Master thesis subject

Low frequency detection (< 100 Hz) is extremely important for the study of gravitational wave sources. Inspiral, merge and ring down signals observed at low frequency come from systems with high mass, possibly red shifted. The emission amplitude is higher, which implies that they can be detected at a larger distance. Smalles mass systems, like binary neutron stars, spend significant time in this frequency band allowing potentially to study the system before coalescence.

The Virgo interferometer features a remarkable attenuation of seismic noise allowing detection down to 4 Hz. However the current noise curve is much higher due to the contribution of many effects present in the instrument, like diffused light. A large effort has been put in addressing this issue in the upgrade from Advanced Virgo to Advanced Virgo+. The improved instrument is being commissioned now and noise hunting is starting to be ready for data taking in Summer 2022.

There is the opportunity to take part in the experimental work around the interferometer, working in a small team that performs dedicated measurements and analyzes the data to improve the performance. The resulting thesis will be on the identification of one or more noise mechanisms and how their impact on the interferometer gets reduced. The experience gained in optics, feedback systems, signal processing is essential to continue working on gravitational wave experimental physics. These skills are also much requested in companies.

Work can be done either at the Virgo site or at the department. Programming experience with Python, MATLAB or C is expected.