Authors

J. Abadie, California Institute of Technology
B. P. Abbott, California Institute of Technology
R. Abbott, California Institute of Technology
T. D. Abbott, California State University, Fullerton
M. Abernathy, University of Glasgow
C. Adams, LIGO Livingston
R. Adhikari, California Institute of Technology
C. Affeldt, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)
P. Ajith, California Institute of Technology
B. Allen, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)
G. S. Allen, Stanford University
E. Amador Ceron, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
D. Amariutei, University of Florida
R. S. Amin, Louisiana State University
S. B. Anderson, California Institute of Technology
W. G. Anderson, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
K. Arai, California Institute of Technology
M. A. Arain, University of Florida
M. C. Araya, California Institute of Technology
S. M. Aston, University of Birmingham
D. Atkinson, LIGO Hanford
P. Aufmuth, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)
C. Aulbert, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)
B. E. Aylott, University of Birmingham
S. Babak, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)
P. Baker, Montana State University
S. Ballmer, Syracuse University
D. Barker, LIGO Hanford
B. Barr, University of Glasgow
P. Barriga, The University of Western Australia
L. Barsotti, LIGO, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Tiffany Z. Summerscales, Andrews UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2011

Abstract

© 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved. Around the globe several observatories are seeking the first direct detection of gravitational waves (GWs). These waves are predicted by Einstein's general theory of relativity and are generated, for example, by black-hole binary systems. Present GW detectors are Michelson-type kilometre-scale laser interferometers measuring the distance changes between mirrors suspended in vacuum. The sensitivity of these detectors at frequencies above several hundred hertz is limited by the vacuum (zero-point) fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. A quantum technology - the injection of squeezed light - offers a solution to this problem. Here we demonstrate the squeezed-light enhancement of GEO 600, which will be the GW observatory operated by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration in its search for GWs for the next 3-4 years. GEO 600 now operates with its best ever sensitivity, which proves the usefulness of quantum entanglement and the qualification of squeezed light as a key technology for future GW astronomy.

Journal Title

Nature Physics

Volume

7

Issue

12

First Page

962

Last Page

965

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1038/NPHYS2083

First Department

Physics

Acknowledgements

Retrieved January 29, 2021 from https://arxiv.org/pdf/1109.2295.pdf

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