New Quantum Tech is About to Bring a Major Boost to Gravitational Wave Detections

Improved instruments will lower noise at the quantum level. The development opens the door to discovering more distant gravitational waves.

By Ramin Skibba
Dec 10, 2019 10:45 PMDec 10, 2019 10:52 PM
Inside LIGO - LIGO lab
Inside a stainless steel chamber, LIGO technicians examine the surface of one of the test mass mirrors that will reflect infrared laser light to measure the effect of gravity waves. After installation, all air was vacuumed from this chamber. (Credit: Mike Fyffe/LIGO lab)

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(Inside Science) -- Physicists have successfully developed a new instrument that significantly reduces quantum-level noise that has thus far limited experiments’ ability to spot gravitational waves. Collisions between massive black holes and stars are thought to generate these ripples in space-time that were first detected in 2015. In all, about 11 detections have been fully confirmed so far.

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