PhD Studentship: Advanced Inertial Isolation for LIGO

Join an ambitious project aimed at enhancing the low-frequency sensitivity of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). This project focuses on developing fused silica seismometers to improve LIGO's inertial isolation systems, enabling groundbreaking advances in gravitational-wave detection. LIGO's sensitivity at low frequencies is critical for detecting intermediate-mass black holes and improving early localization of neutron star mergers, facilitating multi-messenger astronomy. Current inertial isolation systems are limited by noise and sensitivity constraints at low frequencies.

This project seeks to overcome these challenges by designing and implementing novel seismometers using fused silica, a material known for its exceptional thermal and mechanical stability. As part of this research, you will: (i) develop and prototype fused silica-based inertial sensors with unprecedented precision, (ii) integrate these sensors into LIGO-type isolation systems to enhance low-frequency performance, (iii) model and test the system's impact on the detection of astrophysical sources, contributing to next-generation gravitational-wave science.

This PhD position is ideal for candidates with a strong background in physics, engineering, or a related discipline, and a passion for cutting-edge experimental research. Experience in precision measurement, materials science, or optical systems is advantageous but not required.

The project will be supervised by Prof Denis Martynov (d.martynov@bham.ac.uk).

References:

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2405.13475

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.18.034040

This competition-funded PhD position is available for UK students and EU students with settled or pre-settled status.

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