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LIGO Put Its Stray-Light Model to a Test

Beam-tube baffle measurements agreed with noise models within a factor of three to ten.

Published Updated Story ID: mp-2026-09-22-011
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Summary

Beam-tube baffle measurements agreed with noise models within a factor of three to ten.

A LIGO Livingston testing campaign measured how mid-arm beam-tube baffles move and contribute stray-light noise, then compared the observations with simulations. The authors report model-to-strain agreement within a factor of three to ten and identify motion around 35 and 90 hertz visible as broadband strain features. Additional peaks between 70 and 100 hertz are attributed in their model to diffraction noise. This is a validation and refinement of instrument-noise modeling, not a newly detected gravitational-wave event.

Why it matters

Beam-tube baffle measurements agreed with noise models within a factor of three to ten.

Limits and context

  • This is a validation and refinement of instrument-noise modeling, not a newly detected gravitational-wave event.

Key claims

  1. Beam-tube baffle measurements agreed with noise models within a factor of three to ten.

    Qualification: This is a validation and refinement of instrument-noise modeling, not a newly detected gravitational-wave event.

    Evidence: source-2026-09-22-011

Sources

  1. arXiv preprint 2609.24743arXiv · primary research

Corrections

No corrections have been recorded for this story.