Quantum correlations between light and the kilogram-mass mirrors of LIGO

members of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration

doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2420-8

Quantum correlations between light and the kilogram-mass mirrors of LIGO

members of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

© 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.The measurement of minuscule forces and displacements with ever greater precision is inhibited by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, which imposes a limit to the precision with which the position of an object can be measured continuously, known as the standard quantum limit1–4. When light is used as the probe, the standard quantum limit arises from the balance between the uncertainties of the photon radiation pressure applied to the object and of the photon number in the photoelectric detection. The only way to surpass the standard quantum limit is by introducing correlations between the position/momentum uncertainty of the object and the photon number/phase uncertainty of the light that it reflects5. Here we confirm experimentally the theoretical prediction5 that this type of quantum correlation is naturally produced in the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). We characterize and compare noise spectra taken without squeezing and with squeezed vacuum states injected at varying quadrature angles. After subtracting classical noise, our measurements show that the quantum mechanical uncertainties in the phases of the 200-kilowatt laser beams and in the positions of the 40-kilogram mirrors of the Advanced LIGO detectors yield a joint quantum uncertainty that is a factor of 1.4 (3 decibels) below the standard quantum limit. We anticipate that the use of quantum correlations will improve not only the observation of gravitational waves, but also more broadly future quantum noise-limited measurements.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	43-47
Journal	Nature
Volume	583
Issue number	7814
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2420-8
Publication status	Published - 2 Jul 2020
Externally published	Yes

Funding

Acknowledgements LIGO was constructed by the California Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with funding from the National Science Foundation, and operates under Cooperative Agreement number PHY-1764464. Advanced LIGO was built under grant number PHY-0823459. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Australian Research Council under the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery grant number CE170100004, Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities grant number LE170100217 and Discovery Early Career Award number DE190100437; the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under grant number 1122374; the Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom; and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration Fellows programme.

Funders	Funder number
National Science Foundation	1912536, PHY-0823459, 1912598, 1707835, PHY-1764464
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
Science and Technology Facilities Council
Australian Research Council	DE190100437, 1122374, LE170100217, CE170100004

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10.1038/s41586-020-2420-8

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@article{3de62ac36dfa4681bbd484b008510e9a,

title = "Quantum correlations between light and the kilogram-mass mirrors of LIGO",

abstract = "{\textcopyright} 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.The measurement of minuscule forces and displacements with ever greater precision is inhibited by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, which imposes a limit to the precision with which the position of an object can be measured continuously, known as the standard quantum limit1–4. When light is used as the probe, the standard quantum limit arises from the balance between the uncertainties of the photon radiation pressure applied to the object and of the photon number in the photoelectric detection. The only way to surpass the standard quantum limit is by introducing correlations between the position/momentum uncertainty of the object and the photon number/phase uncertainty of the light that it reflects5. Here we confirm experimentally the theoretical prediction5 that this type of quantum correlation is naturally produced in the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). We characterize and compare noise spectra taken without squeezing and with squeezed vacuum states injected at varying quadrature angles. After subtracting classical noise, our measurements show that the quantum mechanical uncertainties in the phases of the 200-kilowatt laser beams and in the positions of the 40-kilogram mirrors of the Advanced LIGO detectors yield a joint quantum uncertainty that is a factor of 1.4 (3 decibels) below the standard quantum limit. We anticipate that the use of quantum correlations will improve not only the observation of gravitational waves, but also more broadly future quantum noise-limited measurements.",

