Accurate and Precise Calibration of Advanced LIGO Detectors in the Era of Gravitational Wave Astronomy
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Date
2019-04-30
Authors
Karki, Sudarshan
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
The first direct detection of gravitational waves in 2015, and the multiple detections that followed ushered in the era of gravitational-wave astronomy. With these developments, the focus of the gravitational-wave community shifted from detection to precision measurement, requiring a factor of ten improvement in calibration accuracy to maximize the astrophysical information that can be extracted from these detected signals.
This dissertation discusses the implementation and characterization of a radiation-pressure-based calibration system called the Photon calibrator that is used as the primary calibration reference for the Advanced LIGO detectors. It also discusses the techniques and procedures used to realize sub-percent accuracy calibration of absolute displacement fiducials introduced using the Photon calibrator system during Advanced LIGO’s first and second observing runs.
Using the Photon calibrator systems, frequency dependent calibration of the interferometer responses was achieved at the level of 2-3% in magnitude and 3- 5 degrees in phase across the LIGO detection band. This level of calibration accuracy has already played a significant role in extracting astrophysical parameters from LIGO’s detections. With the LIGO and Virgo detectors operating at design sensitivity, updated rate estimates indicate that measurement of the Hubble constant with gravitational waves with 1% accuracy will be possible within the next decade. This will require absolute amplitude calibration of the detectors at the sub-1% level. This dissertation also discusses the improvements that have been implemented in the Photon calibrator systems that will reduce the uncertainty in absolute displacement to below 0.5%.
The gravitational waves from the post-merger phase of binary neutron stars are expected to contain interesting features at frequencies up to few kHz, carrying rich information about neutron-star astrophysics. This dissertation discusses the calibration errors introduced by test mass deformations caused by calibration forces at frequencies above 1 kHz. The errors, estimated using Finite Element Analysis, is in reasonable agreement with measurement results in the 1 to 5 kHz band. These investigations have enabled the reduction of calibration uncertainty at these frequencies, which should enhance our ability to decipher the neutron star astrophysics encoded in the gravitational wave signals from the post-merger phase.
This dissertation includes previously published co-authored material.
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Keywords
Astrophysics, Gravitational-wave, Interferometer, LIGO, Physics