1,190 research outputs found
Toward a third generation of gravitational wave observatories
Large gravitational wave interferometric detectors, like Virgo and LIGO, demonstrated the capability to reach their design sensitivity, but to transform these machines into an effective observational instrument for gravitational wave astronomy a large improvement in sensitivity is required. Advanced detectors in the near future and third generation observatories in slightly more than one decade will open the possibility to perform gravitational wave astronomical observations from the Earth. An overview of the technological progress needed to realize a third generation observatory, like the Einstein Telescope (ET), and a possible evolution scenario are discussed in this paper
The GEO600 project
GEO600, an interferometric gravitational-wave detector with an arm length of 600 m, is currently being built in northern Germany close to Hannover. GEO600 incorporates an externally modulated fourfold delay-line Michelson interferometer giving a round-trip optical length of 2400 m. A master - slave combination of a monolithic diode-pumped Nd:YAG ring laser and an injection-locked amplifier will give a light power of about 10 W at a wavelength of 1064 nm. Power recycling increases the light power inside the interferometer to a level of about 10 kW. The use of both power and signal recycling will yield a sensitivity of the same order of magnitude as the first stages of the other large-scale gravitational-wave detectors LIGO and VIRGO currently under construction. High signal recycling factors allow the sensitivity to be increased at a chosen frequency while reducing the bandwidth of the detector. This gives an advantage over broad-band detectors in detecting narrow-band periodic sources such as pulsars. The 25 cm diameter mirrors will be suspended as double pendulums from a platform supported by vibration-reduction systems. The passive filtering properties of this system sufficiently reduce the seismic noise in the frequency range of interest, i.e. 50 - 1000 Hz. The detector will start taking data in the year 2000
Eigenmode in a misaligned triangular optical cavity
We derive relationships between various types of small misalignments on a
triangular Fabry-Perot cavity and associated geometrical eigenmode changes. We
focus on the changes of beam spot positions on cavity mirrors, the beam waist
position, and its angle. A comparison of analytical and numerical results shows
excellent agreement. The results are applicable to any triangular cavity close
to an isosceles triangle, with the lengths of two sides much bigger than the
other, consisting of a curved mirror and two flat mirrors yielding a waist
equally separated from the two flat mirrors. This cavity shape is most commonly
used in laser interferometry. The analysis presented here can easily be
extended to more generic cavity shapes. The geometrical analysis not only
serves as a method of checking a simulation result, but also gives an intuitive
and handy tool to visualize the eigenmode of a misaligned triangular cavity.Comment: 17 pages, 21 figure
Experimental verification of a zero-dimensional model of the ionization kinetics of XeCl discharges
An improved 0-dimensional model for XeCl high-pressure glow discharges is presented. Calculated discharge voltages are compared with precise measurements at a small, very homogeneous discharge. Excellent agreement in a wide parameter field demonstrates that this model may serve as a reference for simpler models describing the ionization kinetics
Optimal time-domain combination of the two calibrated output quadratures of GEO 600
GEO 600 is an interferometric gravitational wave detector with a 600 m arm-length and which uses a dual-recycled optical configuration to give enhanced sensitivity over certain frequencies in the detection band. Due to the dual-recycling, GEO 600 has two main output signals, both of which potentially contain gravitational wave signals. These two outputs are calibrated to strain using a time-domain method. In order to simplify the analysis of the GEO 600 data set, it is desirable to combine these two calibrated outputs to form a single strain signal that has optimal signal-to-noise ratio across the detection band. This paper describes a time-domain method for doing this combination. The method presented is similar to one developed for optimally combining the outputs of two colocated gravitational wave detectors. In the scheme presented in this paper, some simplifications are made to allow its implementation using time-domain methods
Journalist-source relations and the deliberative system: A network performance approach to investigating journalism’s contribution to facilitating public deliberation in a globalized world
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this record.Journalist-source relationships and interactions are interpreted in this study as crucial
mechanisms for linking different arenas in a deliberative system. To unravel these
source networks, 106 semi-standardized interviews with journalists as well as PR
professionals from government delegations and NGOs were conducted on-site three UN
climate change conferences between 2010 and 2013, and an online survey was
administered during the conference in 2015. The analysis shows that most journalists
maintain close relationships with their home country delegation. However, journalists
experienced in climate conference coverage also maintain more direct and informal
relations to delegations from other countries and to NGOs while less experienced
journalists exhibit loose and more formally mediated relationship to these actors.
Moreover, journalists focusing on commentary rather than on event-related reporting
have the most variegated and informal networks, thus opening the deliberative system to
diverse perspectives and unknown voices more than others. Government delegations
vary strongly in their tendency to approach journalists while environmental NGOs
interact with journalists primarily to attract media attention in order to indirectly
influence decision makers in national delegations
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