Tuning Advanced LIGO to kilohertz signals from neutron-star collisions

Dhruva Ganapathy, Lee McCuller, Jameson Graef Rollins, Evan D. Hall, Lisa Barsotti, and Matthew Evans
Phys. Rev. D 103, 022002 – Published 11 January 2021

Abstract

Gravitational waves produced at kilohertz frequencies in the aftermath of a neutron star collision can shed light on the behavior of matter at extreme temperatures and densities that are inaccessible to laboratory experiments. Gravitational-wave interferometers are limited by quantum noise at these frequencies but can be tuned via their optical configuration to maximize the probability of postmerger signal detection. We compare two such tuning strategies to turn Advanced LIGO into a postmerger-focused instrument: first, a wideband tuning that enhances the instrument’s signal-to-noise ratio 40–80% broadly above 1 kHz relative to the baseline, with a modest sensitivity penalty at lower frequencies; second, a “detuned” configuration that provides even more enhancement than the wideband tuning, but over only a narrow frequency band and at the expense of substantially worse quantum noise performance elsewhere. With an optimistic accounting for instrument loss and uncertainty in postmerger parameters, the detuned instrument has a 40% sensitivity improvement compared to the wideband instrument.

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  • Received 29 October 2020
  • Accepted 17 December 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.103.022002

© 2021 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Gravitation, Cosmology & Astrophysics

Authors & Affiliations

Dhruva Ganapathy1,*, Lee McCuller1, Jameson Graef Rollins2, Evan D. Hall1, Lisa Barsotti1, and Matthew Evans1

  • 1LIGO Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 185 Albany Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
  • 2LIGO Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E California Blvd, Pasadena, California 91125, USA

  • *dhruva96@mit.edu

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Vol. 103, Iss. 2 — 15 January 2021

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