Check of the Virgo gravitational wave signal reconstruction with a calibration system based on laser radiation pressure"

Gravitational waves are solutions to equations governing the dynamics of gravitation predicted from Einstein's theory of General Relativity in 1918. Gravitational waves describe ripples of space-time producing weak variations of distance between free masses along their propagation. Over the past two decades, an international array of ground-based, kilometer-scale Michelson interferometers has been developed to detect gravitational waves going through Earth and is now in operation. The gravitational wave signature is sought in a calibrated stream obtained from detector output measurements and giving the absolute signal of a gravitational waves going through it. A check of the procedure is required to avoid potential systematic calibration errors leading to an incorrect data stream and bias in its use by data analysis. Since severals years, a new calibration technique is developed for that purpose for each network's interferometer and uses the radiation pressure of a power-modulated laser to induce calibrated displacements of their mirrors. The associated setup, called Photon Calibrator, allows to mimic a gravitational waves passing the detector in order to verify its reconstruction in the detection channel. The scope of this thesis is the implementation of this technique for the French-Italian interferometer Virgo to check its gravitational wave signal reconstruction procedure. The operating principle of the setup installed is first described and its calibration is then detailed with measurement campaigns performed. Finally verifications performed for the two Virgo Science runs performed between 2010 and 2011 are presented. The conclusion of this study allowed to the validate the Virgo gravitational wave signal reconstruction with its uncertainties and has confirmed their negligeable impact on data analysis.

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Source https://theses.hal.science/tel-00788599
Author Accadia, Timothée
Maintainer CCSD
Last Updated May 14, 2026, 11:41 (UTC)
Created May 14, 2026, 11:41 (UTC)
Identifier NNT: 2012GRENY060
Language fr
Rights https://about.hal.science/hal-authorisation-v1/
contributor Laboratoire d'Annecy de Physique des Particules (LAPP) ; Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
creator Accadia, Timothée
date 2012-11-15T00:00:00
harvest_object_id 73665648-59f9-4bc8-94aa-183d9b198e37
harvest_source_id 3374d638-d20b-4672-ba96-a23232d55657
harvest_source_title test moissonnage SELUNE
metadata_modified 2026-03-31T00:00:00
set_spec type:THESE