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arXiv:2503.10332 · Physical review. D/Physical review. D.

Increasing quantum speed meter sensitivity using optical spring

L. A. Barinov, F. Ya. Khalili

Published May 23, 2025• 1 citation
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The double-pass interferometer scheme was proposed in Ref.\,[Light Sci. Appl. {\bf 7}, 11 (2018)] as the method of implementation of the quantum speed meter concept in future laser gravitational-wave (GW) detectors. Later it was shown in Ref.\,[Phys. Rev. D {\bf 110}, 062006 (2024)] that it allows to implement the new type of the optical spring that does not require detuning of the interferometer. Here we show that both these regimes can coexist, combining the speed meter type broadband sensitivity gain with the additional lows-frequency minimum in the quantum noise originated from the optical spring. We show that the location of this minimum can be varied without affecting the core optics of the interferometer, allowing to tune the quantum noise shape in real time to follow the ``chirp'' GW signals.

DOI
10.1103/7mn7-qm31

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The double-pass interferometer scheme was proposed in Ref.,[Light Sci. Appl. {\bf 7}, 11 (2018)] as the method of implementation of the quantum speed meter concept in future laser gravitational-wave (GW) detectors. Later it was shown in Ref.,[Phys. Rev. D {\bf 110}, 062006 (2024)] that it allows to implement the new type of the optical spring that does not require detuning of the interferometer. Here we show that both these regimes can coexist, combining the speed meter type broadband sensitivity gain with the additional lows-frequency minimum in the quantum noise originated from the optical spring. We show that the location of this minimum can be varied without affecting the core optics of the interferometer, allowing to tune the quantum noise shape in real time to follow the ``chirp'' GW signals.
Abstract The recent discovery of gravitational waves (GW) by Advanced LIGO (Laser Interferometric Gravitational-wave Observatory) has impressively launched the novel field of gravitational astronomy and allowed us to glimpse exciting objects about which we could previously only speculate. Further sensitivity improvements at the low-frequency end of the detection band of future GW observatories must rely on quantum non-demolition (QND) methods to suppress fundamental quantum fluctuations of the light fields used to readout the GW signal. Here we present a novel concept of how to turn a conventional Michelson interferometer into a QND speed-meter interferometer with coherently suppressed quantum back-action noise. We use two orthogonal polarizations of light and an optical circulator to couple them. We carry out a detailed analysis of how imperfections and optical loss influence the achievable sensitivity. We find that the proposed configuration significantly enhances the low-frequency sensitivity and increases the observable event rate of binary black-hole coalescences in the range of 102−103 M⊙10^2 - 10^3\,M_ \odot102−103M⊙​ 1 0 2 - 1 0 3 M ⊙ by a factor of up to ~300.
We propose a new implementation of a quantum speed meter QND measurement scheme. It employs two independent optical readouts of the interferometer test masses with different values of the bandwidths and of the optical circulating power, whose outputs have to be combined by an additional beamsplitter. Signals at the two outputs of the beamsplitter are proportional to the position and the velocity of the test masses, respectively. The influence of the position meter-like back action force associated with the position signal can be cancelled using the EPR approach by measuring the amplitude quadrature of the beamsplitter common output. • This is an article for the Special Issue in memory of V.B. Braginsky. • We propose a novel and arguably the simplest scheme of a speed meter interferometer. • Speed meters curb quantum noise at low frequencies, boosting the SNR for GW sources. • Combination of readouts of two detectors with distinct bandwidths yields speed signal. • No significant changes of the current GWD infrastructure is necessary for our scheme.
In the quest to develop viable designs for third-generation optical interferometric gravitational-wave detectors (e.g., LIGO-III and EURO), one strategy is to monitor the relative momentum or speed of the test-mass mirrors, rather than monitoring their relative position. A previous paper analyzed a straightforward but impractical design for a speed-meter interferometer that accomplishes this. This paper describes some practical variants of speed-meter interferometers. Like the original interferometric speed meter, these designs in principle can beat the gravitational-wave standard quantum limit (SQL) by an arbitrarily large amount, over an arbitrarily wide range of frequencies. These variants essentially consist of a Michelson interferometer plus an extra ``sloshing'' cavity that sends the signal back into the interferometer with opposite phase shift, thereby cancelling the position information and leaving a net phase shift proportional to the relative velocity. In practice, the sensitivity of these variants will be limited by the maximum light power Wcirc{W}_{\mathrm{circ}}Wcirc​ circulating in the arm cavities that the mirrors can support and by the leakage of vacuum into the optical train at dissipation points. In the absence of dissipation and with squeezed vacuum (power squeeze factor ${e}^{\ensuremath{-}2R}\ensuremath{\simeq}0.1)$ inserted into the output port so as to keep the circulating power down, the SQL can be beat by ${h/h}_{\mathrm{SQL}}\ensuremath{\sim}\sqrt{{W}_{\mathrm{circ}}^{\mathrm{SQL}}{e}^{\ensuremath{-}2R}{/W}_{\mathrm{circ}}}$ at all frequencies below some chosen ${f}_{\mathrm{opt}}\ensuremath{\simeq}100\mathrm{Hz}.