author = "H. Yu and L. McCuller and M. Tse and N. Kijbunchoo and L. Barsotti and N. Mavalvala and J. Betzwieser and C.D. Blair and S.E. Dwyer and A. Effler and M. Evans and A. Fernandez-Galiana and P. Fritschel and V.V. Frolov and F. Matichard and D.E. McClelland and T. McRae and A. Mullavey and D. Sigg and B.J.J. Slagmolen and C. Whittle and A. Buikema and Y. Chen and T.R. Corbitt and R. Schnabel and R. Abbott and C. Adams and R.X. Adhikari and A. Ananyeva and S. Appert and K. Arai and J.S. Areeda and Y. Asali and S.M. Aston and C. Austin and A.M. Baer and M. Ball and S.W. Ballmer and S. Banagiri and D. Barker and J. Bartlett and B.K. Berger and D. Bhattacharjee and G. Billingsley and S. Biscans and R.M. Blair and N. Bode and P. Booker and R. Bork and A. Bramley and A.F. Brooks and D.D. Brown and C. Cahillane and K.C. Cannon and X. Chen and A.A. Ciobanu and F. Clara and S.J. Cooper and K.R. Corley and S.T. Countryman and P.B. Covas and D.C. Coyne and L.E.H. Datrier and D. Davis and {Di Fronzo}, C. and K.L. Dooley and J.C. Driggers and P. Dupej and T. Etzel and T.M. Evans and J. Feicht and P. Fulda and M. Fyffe and J.A. Giaime and K.D. Giardina and P. Godwin and E. Goetz and S. Gras and C. Gray and R. Gray and A.C. Green and A. Gupta and E.K. Gustafson and R. Gustafson and J. Hanks and J. Hanson and T. Hardwick and R.K. Hasskew and M.C. Heintze and A.F. Helmling-Cornell and N.A. Holland and J.D. Jones and S. Kandhasamy and S. Karki and M. Kasprzack and K. Kawabe and P.J. King and J.S. Kissel and R. Kumar and M. Landry and B.B. Lane and B. Lantz and M. Laxen and Y.K. Lecoeuche and J. Leviton and J. Liu and M. Lormand and A.P. Lundgren and R. Macas and M. MacInnis and D.M. Macleod and G.L. Mansell and S. M{\'a}rka and Z. M{\'a}rka and D.V. Martynov and K. Mason and T.J. Massinger and R. McCarthy and S. McCormick and J. McIver and G. Mendell and K. Merfeld and E.L. Merilh and F. Meylahn and T. Mistry and R. Mittleman and G. Moreno and C.M. Mow-Lowry and S. Mozzon and T.J.N. Nelson and P. Nguyen and L.K. Nuttall and J. Oberling and R.J. Oram and C. Osthelder and D.J. Ottaway and H. Overmier and J.R. Palamos and W. Parker and E. Payne and A. Pele and C.J. Perez and M. Pirello and H. Radkins and K.E. Ramirez and J.W. Richardson and K. Riles and N.A. Robertson and J.G. Rollins and C.L. Romel and J.H. Romie and M.P. Ross and K. Ryan and T. Sadecki and E.J. Sanchez and L.E. Sanchez and T.R. Saravanan and R.L. Savage and D. Schaetzl and R.M.S. Schofield and E. Schwartz and D. Sellers and T. Shaffer and J.R. Smith and S. Soni and B. Sorazu and A.P. Spencer and K.A. Strain and L. Sun and M.J. Szczepa{\'n}czyk and M. Thomas and P. Thomas and K.A. Thorne and K. Toland and C.I. Torrie and G. Traylor and A.L. Urban and G. Vajente and G. Valdes and D.C. Vander-Hyde and P.J. Veitch and K. Venkateswara and G. Venugopalan and A.D. Viets and T. Vo and C. Vorvick and M. Wade and R.L. Ward and J. Warner and B. Weaver and R. Weiss and B. Willke and C.C. Wipf and L. Xiao and H. Yamamoto and H. Yu and L. Zhang and M.E. Zucker and J. Zweizig and {members of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration}",

year = "2020",

month = jul,

day = "2",

doi = "10.1038/s41586-020-2420-8",

language = "English",

volume = "583",

pages = "43--47",

journal = "Nature",

issn = "0028-0836",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

number = "7814",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Quantum correlations between light and the kilogram-mass mirrors of LIGO

AU - Yu, H.

AU - McCuller, L.

AU - Tse, M.

AU - Kijbunchoo, N.

AU - Barsotti, L.

AU - Mavalvala, N.

AU - Betzwieser, J.

AU - Blair, C.D.

AU - Dwyer, S.E.

AU - Effler, A.

AU - Evans, M.

AU - Fernandez-Galiana, A.

AU - Fritschel, P.

