Improving cosmological reach of a gravitational wave observatory using Deep Loop Shaping

2025/09/17 by Buchli, Jonas, Tracey, Brendan, Andric, Tomislav +28 · 3 citations
#FOS: Computer and information sciences #FOS: Electrical engineering #FOS: Physical sciences #General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) #Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM) #Machine Learning (cs.LG) #Systems and Control (eess.SY) #electronic engineering #information engineering

paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2509.14016

Abstract

Improved low-frequency sensitivity of gravitational wave observatories would unlock study of intermediate-mass black hole mergers, binary black hole eccentricity, and provide early warnings for multi-messenger observations of binary neutron star mergers. Today's mirror stabilization control injects harmful noise, constituting a major obstacle to sensitivity improvements. We eliminated this noise through Deep Loop Shaping, a reinforcement learning method using frequency domain rewards. We proved our methodology on the LIGO Livingston Observatory (LLO). Our controller reduced control noise in the 10--30Hz band by over 30x, and up to 100x in sub-bands surpassing the design goal motivated by the quantum limit. These results highlight the potential of Deep Loop Shaping to improve current and future GW observatories, and more broadly instrumentation and control systems.

Citations

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• Advanced LIGO Two-Stage Twelve-Axis Vibration Isolation and Positioning\n Platform. Part 1: Design and Production Overview
• Advanced LIGO Two-Stage Twelve-Axis Vibration Isolation and Positioning Platform. Part 2: Experimental Investigation and Tests Results

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