Department of Physics, Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Phys Rev Lett. 2013 Apr 26;110(17):171102. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.171102. Epub 2013 Apr 25.
Laser frequency noise is a dominant noise background for the detection of gravitational waves using long-baseline optical interferometry. Amelioration of this noise requires near simultaneous strain measurements on more than one interferometer baseline, necessitating, for example, more than two satellites for a space-based detector or two interferometer arms for a ground-based detector. We describe a new detection strategy based on recent advances in optical atomic clocks and atom interferometry which can operate at long baselines and which is immune to laser frequency noise. Laser frequency noise is suppressed because the signal arises strictly from the light propagation time between two ensembles of atoms. This new class of sensor allows sensitive gravitational wave detection with only a single baseline. This approach also has practical applications in, for example, the development of ultrasensitive gravimeters and gravity gradiometers.
激光频率噪声是使用长基线光学干涉仪检测引力波的主要噪声背景。要改善这种噪声，需要在多个干涉仪基线同时进行应变测量，例如，对于基于太空的探测器需要使用三颗以上的卫星，或者对于基于地面的探测器需要使用两个干涉仪臂。我们描述了一种新的检测策略，该策略基于光学原子钟和原子干涉测量技术的最新进展，可以在长基线运行，并且对激光频率噪声具有免疫力。激光频率噪声被抑制，因为信号仅源自两个原子集之间的光传播时间。这种新型传感器可以仅使用单个基线实现对引力波的灵敏检测。这种方法在超灵敏重力计和重力梯度计的开发等方面也具有实际应用。
