New technique enables LIGO to peer farther into the distant universe - Phys.org

What the report says

Phys.Org reported on July 21, 2026, that researchers at the University of California, Riverside have developed a technique intended to help gravitational-wave observatories such as LIGO improve their reach. The work, led by UC Riverside physicist and astronomer Jonathan Richardson and published in Classical and Quantum Gravity, addresses small heat-driven changes in LIGO’s large mirrors that can interfere with the detector’s precision.

LIGO measures extremely small changes in distance using powerful laser beams traveling through 4-kilometer arms. According to the report, even highly refined mirrors absorb a minute amount of laser light, creating nanometer-scale distortions that can weaken sensitivity. While observatories can already compensate by applying controlled heat patterns, the difficult step has been knowing the exact distortion pattern that needs correction.

The new approach uses infrared thermal imaging of the mirror surface together with wavefront data and heat-flow modeling to infer the full optical distortion. The idea emerged while Richardson’s group was testing adaptive optics on a full-scale 40-kilogram LIGO mirror. The researchers say a key advantage is that the method can rely on commercially available thermal cameras positioned outside the interferometer, rather than requiring a major new sensing technology.

Phys.Org, citing the researchers, said the technique could raise the strain sensitivity of the planned LIGO A+ upgrade by as much as 31% and extend average detection range for binary neutron star mergers by about 10 megaparsecs, or roughly 33 million light-years. The report also said the method is expected to inform Cosmic Explorer, a proposed next-generation U.S. gravitational-wave observatory. Co-authors listed were Liu Tao and Pooyan Goodarzi.