Kavli Affiliate: Lee McCuller
| First 5 Authors: Dhruva Ganapathy, Lee McCuller, Jameson Graef Rollins, Evan D. Hall, Lisa Barsotti
| Summary:
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 post-merger signal detection. We compare two such tuning
strategies to turn Advanced LIGO into a post-merger-focused instrument: first,
a wideband tuning that enhances the instrument’s signal-to-noise ratio 40–80%
broadly above SI{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 post-merger parameters, the detuned instrument has a
${lesssim}40%$ sensitivity improvement compared to the wideband instrument.
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