UC Riverside has developed a technology that enables scientists to peer deeper into the universe.
Gravitational-wave science is on the verge of a major step forward, thanks to a new instrumentation breakthrough led by physicist Jonathan Richardson at the University of California, Riverside. In a study published in Optica, researchers describe the creation and successful testing of FROSTI, a full-scale prototype designed to control laser wavefronts at extremely high power inside the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO).
LIGO is the facility that first confirmed the existence of gravitational waves, ripples in spacetime produced by massive accelerating objects such as merging black holes. This discovery provided key evidence in support of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. The observatory relies on two 4-kilometer-long laser interferometers in Washington and Louisiana to capture these faint signals, giving scientists new ways to study black holes, cosmology, and the physics of extreme matter.
At the core of this effort are LIGO’s mirrors, which rank among the most finely engineered optical components in the world. Each mirror is 34 cm across, 20 cm thick, and weighs around 40 kg. They must remain absolutely stable in order to register distortions in spacetime as small as one-thousandth the width of a proton. Even the slightest vibration or environmental noise can obscure the delicate signal of a passing gravitational wave.
“At the heart of our innovation is a novel adaptive optics device designed to precisely reshape the surfaces of LIGO’s main mirrors under laser powers exceeding 1 megawatt — more than a billion times stronger than a typical laser pointer and nearly five times the power LIGO uses today,” said Richardson, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy. “This technology opens a new pathway for the future of gravitational-wave astronomy. It’s a crucial step toward enabling the next generation of detectors like Cosmic Explorer, which will see deeper into the universe than ever before.”
Did someone say FROSTI?
FROSTI, short for FROnt Surface Type Irradiator, is a precision wavefront control system that counteracts distortions caused by intense laser heating in LIGO’s optics. Unlike existing systems, which can only make coarse adjustments, FROSTI uses a sophisticated thermal projection system to make fine-tuned, higher-order corrections. This is crucial for the precision needed in future detectors.
Despite its icy name, FROSTI works by carefully heating the mirror’s surface, but in a way that restores it to its original optical shape. Using thermal radiation, it creates a custom heat pattern that smooths out distortions without introducing excess noise that could mimic gravitational waves.
Why it matters
Gravitational waves were first detected by LIGO in 2015, launching a new era in astronomy. But to fully unlock their potential, future detectors must be able to observe more distant events with greater clarity.
“That means pushing the limits on both laser power and quantum-level precision,” Richardson said. “The problem is, increasing laser power tends to destroy the delicate quantum states we rely on to improve signal clarity. Our new technology solves this tension by making sure the optics remain undistorted, even at megawatt power levels.”
The technology will help expand the gravitational-wave view of the universe by a factor of 10, potentially allowing astronomers to detect millions of black hole and neutron star mergers across the cosmos with unmatched fidelity.
Looking Ahead: LIGO A# and Cosmic Explorer
FROSTI is expected to play a critical role in LIGO A#, a planned upgrade that will serve as a pathfinder for the next-generation observatory known as Cosmic Explorer. While the current prototype was tested on a 40-kg LIGO mirror, the technology is scalable and will eventually be adapted to the 440-kg mirrors envisioned for Cosmic Explorer.
“The current prototype is just the beginning,” Richardson said. “We’re already designing new versions capable of correcting even more complex optical distortions. This is the R&D foundation for the next 20 years of gravitational-wave astronomy.”
Reference: “Demonstration of a next-generation wavefront actuator for gravitational-wave detection” by Aidan Brooks, Shane Levin, Cynthia Liang, Luis Martin Gutierrez, Michael Padilla, Jonathan W. Richardson, Liu Tao, Peter Carney, Aiden Wilkin, Luke Johnson, Huy Tuong Cao, Mohak Bhattacharya, Tyler Rosauer and Xuesi Ma, 19 October 2025, Optica.
DOI: 10.1364/OPTICA.567608
Richardson was joined in the research by scientists at UCR, MIT, and Caltech.
The research was funded by a grant to Richardson from the National Science Foundation.
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3 Comments
Ошибка в восприятии сигналов космоса, в неправильном понимании природы звуковых волн. Это не передача, как принято думать столкновения атомов. Любое воздействие передается каждой фундаментальной частицей. А их в космосе полно и они связаны силой притяжения. Потому звуки в космосе тоже пролетают со скоростью света, но длина волны у космических тел тоже огромна, и В этом плане Вселенная радостно звенит. Приятного прослушивания.
Неточности в восприятии сигналов космоса, в неправильном понимании природы звуковых волн. Это не передача, как принято думать столкновения атомов. На земле мы имеем дело с частотами проводимости звука с использованием резонанса молекул. Но ударная волна, проходит и размалывая молекулы. Любое воздействие передается каждой фундаментальной частицей. А их в космосе полно и они связаны силой притяжения. Потому звуки в космосе тоже пролетают со скоростью света, но длина волны у космических тел тоже огромна, и В этом плане Вселенная радостно звенит. Приятного прослушивания.