AU - Frolov, V.V.

AU - Matichard, F.

AU - McClelland, D.E.

AU - McRae, T.

AU - Mullavey, A.

AU - Sigg, D.

AU - Slagmolen, B.J.J.

AU - Whittle, C.

AU - Buikema, A.

AU - Chen, Y.

AU - Corbitt, T.R.

AU - Schnabel, R.

AU - Abbott, R.

AU - Adams, C.

AU - Adhikari, R.X.

AU - Ananyeva, A.

AU - Appert, S.

AU - Arai, K.

AU - Areeda, J.S.

AU - Asali, Y.

AU - Aston, S.M.

AU - Austin, C.

AU - Baer, A.M.

AU - Ball, M.

AU - Ballmer, S.W.

AU - Banagiri, S.

AU - Barker, D.

AU - Bartlett, J.

AU - Berger, B.K.

AU - Bhattacharjee, D.

AU - Billingsley, G.

AU - Biscans, S.

AU - Blair, R.M.

AU - Bode, N.

AU - Booker, P.

AU - Bork, R.

AU - Bramley, A.

AU - Brooks, A.F.

AU - Brown, D.D.

AU - Cahillane, C.

AU - Cannon, K.C.

AU - Chen, X.

AU - Ciobanu, A.A.

AU - Clara, F.

AU - Cooper, S.J.

AU - Corley, K.R.

AU - Countryman, S.T.

AU - Covas, P.B.

AU - Coyne, D.C.

AU - Datrier, L.E.H.

AU - Davis, D.

AU - Di Fronzo, C.

AU - Dooley, K.L.

AU - Driggers, J.C.

AU - Dupej, P.

AU - Etzel, T.

AU - Evans, T.M.

AU - Feicht, J.

AU - Fulda, P.

AU - Fyffe, M.

AU - Giaime, J.A.

AU - Giardina, K.D.

AU - Godwin, P.

AU - Goetz, E.

AU - Gras, S.

AU - Gray, C.

AU - Gray, R.

AU - Green, A.C.

AU - Gupta, A.

AU - Gustafson, E.K.

AU - Gustafson, R.

AU - Hanks, J.

AU - Hanson, J.

AU - Hardwick, T.

AU - Hasskew, R.K.

AU - Heintze, M.C.

AU - Helmling-Cornell, A.F.

AU - Holland, N.A.

AU - Jones, J.D.

AU - Kandhasamy, S.

AU - Karki, S.

AU - Kasprzack, M.

AU - Kawabe, K.

AU - King, P.J.

AU - Kissel, J.S.

AU - Kumar, R.

AU - Landry, M.

AU - Lane, B.B.

AU - Lantz, B.

AU - Laxen, M.

AU - Lecoeuche, Y.K.

AU - Leviton, J.

AU - Liu, J.

AU - Lormand, M.

AU - Lundgren, A.P.

AU - Macas, R.

AU - MacInnis, M.

AU - Macleod, D.M.

AU - Mansell, G.L.

AU - Márka, S.

AU - Márka, Z.

AU - Martynov, D.V.

AU - Mason, K.

AU - Massinger, T.J.

AU - McCarthy, R.

AU - McCormick, S.

AU - McIver, J.

AU - Mendell, G.

AU - Merfeld, K.

AU - Merilh, E.L.

AU - Meylahn, F.

AU - Mistry, T.

AU - Mittleman, R.

AU - Moreno, G.

AU - Mow-Lowry, C.M.

AU - Mozzon, S.

AU - Nelson, T.J.N.

AU - Nguyen, P.

AU - Nuttall, L.K.

AU - Oberling, J.

AU - Oram, R.J.

AU - Osthelder, C.

AU - Ottaway, D.J.

AU - Overmier, H.

AU - Palamos, J.R.

AU - Parker, W.

AU - Payne, E.

AU - Pele, A.

AU - Perez, C.J.

AU - Pirello, M.

AU - Radkins, H.

AU - Ramirez, K.E.

AU - Richardson, J.W.

AU - Riles, K.

AU - Robertson, N.A.

AU - Rollins, J.G.

AU - Romel, C.L.

AU - Romie, J.H.

