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Gravitational wave detection with atom interferometry

Posted on:2010-07-22Degree:Ph.DType:Dissertation
University:Stanford UniversityCandidate:Rajendran, SurjeetFull Text:PDF
GTID:1440390002981750Subject:Physics
Abstract/Summary:
We propose two distinct atom interferometer (AI) based gravitational wave (GW) detectors. The terrestrial setup operates with strain sensitivity ∼ 10-19Hz in the 1 Hz - 10 Hz band and detects GWs from compact binaries out to a megaparsec. The satellite experiment probes LISA's frequency spectrum with comparable strain sensitivity ∼ 10-20Hz . Each setup compares two distant AIs run using common lasers. The use of ballistic atoms (instead of mirrors) as test masses improves systematics coming from vibrations and acceleration noise, and reduces spacecraft control requirements.
Keywords/Search Tags:Gravitational wave, Strain sensitivity &sim
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