Unification of Thermal and Quantum Noises in Gravitational-Wave Detectors

Abstract

Contemporary gravitational-wave detectors are fundamentally limited by thermal noise—due to dissipation in the mechanical elements of the test mass—and quantum noise—from the vacuum fluctuations of the optical field used to probe the test-mass position. Two other fundamental noises can in principle also limit sensitivity: test-mass quantization noise due to the zero-point fluctuation of its mechanical modes and thermal excitation of the optical field. We use the quantum fluctuation-dissipation theorem to unify all four noises. This unified picture shows precisely when test-mass quantization noise and optical thermal noise can be ignored.

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