B note 2509291341_Source1.Reinterpreting【】
Source 1.
https://scitechdaily.com/new-optics-tech-could-revolutionize-gravitational-wave-astronomy/
1.
New optical techniques could revolutionize gravitational wave astronomy.
_The breakthrough in laser metrology technology may change the way we study the most intense events in the universe.
_UC Riverside has developed a technology that allows scientists to take a deeper look into space.
_Gravitational wave science is on the verge of great progress thanks to breakthroughs in new metrology technologies led by physicist Jonathan Richardson at the University of California, Riverside.
_In a study published in Optica, we describe the development and successful testing of FOSTI, a life-size prototype designed to control laser wavefronts at ultrahigh power inside the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO).
1-1.
_LIGO is the first facility to confirm the existence of gravitational waves, waves of space-time produced when giant accelerated objects such as black holes collide. This finding provided key evidence supporting Einstein’s theory of relativity.
_LIGO uses two 4-km-long laser interferometers in Washington and Louisiana to capture these weak signals, giving scientists a new way to study the physics of black holes, cosmology, and extreme materials.
1-2.
_At the heart of these efforts is the mirror of LIGO, one of the world’s most exquisitely designed optical parts.
_ Each mirror is 34cm in diameter, 20cm in thickness, and weighs about 40kg. The mirror must be absolutely stable in order to detect distortion of space-time, which is as small as one-thousandth the width of a proton. Even the slightest vibration or environmental noise can obscure the delicate signals of gravitational waves passing by.
[1-3.
_”At the heart of our innovation is a new adaptive optical device designed to precisely transform the surface of the LIGO main mirror with laser power exceeding 1 megawatt. This is more than a billion times more powerful than a typical laser pointer and almost five times the output currently used by LIGO,” said Richardson, assistant professor of physical astronomy.]
2.
_The technology paves a new way towards the future of gravitational wave astronomy. This is an important step in enabling next-generation detectors such as Cosmic Explorer, which will be able to observe much deeper space than before.”
2-3. Why is it important
_Gravitational waves were first detected by LIGO in 2015, ushering in a new era of astronomy. However, in order to reach the full potential of gravitational waves, future detectors will need to be able to observe events occurring at greater distances more clearly.
_”This means going beyond the limits of both laser power and quantum-level precision,” Richardson said.
_”The challenge is that increasing the laser output tends to destroy the delicate quantum states that we rely on to increase signal clarity.
_Our new technology addresses this problem by ensuring that optical devices are not distorted even at megawatt-level outputs.”
_The technology will help expand the view of the universe tenfold through gravitational waves, potentially enabling astronomers to detect millions of black hole and neutron star mergers across the universe with exceptional accuracy.
【>>>>>
>>>> Is there an inverse proportion of the laser output and the signal clarity of the quantum state in the gravitational wave sensing force on the surface of the LIGO mirror? Well??
>>d. The first thing I want to say is
Gravitational wave detection does not necessarily have to be localized in the LIGO laboratory on Earth. It is questionable whether a large mirror wavefront interferometer can accurately grasp gravitational waves. Uh-huh.
If the galaxy used as a gravitational lens is also a concept of laser power, magicsum.value appears. Hmm.
>>>By the way, I don’t think quantum states are necessarily in a limited range. The qpeoms quantum range a. is almost infinite as far as I know. The laser output b. can also be amplified infinitely. This rationale (>a.b.c.) argument can be fully explained.
>>>In the lower detail of the quantum state qpeoms.pointer.unit, there is an infinite domain of pointer.unit.under_max (*). The points in qpeoms can be the positions of the points of higher order order order.
>>b. Laser is a light and a type of electromagnetic wave, mass.[msbase.normal_matter.galaxy.1|0.msoss.dark_matter.galaxy] concept.
In a nutshell, the energy that provides the laser output is supplied indefinitely in the formulation of the conversion E=mc2 of cosmic mass. Uh-huh.
>>>c. First of all, on a simple basis,
Take a closed door, for example. For a person to simply pass through a closed door like an empty space, they need to be graphically granular, or they need to increase the number of picture pixels of the closed door indefinitely.
>>e.[1-3.
_”At the heart of our innovation is a new adaptive optical device designed to precisely transform the surface of the LIGO main mirror with laser power exceeding 1 megawatt. This is more than a billion times more powerful than a typical laser pointer and almost five times the output currently used by LIGO,” said Richardson, assistant professor of physical astronomy.]
>>> The way Son Heung-min goes through the obstacle is like moving between the opponent’s legs and the body gap,
>>> We need a technique that shows a success rate of 0.0000000000001 percent goal, which three-dimensionally depicts the speed of the ball, the power of the kick, and the expected defense path of the keeper. Huh.
>>>>>Why is there no technology to get close to the possibility by optimizing the impossible sensing power in the correlation between limited laser power and quantum state?
>>> There is a way to open the closed door with a key, but it can also be melted by laser welding.
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