SURF Report 2013: Controlling Transient Thermal Effects in High-Power Gravitational-Wave Detectors: Arnaldo Rodriguez

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Abstract:: Detecting gravitational waves from high-frequency emitters (such as black hole collisions) requires
gravitational-wave detectors with high operating laser powers; these cause thermal effects in the test- masses that deteriorate control signals and decrease interferometer sensitivity. To correct these, a prototype control system model was developed for Advanced LIGO's thermal compensation system to reduce optical wavefront distortion from thermal lensing and surface deformation. A fnite element model of the heating in the test-mass was developed in COMSOL to interact dynamically with the control system developed in MATLAB, as well as a linearized time-effcient heating model using only MATLAB. We analyzed data from both models and from experiment to verify the system's behavior and validate the control system model's integrity.

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LIGO Document T1400208-v1