Activity

Removing the statistical quantum mechanical “noise” of the universe by “squeezing light”. Hmmm. What else might they use it for?
“The sensitivity of all interferometric gravitational-wave detectors (LIGO, Virgo, and GEO600) to the ripples of space-time from large cosmic events is fundamentally limited by quantum mechanical effects. They cause a background noise which overlaps with the gravitational-wave signal that is measured with laser light.

“This background noise is present even in complete darkness and can never be entirely removed. But we can change its properties – we call that squeezing – such that it interferes less with the gravitational-wave measurement,” say Dr. Henning Vahlbruch and Dr. Moritz Mehmet from AEI Hannover. They have built and the squeezed-light source and installed it at the Virgo detector. “In a sense, our device creates a kind of darkness that is better than nature usually allows for. With this improved background noise we can increase the detectors’ sensitivity.”
http://www.aei.mpg.de/2202064/virgo-squeezer