NNLO predictions for dijet production in diffractive DIS

Cross sections for inclusive dijet production in diffractive deep-inelastic scattering are calculated for the first time in next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) accuracy. These cross sections are compared to several HERA measurements published by the H1 and ZEUS collaborations. We computed the total cross sections, 49 single-differential and five double-differential distributions for six HERA measurements. The NNLO corrections are found to be large and positive. The normalization of the resulting predictions typically exceeds the data, while the kinematical shape of the data is described better at NNLO than at next-to-leading order (NLO). Our results use the currently available NLO diffractive parton distributions, and the discrepancy in normalization highlights the need for a consistent determination of these distributions at NNLO accuracy

Michelson interferometer with diffractively-coupled arm resonators in second-order Littrow configuration

Michelson-type laser-interferometric gravitational-wave (GW) observatories employ very high light powers as well as transmissively- coupled Fabry-Perot arm resonators in order to realize high measurement sensitivities. Due to the absorption in the transmissive optics, high powers lead to thermal lensing and hence to thermal distortions of the laser beam profile, which sets a limit on the maximal light power employable in GW observatories. Here, we propose and realize a Michelson-type laser interferometer with arm resonators whose coupling components are all-reflective second-order Littrow gratings. In principle such gratings allow high finesse values of the resonators but avoid bulk transmission of the laser light and thus the corresponding thermal beam distortion. The gratings used have three diffraction orders, which leads to the creation of a second signal port. We theoretically analyze the signal response of the proposed topology and show that it is equivalent to a conventional Michelson-type interferometer. In our proof-of-principle experiment we generated phase-modulation signals inside the arm resonators and detected them simultaneously at the two signal ports. The sum signal was shown to be equivalent to a single-output-port Michelson interferometer with transmissively-coupled arm cavities, taking into account optical loss. The proposed and demonstrated topology is a possible approach for future all-reflective GW observatory designs

Realization of a monolithic high-reflectivity cavity mirror from a single silicon crystal

We report on the first experimental realization of a high-reflectivity cavity mirror that solely consists of a single silicon crystal. Since no material was added to the crystal, the urgent problem of 'coating thermal noise' that currently limits classical as well as quantum measurements is avoided. Our mirror is based on a surface nanostructure that creates a resonant surface waveguide. In full agreement with a rigorous model we realized a reflectivity of (99.79+/-0.01)% at a wavelength of 1.55 {\mu}m, and achieved a cavity finesse of 2784. We anticipate that our achievement will open the avenue to next generation high-precision experiments targeting fundamental questions of physics.Comment: Phys. Rev. Lett., accepte

Experimental demonstration of a suspended diffractively coupled optical cavity

All-reflective optical systems are under consideration for future gravitational wave detector topologies. One approach in proposed designs is to use diffraction gratings as input couplers for Fabry–Perot cavities. We present an experimental demonstration of a fully suspended diffractively coupled cavity and investigate the use of conventional Pound–Drever–Hall length sensing and control techniques to maintain the required operating condition

Power-recycled michelson interferometer with a 50/50 grating beam splitter

We designed and fabricated an all-reflective 50/50 beam splitter based on a dielectric grating. This beam splitter was used to set up a power-recycled Michelson interferometer with a finesse of about FPR ≈ 880. Aspects of the diffractive beam splitter as well as of the interferometer design are discussed.DFG/SFB/TR

All-reflective coupling of two optical cavities with 3-port diffraction gratings

The shot-noise limited sensitivity of Michelson-type laser interferometers with Fabry-Perot arm cavities can be increased by the so-called power-recycling technique. In such a scheme the power-recycling cavity is optically coupled with the interferometer's arm cavities. A problem arises because the central coupling mirror transmits a rather high laser power and may show thermal lensing, thermo-refractive noise and photo-thermo-refractive noise. Cryogenic cooling of this mirror is also challenging, and thus thermal noise becomes a general problem. Here, we theoretically investigate an all-reflective coupling scheme of two optical cavities based on a 3-port diffraction grating. We show that power-recycling of a high-finesse arm cavity is possible without transmitting any laser power through a substrate material. The power splitting ratio of the three output ports of the grating is, surprisingly, noncritical