Atmospheric Newtonian Noise May Constrain Third-Generation Gravitational-Wave Detectors

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Wang, Wenhui, Creighton, Teviet
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Wang, Wenhui
Creighton, Teviet
author_facet Wang, Wenhui
Creighton, Teviet
contents Advanced gravitational-wave detector designs are pushing towards lower frequencies, where certain types of noise, previously considered negligible, may come to dominate the detectors' noise budgets. In particular, we revisit atmospheric Newtonian noise, caused by the fluctuating gravitational field as regions of high and low gas density move past the detector. We consider density perturbations both due to pressure waves (infrasound) and due to advected temperature fluctuations. In the absence of detailed site-specific models of topography, airflow, and building design, we present general scaling formulae that estimate the spectrum of atmospheric Newtonian noise, and show how it is affected by broad detector design choices. We confirm previous analyses that show that atmospheric Newtonian noise is not likely a strong contributor to advanced LIGO; however, it will be a dominant factor for third-generation detectors targeting low frequencies, with the low-frequency cutoff principally constrained by the depth of the detector underground.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_05690
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Atmospheric Newtonian Noise May Constrain Third-Generation Gravitational-Wave Detectors
Wang, Wenhui
Creighton, Teviet
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Instrumentation and Detectors
Advanced gravitational-wave detector designs are pushing towards lower frequencies, where certain types of noise, previously considered negligible, may come to dominate the detectors' noise budgets. In particular, we revisit atmospheric Newtonian noise, caused by the fluctuating gravitational field as regions of high and low gas density move past the detector. We consider density perturbations both due to pressure waves (infrasound) and due to advected temperature fluctuations. In the absence of detailed site-specific models of topography, airflow, and building design, we present general scaling formulae that estimate the spectrum of atmospheric Newtonian noise, and show how it is affected by broad detector design choices. We confirm previous analyses that show that atmospheric Newtonian noise is not likely a strong contributor to advanced LIGO; however, it will be a dominant factor for third-generation detectors targeting low frequencies, with the low-frequency cutoff principally constrained by the depth of the detector underground.
title Atmospheric Newtonian Noise May Constrain Third-Generation Gravitational-Wave Detectors
topic General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Instrumentation and Detectors
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.05690