High Precision Mechanical Tiltmeter for Advanced LIGO

适用于先进 LIGO 的高精度机械倾斜仪

• 批准号: 1306613
• 负责人: Jens Gundlach
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: University of Washington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-09-01 至 2016-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1306613&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Precision; Mechanical; Tiltmeter; Advanced; LIGO

Unprecedented levels of seismic isolation are required to achieve the sensitivity necessary to observe gravitational waves in Advanced LIGO. This award supports the development of instruments and techniques to ammeliorate the effect of seismic vibrations on the overall detector performance. The active seismic isolation stages in Advanced LIGO employ seismometers located on the ground and on the isolated platform to measure and subtract ground motion. However, horizontal seismometers cannot distinguish between ground tilt and horizontal acceleration. Tilt-horizontal coupling complicates the feedback and is a significant noise source for seismic isolation in Advanced LIGO. This award supports the development of a high precision inertial sensor to measure horizontal tilt independently from horizontal acceleration. Removing tilt and tilt noise from the horizontal seismometer channels will improve Advanced LIGO seismic isolation.The tiltmeters we are developing are unique and not commercially available. These instruments may have applications in other fields of science such as in geophysics, well beyond gravitational wave research. This award not only supports the development of a device for Advanced LIGO but it also serves to maintain and strengthen synergistic activities of our table-top gravity group with the gravitational wave detection community. The technical developments and experiments are carried out by a university-based research group, which has a strong tradition of educating undergraduate students, graduate students and postdocs in building precision mechanical instruments. With the expertise gained through projects, such as developing a one-of-a-kind tiltmeter, our students fill positions in academia as well as highly skilled positions in industry. Our group is strongly committed to outreach on all levels.

要达到高级 LIGO 中观测引力波所需的灵敏度，需要达到前所未有的隔震水平。该奖项支持仪器和技术的开发，以改善地震振动对探测器整体性能的影响。 Advanced LIGO 的主动隔震阶段采用位于地面和隔离平台上的地震仪来测量和减去地面运动。然而，水平地震仪无法区分地面倾斜和水平加速度。倾斜水平耦合使反馈变得复杂，并且是高级 LIGO 中隔震的重要噪声源。该奖项支持开发高精度惯性传感器，以独立于水平加速度来测量水平倾斜。消除水平地震仪通道中的倾斜和倾斜噪声将改善高级 LIGO 隔震功能。我们正在开发的倾斜仪是独一无二的，尚未商用。这些仪器可能在地球物理学等其他科学领域有应用，远远超出了引力波研究的范围。该奖项不仅支持先进 LIGO 设备的开发，而且还有助于维持和加强我们的桌面重力组与引力波探测界的协同活动。技术开发和实验由大学研究小组进行，该研究小组在教育本科生、研究生和博士后建造精密机械仪器方面拥有悠久的传统。凭借通过开发独一无二的倾斜仪等项目获得的专业知识，我们的学生可以填补学术界的职位以及工业界的高技能职位。我们的团队坚定地致力于各个层面的推广。