Open AccessThermal noise computation of arbitrary masses in optical interferometers from first principles
Author(s) -
Johannes Dickmann
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.438507
Subject(s) - astronomical interferometer , optics , physics , noise (video) , interferometry , computation , thermal , gravitational wave , shot noise , quantum noise , detector , computer science , quantum mechanics , algorithm , image (mathematics) , artificial intelligence , meteorology , quantum
Thermal noise of optical components is one of the sensitivity limiting effects in gravitational wave detectors, laser stabilization cavities and many other experiments in basic research. However, current methods for the computation of thermal noise are limited for an application in either infinitely large or symmetrically illuminated masses. I present a general method of computing thermal noise of arbitrary finite-sized masses in optical interferometers. The presented approach generalizes state-of-the-art methods for an application in arbitrary shaped optical elements illuminated by arbitrary spatial light distributions. Furthermore, I show the application of the presented approach to compute thermal noise of maladjusted mirrors in Fabry-Perot interferometers. It is shown that the noise can be reduced by off-axis illumination in the case of thin mirrors.