Analysis of a quantum nondemolition speed-meter interferometer

In the quest to develop viable designs for third-generation optical interferometric gravitational-wave detectors (e.g. LIGO-III and EURO), one strategy is to monitor the relative momentum or speed of the test-mass mirrors rather than monitoring their relative position. This paper describes and analyzes the most straightforward design for a speed meter interferometer that accomplishes this—a design (due to Braginsky, Gorodetsky, Khalili and Thorne) that is analogous to a microwave-cavity speed meter conceived by Braginsky and Khalili. A mathematical mapping between the microwave speed meter and the optical interferometric speed meter is developed and is used to show [in accord with the speed being a quantum nondemolition observable] that in principle the interferometric speed meter can beat the gravitational-wave standard quantum limit (SQL) by an arbitrarily large amount, over an arbitrarily wide range of frequencies, and can do so without the use of squeezed vacuum or any auxiliary filter cavities at the interferometer’s input or output. However, in practice, to reach or beat the SQL, this specific speed meter requires exorbitantly high input light power. The physical reason for this is explored, along with other issues such as constraints on performance due to optical dissipation. This analysis forms a foundation for ongoing attempts to develop a more practical variant of an interferometric speed meter and to combine the speed meter concept with other ideas to yield a promising LIGO-III/EURO interferometer design that entails low laser power.