Control of the laser frequency in the Virgo interferometer

Dynamic noise budgeting for controller optimization

Journal article (2025)

Authors

Mathyn Van Dael Eindhoven University of Technology, Nikhef
Julia Casanueva European Gravitational Observatory (EGO)
Gert Witvoet Eindhoven University of Technology, TNO
Diego Bersanetti INFN, Genova
Manuel Pinto European Gravitational Observatory (EGO)
Paolo Ruggi European Gravitational Observatory (EGO)
Maddalena Mantovani European Gravitational Observatory (EGO)
Tom Oomen Team Jan-Willem van Wingerden - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering
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Research Group
Team Jan-Willem van Wingerden (Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering) (TU Delft)
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Published Date

2025

Language

English

Faculty

Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering

Department

Delft Center for Systems and Control

Research Group

Team Jan-Willem van Wingerden

Abstract

This paper presents a framework for the derivation of a noise budget and the subsequent utilization in the optimization of the control design, using the laser frequency stabilization loop in the Virgo interferometer, which is a complex nested feedback system, as an experimental case study. First, the system dynamics and noise sources are modeled and experimentally verified to produce the noise budget, after which an optimization problem using the H2 norm is formulated and tailored to the specific design requirements for the detector. The structure of the synthesized controller is then used to produce an improved control design. Experimental verification of the developed controller on the Virgo interferometer shows roughly a factor 3 reduction in root-mean-square error, illustrating the effectiveness of the presented method.