Summary
OmniSens is a novel inertial isolation system that will approach the fundamental limits imposed by materials and terrestrial gravity. Revolutionary improvements in sensitivity will come from coupling compact interferometric sensors that are beyond the state-of-the-art with a reference mass that is Omni-directionally Sensed (OmniSens). The key concept is the use of a single, geometrically-large reference mass that is sensed and softly-suspended in all six degrees of freedom, and housed within a platform that is actively controlled to be a constant distance from it. The inertial stability of the reference mass is thus transferred to the platform in a fashion mimicking the drag-free control of a satellite around a free-floating proof mass.
Compared with the state-of-the-art, OmniSens will reduce residual accelerations in horizontal directions by at least 2 orders of magnitude at 0.1Hz. When this system is used as the first stage of isolation in a gravitational-wave detector, it will enable current detectors to finally reach their design sensitivities and push the ‘seismic wall’ to lower frequencies in future observatories.
Pushing the low frequency boundary will have two critical effects: it will increase the signal-to-noise of individual sources, thus expanding the astrophysical reach of observatories, and it will vastly augment the amount of time each source is in-band, possibly allowing sky localisation before the merger of neutron stars, with spectacular consequences for electromagnetic follow up campaigns.
To achieve these ambitious goals we will need to: Develop the test and measurement infrastructure capable of housing and measuring the reference mass; Test a prototype isolation system, showing that it can reach fundamental limits imposed by simple, metal-wire suspensions; and Build a robust OmniSens system suspended with fused-silica fibres that will become a foundational element of future gravitational-wave observatories.
Compared with the state-of-the-art, OmniSens will reduce residual accelerations in horizontal directions by at least 2 orders of magnitude at 0.1Hz. When this system is used as the first stage of isolation in a gravitational-wave detector, it will enable current detectors to finally reach their design sensitivities and push the ‘seismic wall’ to lower frequencies in future observatories.
Pushing the low frequency boundary will have two critical effects: it will increase the signal-to-noise of individual sources, thus expanding the astrophysical reach of observatories, and it will vastly augment the amount of time each source is in-band, possibly allowing sky localisation before the merger of neutron stars, with spectacular consequences for electromagnetic follow up campaigns.
To achieve these ambitious goals we will need to: Develop the test and measurement infrastructure capable of housing and measuring the reference mass; Test a prototype isolation system, showing that it can reach fundamental limits imposed by simple, metal-wire suspensions; and Build a robust OmniSens system suspended with fused-silica fibres that will become a foundational element of future gravitational-wave observatories.
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More information & hyperlinks
| Web resources: | https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/865816 |
| Start date: | 01-09-2020 |
| End date: | 28-02-2026 |
| Total budget - Public funding: | 2 536 331,00 Euro - 2 536 331,00 Euro |
Cordis data
Original description
OmniSens is a novel inertial isolation system that will approach the fundamental limits imposed by materials and terrestrial gravity. Revolutionary improvements in sensitivity will come from coupling compact interferometric sensors that are beyond the state-of-the-art with a reference mass that is Omni-directionally Sensed (OmniSens). The key concept is the use of a single, geometrically-large reference mass that is sensed and softly-suspended in all six degrees of freedom, and housed within a platform that is actively controlled to be a constant distance from it. The inertial stability of the reference mass is thus transferred to the platform in a fashion mimicking the drag-free control of a satellite around a free-floating proof mass.Compared with the state-of-the-art, OmniSens will reduce residual accelerations in horizontal directions by at least 2 orders of magnitude at 0.1Hz. When this system is used as the first stage of isolation in a gravitational-wave detector, it will enable current detectors to finally reach their design sensitivities and push the ‘seismic wall’ to lower frequencies in future observatories.
Pushing the low frequency boundary will have two critical effects: it will increase the signal-to-noise of individual sources, thus expanding the astrophysical reach of observatories, and it will vastly augment the amount of time each source is in-band, possibly allowing sky localisation before the merger of neutron stars, with spectacular consequences for electromagnetic follow up campaigns.
To achieve these ambitious goals we will need to: Develop the test and measurement infrastructure capable of housing and measuring the reference mass; Test a prototype isolation system, showing that it can reach fundamental limits imposed by simple, metal-wire suspensions; and Build a robust OmniSens system suspended with fused-silica fibres that will become a foundational element of future gravitational-wave observatories.
Status
SIGNEDCall topic
ERC-2019-COGUpdate Date
27-04-2024
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