Point absorbers in Advanced LIGO.

Small, highly absorbing points are randomly present on the surfaces of the main interferometer optics in Advanced LIGO. The resulting nanometer scale thermo-elastic deformations and substrate lenses from these micron-scale absorbers significantly reduce the sensitivity of the interferometer directly though a reduction in the power-recycling gain and indirect interactions with the feedback control system. We review the expected surface deformation from point absorbers and provide a pedagogical description of the impact on power buildup in second generation gravitational wave detectors (dual-recycled Fabry-Perot Michelson interferometers).

A high-precision mechanical absolute-rotation sensor.

We have developed a mechanical absolute-rotation sensor capable of resolving ground rotation angle of less than 1 nrad/√Hz above 30 mHz and 0.2 nrad/√Hz above 100 mHz about a single horizontal axis. The device consists of a meter-scale beam balance, suspended by a pair of flexures, with a resonance frequency of 10.