Gravitational Wave Astronomy at the University of Birmingham, STFC Equipment Call 2018

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On September 14, 2015 LIGO directly detected gravitational waves (GWs), completing the quest for the experimental confirmation of a fundamental prediction of Einstein's theory of general relativity.With this observation, followed by another five signals, we have shown the existence of heavy stellar-mass black holes, and established that binary black holes can form and merge within a Hubble time. On August 17, 2017, we detected GW170817, the first observed coalescence of a binary neutron star. The LIGO-VIRGO low-latency 3-dimensional sky localisation enabled the discovery of its optical counterpart and the identification of its host galaxy, which was followed by a remarkable observational campaign of the post-merger remnant across the full electromagnetic spectrum GW observations are already transforming our understanding of black holes, neutron stars, their formation and evolution, the state of matter in the most extreme conditions, and the behaviour of dynamical, strong-field gravity in previously untested regimes. However, this knowledge will be even further advanced once the sensitivity of the GW detectors is improved. Currently, the LIGO sensitivity is diminished by technical control noises below 30 Hz. At higher frequencies, the sensitivity is limited by the quantum noises which are triggered by fundamental vacuum fluctuations of electromagnetic fields. If no new technology is developed, future GW observatories, such as the Einstein Telescope in Europe or LIGO Voyager and Cosmic Explorer in the U.S., will face similar limits. In this proposal, we seek to experimentally demonstrate two new technologies: a 6 degree-of-freedom (6D) seismometer and a quantum filter. In the future, 6D seismometers and quantum filters will increase the signal-to-noise ratio of individual GW sources, expanding the astrophysical reach of the detectors, and will vastly augment the amount of time the source is in band, with spectacular consequences for electromagnetic follow-up campaigns.