The commissioning of the central interferometer of the Virgo gravitational wave detector

Year: 2004

Authors: Acernese F., Amico P., Arnaud N., Babusci D., Barille R., Barone F., Barsotti L., Barsuglia M., Beauville F., Bizouard MA., Boccara C., Bondu F., Bosi L., Bracci L., Braccini S., Bradaschia C., Brillet A., Brisson V., Brocco L., Buskulic D., Calamai G., Calloni E., Campagna E., Cavalier F., Cella G., Chassande-Mottin E., Cleva F., Cokelaer T., Corda C., Coulon JP., Cuoco E., Dattilo V., Davier M., De Rosa R., Di Fiore L., Di Virgilio A., Dujardin B., Eleuteri A., Enard D., Ferrante I., Fidecaro F., Fiori I., Flaminio R., Fournier JD., Frasca S., Frasconi F., Gammaitoni L., Gennai A., Giazotto A., Giordano G., Guidi G., Heitmann H., Hello P., Heusse P., Holloway L., Kreckelbergh S., La Penna P., Loriette V., Losurdo G., Loupias M., Mackowski JM., Majorana E., Man CN., Marion F., Martelli F., Masserot A., Massonnet L., Mazzoni M., Milano L., Moreau F., Moreau J., Morgado N., Mornet F., Mours B., Pacheco J., Pai A., Palomba C., Paoletti F., Passaquieti R., Passuello D., Perniola B., Pinard L., Poggiani R., Punturo M., Puppo P., Qipiani K., Ramonet J., Rapagnani P., Reita V., Remillieux A., Ricci F., Ricciardi I., Russo G., Solimeno S., Stanga R., Toncelli A., Tonelli M., Tournefier E., Travasso F., Trinquet H., Varvella M., Verkindt D., Vetrano F., Veziant O., Vicere A., Vinet JY., Vocca H., Yvert M.

Autors Affiliation: a INFN Sezione di Napoli and/or Università di Napoli ‘Federico II’, Complesso Universitario Monte S. Angelo, Via Cintia,
I-80126 Napoli, Italy and/or Università di Salerno, Via Ponte Don Melillo, I-84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy
b INFN Sezione di Perugia and/or Università di Perugia, Via A. Pascoli, I-06123 Perugia, Italy
c Laboratoire de l’Accélérateur Linéaire (LAL), IN2P3/CNRS-Université de Paris Sud, B.P. 34, F-91898 Orsay Cedex, France
d INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Via E. Fermi 40, I-00044 Frascati (Roma), Italy
e European Gravitational Observatory (EGO), Via E. Amaldi, 1-56021 Cascina (PI), Italy
f INFN Sezione di Pisa and/or Università di Pisa, Via F. Buonarroti 2, I-56127 Pisa, Italy
g Laboratoire d’Annecy-le-Vieux de Physique des Particules, Chemin de Bellevue B.P. 110, F-74941 Annecy-le-Vieux Cedex, France
h Ecole Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles, 10 rue Vauquelin, F-75005 Paris, France
i Observatoire de la Còte dAzur, Département Fresnel, Intérferométrie Laser pour la Gravitation et lAstrophysique,
B.P. 4229, F-06304 Nice Cedex 4, France
j INFN Sezione di Firenze/Urbino, Via G. Sansone 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy and/or Università di Firenze and/or,
Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi 2, I-50125 Firenze, Italy and/or Università di Urbino, Via S. Chiara 27,
I-61029 Urbino, Italy
k INFN Sezione di Roma and/or Università ‘‘La Sapienza’’, P.le A. Moro 2, I-00185 Roma, Italy
l SMA––IPNL, 22 Boulevard Niels Bohr, F-69622 Villeurbanne Lyon Cedex, France

Abstract: Virgo is a laser Michelson interferometer with 3-km long Fabry-Perot in the arms, aiming at the detection of gravitational waves emitted by astrophysical sources in the frequency band from 10 Hz to few kHz. The core of the detector, the central interferometer, was installed first. It is a recycled Michelson interferometer, with 6-m long arms, obtained by replacing the 3-km long Fabry-Perot cavities with high reflectivity mirrors and using the same components designed for Virgo. In particular all the mirrors of the interferometer are suspended from the seismic isolators that represent the main unique characteristic of the Virgo detector. The interferometer has been controlled by means of a fully digital control system, capable of monitoring and controlling the relative position of the mirrors with an accuracy of 10(-12) m. The best displacement sensitivity was 10(-13) m/rootHz at 10 Hz and 8 X 10(-17) m/rootHz above 1 kHz. This article describes the detector configuration, the tests performed in view of commissioning the full detector and the main results obtained. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Journal/Review: ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS

Volume: 21 (1)      Pages from: 1  to: 22

KeyWords: Michelson interferometer; seismic isolation; digital control system
DOI: 10.1016/j.astropartphys.2003.12.004

Citations: 24
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