A low-frequency torsion pendulum with interferometric readout

M P Ross; K Venkateswara; C A Hagedorn; C J Leupold; P W F Forsyth; J D Wegner; E A Shaw; J G Lee; J H Gundlach

doi:10.1063/5.0043098

A low-frequency torsion pendulum with interferometric readout

Rev Sci Instrum. 2021 May 1;92(5):054502. doi: 10.1063/5.0043098.

Authors

M P Ross¹, K Venkateswara¹, C A Hagedorn¹, C J Leupold², P W F Forsyth³, J D Wegner¹, E A Shaw¹, J G Lee¹, J H Gundlach¹

Affiliations

¹ Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.
² University of Washington Bothell, Bothell, Washington 98011, USA.
³ OzGrav-ANU, Centre for Gravitational Astrophysics, College of Science, The Australian National University, Acton, ACT, 2601, Australia.

PMID: 34243344
DOI: 10.1063/5.0043098

Abstract

We describe a torsion pendulum with a large mass-quadrupole moment and a resonant frequency of 2.8 mHz, whose angle is measured using a Michelson interferometer. The system achieved noise levels of ∼200prad/Hz between 0.2 and 30 Hz and ∼10prad/Hz above 100 Hz. Such a system can be applied to a broad range of fields from the study of rotational seismic motion and elastogravity signals to gravitational wave observation and tests of gravity.