AU - Ross, M.P.

AU - Ryan, K.

AU - Sadecki, T.

AU - Sanchez, E.J.

AU - Sanchez, L.E.

AU - Saravanan, T.R.

AU - Savage, R.L.

AU - Schaetzl, D.

AU - Schofield, R.M.S.

AU - Schwartz, E.

AU - Sellers, D.

AU - Shaffer, T.

AU - Smith, J.R.

AU - Soni, S.

AU - Sorazu, B.

AU - Spencer, A.P.

AU - Strain, K.A.

AU - Sun, L.

AU - Szczepańczyk, M.J.

AU - Thomas, M.

AU - Thomas, P.

AU - Thorne, K.A.

AU - Toland, K.

AU - Torrie, C.I.

AU - Traylor, G.

AU - Urban, A.L.

AU - Vajente, G.

AU - Valdes, G.

AU - Vander-Hyde, D.C.

AU - Veitch, P.J.

AU - Venkateswara, K.

AU - Venugopalan, G.

AU - Viets, A.D.

AU - Vo, T.

AU - Vorvick, C.

AU - Wade, M.

AU - Ward, R.L.

AU - Warner, J.

AU - Weaver, B.

AU - Weiss, R.

AU - Willke, B.

AU - Wipf, C.C.

AU - Xiao, L.

AU - Yamamoto, H.

AU - Yu, H.

AU - Zhang, L.

AU - Zucker, M.E.

AU - Zweizig, J.

AU - members of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration

PY - 2020/7/2

Y1 - 2020/7/2

N2 - © 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.The measurement of minuscule forces and displacements with ever greater precision is inhibited by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, which imposes a limit to the precision with which the position of an object can be measured continuously, known as the standard quantum limit1–4. When light is used as the probe, the standard quantum limit arises from the balance between the uncertainties of the photon radiation pressure applied to the object and of the photon number in the photoelectric detection. The only way to surpass the standard quantum limit is by introducing correlations between the position/momentum uncertainty of the object and the photon number/phase uncertainty of the light that it reflects5. Here we confirm experimentally the theoretical prediction5 that this type of quantum correlation is naturally produced in the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). We characterize and compare noise spectra taken without squeezing and with squeezed vacuum states injected at varying quadrature angles. After subtracting classical noise, our measurements show that the quantum mechanical uncertainties in the phases of the 200-kilowatt laser beams and in the positions of the 40-kilogram mirrors of the Advanced LIGO detectors yield a joint quantum uncertainty that is a factor of 1.4 (3 decibels) below the standard quantum limit. We anticipate that the use of quantum correlations will improve not only the observation of gravitational waves, but also more broadly future quantum noise-limited measurements.

AB - © 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.The measurement of minuscule forces and displacements with ever greater precision is inhibited by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, which imposes a limit to the precision with which the position of an object can be measured continuously, known as the standard quantum limit1–4. When light is used as the probe, the standard quantum limit arises from the balance between the uncertainties of the photon radiation pressure applied to the object and of the photon number in the photoelectric detection. The only way to surpass the standard quantum limit is by introducing correlations between the position/momentum uncertainty of the object and the photon number/phase uncertainty of the light that it reflects5. Here we confirm experimentally the theoretical prediction5 that this type of quantum correlation is naturally produced in the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). We characterize and compare noise spectra taken without squeezing and with squeezed vacuum states injected at varying quadrature angles. After subtracting classical noise, our measurements show that the quantum mechanical uncertainties in the phases of the 200-kilowatt laser beams and in the positions of the 40-kilogram mirrors of the Advanced LIGO detectors yield a joint quantum uncertainty that is a factor of 1.4 (3 decibels) below the standard quantum limit. We anticipate that the use of quantum correlations will improve not only the observation of gravitational waves, but also more broadly future quantum noise-limited measurements.

U2 - 10.1038/s41586-020-2420-8

DO - 10.1038/s41586-020-2420-8

M3 - Article

SN - 0028-0836

VL - 583

SP - 43

EP - 47

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

IS - 7814

ER -

Quantum correlations between light and the kilogram-mass mirrors of LIGO

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