$ Here ${W}_{\mathrm{circ}}^{\mathrm{SQL}}\ensuremath{\simeq}800\mathrm{kW}{(f}_{\mathrm{opt}}/100\mathrm{}\mathrm{Hz}{)}^{3}$ is the power required to reach the SQL in the absence of squeezing. (However, as the power increases in this expression, the speed meter becomes more narrow band; additional power and reoptimization of some parameters are required to maintain the wide band. See Sec. III B.) Estimates are given of the amount by which vacuum leakage at dissipation points will debilitate this sensitivity (see Fig. 12); these losses are 10% or less over most of the frequency range of interest $(f\ensuremath{\gtrsim}10\mathrm{Hz}).$ The sensitivity can be improved, particularly at high freqencies, by using frequency-dependent homodyne detection, which unfortunately requires two 4-km-long filter cavities (see Fig. 4).
We propose a quantum teleportation-based speed meter for interferometric displacement sensing. The primary motivation is to transform a conventional position-sensing interferometer into a quantum non-demolition speed measurement device, without modifying its fundamental optical configuration. Two equivalent implementations are presented: an online approach that uses real-time displacement operation and an offline approach that relies on post-processing. Both implementations reduce quantum radiation pressure noise and surpass the standard quantum limit of measuring displacement, and they can be applied to a wide range of interferometer configurations. We discuss potential applications to gravitational-wave detectors, where our scheme enhances low-frequency sensitivity without requiring modifications to the core optics of a conventional Michelson interferometer (e.g., substrate or coating properties). This approach offers a new path to back-action evasion enabled by quantum entanglement.
Quantum noise is one of the limiting factors in laser-interferometric gravitational-wave (GW) detectors. The application of squeezed states in these interferometers allows the reduction of quantum noise in one quadrature. Due to opto-mechanical coupling in a GW detector the squeezed quadrature needs to be rotated within the spectrum to achieve a broadband noise reduction. So far, the implementation of additional filter cavities is considered that allow for the optimal, frequency-dependent rotation of the squeezed quadrature. However, these cavities need to have low loss, a length in the order of \unit[100]{m} and must be situated in the vacuum system, making them cost-intensive. In 2017, Ma and coworkers proposed a scheme for the broadband quantum-noise reduction without the need of additional filter cavities. It was shown by Brown et al. that a similar scheme can be used to broadband-enhance interferometers with a detuned signal-recycling cavity. Here, we performed a proof-of-principle experiment of the proposal on a table-top-scale. Squeezed states were produced detuned to the carrier field of a \unit[2.5]{m}-linear cavity and read out in a bichromatic homodyne detection. The frequencies of the lower and upper local oscillator were at entangled sidebands of the squeezed field. Depending on the relations between the involved frequencies, we can address both variants of the proposal. We show, that the frequency-dependences of the resulting noise spectra fit to a theoretical model we derived from the theory used by Ma et al. With this work we set the path towards an implementation of these schemes in a GW-detector prototype, where the compatibility of the approach with a low-frequency suspended interferometer can be tested. Moreover, we used the same setup to show nonclassical interferometer enhancement at low frequencies by high-frequency squeezed states. Here, a heterodyne readout scheme was implemented to avoid limiting noises at low frequencies. The application of squeezed states centered around the local oscillator frequency yielded an improvement in signal-to-noise ratio of $\unit[3.4]{dB}\pm\unit[0.3]{dB}$. Additionally, I designed, built and characterized a compact source of squeezed vacuum-states at \unit[1064]{nm} with a footprint of just $\unit[0.8]{m^2}$. I show measurements of squeezed states from this source with a reduction of quantum noise of $\unit[10.7]{dB}\pm\unit[0.2]{dB}$ below the vacuum noise and present a noise reduction in the frequency range from \unit[70]{kHz} to \unit[65]{MHz}.
Several relatively small-scale experimental setups, aimed on prototyping of future laser gravitational-wave detectors and testing of new methods of quantum measurements with macroscopic mechanical objects, are under development now. In these devices, not devoted directly to the gravitational-wave detection, Mach-Zehnder interferometer with pass-through Fabry-Perot cavities in the arms can be used instead of the standard Michelson/Fabry-Perot one. The advantage of this topology is that it does not contain high-reflectivity end mirrors with multilayer coatings, which Brownian noise could constitute the major part of the noise budget of the Michelson/Fabry-Perot interferometers. We consider here two variants of this topology: the ``ordinary'' position meter scheme, and a new variant of the quantum speed meter.