的初始设计，能够克服热诱导的光学像差，限制当前的探测器。具体来说，宇宙探索者的热补偿要求将被建模，记录的程度，已知的波前误差源必须被感测和校正，以实现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项，在可能的情况下进行向下选择，以提供用于光学模式感测和控制的检测器子系统概念设计。该奖项支持的这项工作将在预计自奖项开始之日起大约五年后进行的概念设计审查之前纳入整体探测器设计中。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力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.