1,072 research outputs found
Pump-probe differencing technique for cavity-enhanced, noise-canceling saturation laser spectroscopy
We present an experimental technique enabling mechanical-noise free,
cavity-enhanced frequency measurements of an atomic transition and its
hyperfine structure. We employ the 532nm frequency doubled output from a Nd:YAG
laser and an iodine vapour cell. The cell is placed in a traveling-wave
Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) with counter-propagating pump and probe beams.
The FPI is locked using the Pound-Drever-Hall (PDH) technique. Mechanical noise
is rejected by differencing pump and probe signals. In addition, this
differenced error signal gives a sensitive measure of differential
non-linearity within the FPI.Comment: 3 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Optics Letter
Homodyne locking of a squeezer
We report on the successful implementation of a new approach to locking the
frequencies of an OPO-based squeezed-vacuum source and its driving laser. The
technique allows the simultaneous measurement of the phase-shifts induced by a
cavity, which may be used for the purposes of frequency-locking, as well as the
simultaneous measurement of the sub-quantum-noise-limited (sub-QNL) phase
quadrature output of the OPO. The homodyne locking technique is cheap, easy to
implement and has the distinct advantage that subsequent homodyne measurements
are automatically phase-locked. The homodyne locking technique is also unique
in that it is a sub-QNL frequency discriminator.Comment: Accepted to Optics Letter
Isolation of gravitational waves from displacement noise and utility of a time-delay device
Interferometers with kilometer-scale arms have been built for
gravitational-wave detections on the ground; ones with much longer arms are
being planned for space-based detection. One fundamental motivation for long
baseline interferometry is from displacement noise. In general, the longer the
arm length L, the larger the motion the gravitational-wave induces on the test
masses, until L becomes comparable to the gravitational wavelength. Recently,
schemes have been invented, in which displacement noises can be evaded by
employing differences between the influence of test-mass motions and that of
gravitational waves on light propagation. However, in these schemes, such
differences only becomes significant when L approaches the gravitational
wavelength, and shot-noise limited sensitivity becomes worse than that of
conventional configurations by a factor of at least (f L/c)^(-2), for f<c/L.
Such a factor, although can be overcome theoretically by employing high optical
powers, makes these schemes quite impractical. In this paper, we explore the
use of time delay in displacement-noise-free interferometers, which can improve
their shot-noise-limited sensitivity at low frequencies, to a factor of (f
L/c)^(-1) of the shot-noise-limited sensitivity of conventional configurations.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures, a proceeding for the Spanish Relativity Meeting
ERE 200
Importance of Full-Collapse Vesicle Exocytosis for Synaptic Fatigue-Resistance at Rat Fast and Slow Muscle Neuromuscular Junctions
We would like to thank Dr Robert Banks, Prof Arild NjÄ and Prof Bill Wisden and Dr Phil Sheard for their helpful comments and discussions during the preparation of this manuscript, as well as for the contributions made by undergraduate students Alison Cuthbert, Richard McWilliam and Karen Peters, who helped produce initial observations prompting this study. This work was supported by grants from the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council of the UK (BBSRC-1/511921) and The Wellcome Trust (WT-057994/2/99/Z).Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Optical vernier technique for in-situ measurement of the length of long Fabry-Perot cavities
We propose a method for in-situ measurement of the length of kilometer size
Fabry-Perot cavities in laser gravitational wave detectors. The method is based
on the vernier, which occurs naturally when the laser incident on the cavity
has a sideband. By changing the length of the cavity over several wavelengths
we obtain a set of carrier resonances alternating with sideband resonances.
From the measurement of the separation between the carrier and a sideband
resonance we determine the length of the cavity. We apply the technique to the
measurement of the length of a Fabry-Perot cavity in the Caltech 40m
Interferometer and discuss the accuracy of the technique.Comment: LaTeX 2e, 12 pages, 4 figure
Geophysical studies with laser-beam detectors of gravitational waves
The existing high technology laser-beam detectors of gravitational waves may
find very useful applications in an unexpected area - geophysics. To make
possible the detection of weak gravitational waves in the region of high
frequencies of astrophysical interest, ~ 30 - 10^3 Hz, control systems of laser
interferometers must permanently monitor, record and compensate much larger
external interventions that take place in the region of low frequencies of
geophysical interest, ~ 10^{-5} - 3 X 10^{-3} Hz. Such phenomena as tidal
perturbations of land and gravity, normal mode oscillations of Earth,
oscillations of the inner core of Earth, etc. will inevitably affect the
performance of the interferometers and, therefore, the information about them
will be stored in the data of control systems. We specifically identify the
low-frequency information contained in distances between the interferometer
mirrors (deformation of Earth) and angles between the mirrors' suspensions
(deviations of local gravity vectors and plumb lines). We show that the access
to the angular information may require some modest amendments to the optical
scheme of the interferometers, and we suggest the ways of doing that. The
detailed evaluation of environmental and instrumental noises indicates that
they will not prevent, even if only marginally, the detection of interesting
geophysical phenomena. Gravitational-wave instruments seem to be capable of
reaching, as a by-product of their continuous operation, very ambitious
geophysical goals, such as observation of the Earth's inner core oscillations.Comment: 29 pages including 8 figures, modifications and clarifications in
response to referees' comments, to be published in Class. Quant. Gra
The Definition of Mach's Principle
Two definitions of Mach's principle are proposed. Both are related to gauge
theory, are universal in scope and amount to formulations of causality that
take into account the relational nature of position, time, and size. One of
them leads directly to general relativity and may have relevance to the problem
of creating a quantum theory of gravity.Comment: To be published in Foundations of Physics as invited contribution to
Peter Mittelstaedt's 80th Birthday Festschrift. 30 page
Gravitational wave astronomy
The first decade of the new millenium should see the first direct detections
of gravitational waves. This will be a milestone for fundamental physics and it
will open the new observational science of gravitational wave astronomy. But
gravitational waves already play an important role in the modeling of
astrophysical systems. I review here the present state of gravitational
radiation theory in relativity and astrophysics, and I then look at the
development of detector sensitivity over the next decade, both on the ground
(such as LIGO) and in space (LISA). I review the sources of gravitational waves
that are likely to play an important role in observations by first- and
second-generation interferometers, including the astrophysical information that
will come from these observations. The review covers some 10 decades of
gravitational wave frequency, from the high-frequency normal modes of neutron
stars down to the lowest frequencies observable from space. The discussion of
sources includes recent developments regarding binary black holes, spinning
neutron stars, and the stochastic background.Comment: 29 pages, 2 figures, as submitted for special millenium issue of
Classical and Quantum Gravit
Experimental demonstration of a squeezing enhanced power recycled Michelson interferometer for gravitational wave detection
Interferometric gravitational wave detectors are expected to be limited by
shot noise at some frequencies. We experimentally demonstrate that a power
recycled Michelson with squeezed light injected into the dark port can overcome
this limit. An improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio of 2.3dB is measured
and locked stably for long periods of time. The configuration, control and
signal readout of our experiment are compatible with current gravitational wave
detector designs. We consider the application of our system to long baseline
interferometer designs such as LIGO.Comment: 4 pages 4 figure
- âŠ