Lightsaber: A Simulator of the Angular Sensing and Control System in LIGO

Abstract

The suspended test masses of gravitational-wave (GW) detectors require precise alignment to be able to operate the detector stably and with high sensitivity. This includes the continuous counter-acting of seismic disturbances, which, below a few Hertz, are not sufficiently reduced by the seismic isolation system. The residual angular motion of suspended test masses is further suppressed by the Angular Sensing and Control (ASC) system. However, in doing so, the angular motion can be enhanced by the ASC at higher frequencies where the seismic isolation system is very effective. This has led to sensitivity limitations between about 10 Hz and 25 Hz of the LIGO detectors in past observation runs. The observed ASC noise was larger than simple models predict, which means that more accurate detector models and new simulation tools are required. In this article, we present Lightsaber, a new time-domain simulator of the ASC in LIGO. Lightsaber is a nonlinear simulation of the optomechanical system consisting of the high-power cavity laser beam and the last two stages of suspension in LIGO including the ASC. The main noise inputs are power fluctuations of the laser beam at the input of the arm cavities, read-out noise of sensors used for the ASC, displacement noise from the suspension platforms, and noise introduced by the suspension damping loops. While the plant simulation uses local degrees of freedom of individual suspension systems, the control is applied on a global angular basis, which requires a conversion between the local and global bases for sensing and actuation. Some of the studies that can be done with this simulation concern mis-centering of the beam-spot (BS) position on the test masses, the role of laser power fluctuations for angular dynamics, and the role of the various nonlinear dynamics. The next important step following this work will be a detailed comparison between Lightsaber results and data from the control channels of the LIGO detectors.

Opportunities and limits of lunar gravitational-wave detection

“…Another technological challenge of the LBI-SUS concept, which does not appear in our modelled noise budget, is its angular controls especially with regards to the Sidles-Sigg effect. This effect results from optomechanical dynamics involving the suspended optics and laser beam [67,68].…”

“…Noise from stray light interacting with the pipe must be investigated. Another technological challenge of the LBI-SUS concept, which does not appear in our modelled noise budget, is its angular controls especially with regards to the Sidles–Sigg effect. This effect results from optomechanical dynamics involving the suspended optics and laser beam [67,68]. The optomechanical coupling gives rise to two eigenmodes for each of the two angular degrees of freedom of the two test masses forming an arm cavity.…”

Lunar Gravitational-Wave Detection

“…Furthermore, while the interferometer control of GLOC would likely be significantly simpler than what is needed for terrestrial detectors, there are intrinsic effects that need to be counteracted like radiation pressure and strong enhancement of vibrations at the suspension resonances. Such controls are known to inject considerable noise into the system at low frequencies (Andric and Harms 2021).…”

Reducing controls noise in gravitational wave detectors with interferometric local damping of suspended optics

“…Current simulation models don't correctly predict the LIGO interferometers' total noise budget for the 10-20 Hz region. Steps are being taken to model non-linear couplings into DARM [23] and to use machine learning for non-linear noise prediction and suppression [14,24].…”