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Modern interferometers such as LIGO have achieved sensitivities limited by quantum noise, comprising radiation pressure and shot noise. To mitigate this noise, a static system is employed that minimizes the quantum noise within the measurement band. However, since gravitational wave inspiral signals are a single frequency changing over time, only noise at the chirp frequency needs to be minimized. Here we demonstrate a proof-of-principle experiment of dynamically tracking a target signal using an optical spring, resulting in an increased signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). By injecting white noise to simulate excess shot noise, we found the SNR increased by up to a factor of 40 via dynamical tracking when compared to a static configuration.
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This content will become publicly available on December 1, 2026
Wave-particle duality in the measurement of gravitational radiation
In a consistent description of the quantum measurement process, whether the wave or particlelike aspect of a system is revealed depends on the details of the measurement chain, and cannot be interpreted as an objective fact about the system independent of the measurement. We show precisely how this comes to be in the measurement of gravitational radiation. Whether a wave or particlelike aspect is revealed is a property of the detector employed at the end of the quantum measurement chain, rather than of the meter, such as a gravitational-wave (GW) antenna or resonant bar, used to couple the radiation to the detector. A linear detector yields no signal for radiation in a Fock state and a signal proportional to the amplitude in a coherent state—supporting a wavelike interpretation. In contrast, the signal from a detector coupled to the meter's energy is nonzero only when the incident radiation contains at least a single graviton. Thus, conceptually simple modifications of contemporary GW antennae can reveal wave-particle duality in the measurement of gravitational radiation.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2441238
- PAR ID:
- 10663348
- Publisher / Repository:
- American Physical Society
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Physical Review Research
- Volume:
- 7
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 2643-1564
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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