The work in this thesis was a part of the experiment of squeezed light injection into the LIGO interferometer. The work first discusses the detailed design of the squeezed light source which would be used for the experiment. The specific design is the doubly-resonant, traveling-wave bow-tie cavity squeezed light source with a new modified coherent sideband locking technique. The thesis describes the properties affecting the squeezing magnitudes and offers solutions which improve the gain. The first part also includes the detailed modeling of the back-scattering noise of a traveling Optical Parametric Oscillator (OPO). In the second part, the thesis discusses the LIGO Squeezed Light Injection Experiment, undertaken to test squeezed light injection into a 4km interferometric gravitational wave detector. The results show the first ever measurement of squeezing enhancement in a full-scale suspended gravitational wave interferometer with Fabry-Perot arms. Further, it showed that the presence of a squeezed-light source added no additional noise in the low frequency band. The result was the best sensitivity achieved by any gravitational wave detector. The thesis is very well organized with the adequate theoretical background including basics of Quantum Optics, Quantum noise pertaining to gravitational wave detectors in various configurations, along with extensive referencing necessary for the experimental set-up. For any non-experimental scientist, this introduction is a very useful and enjoyable reading. The author is the winner of the 2013 GWIC Theses Prize.

This handbook provides an updated comprehensive description of gravitational wave astronomy. In the first part, it reviews gravitational wave experiments, from ground and space based laser interferometers to pulsar timing arrays and indirect detection from the cosmic microwave background. In the second part, it discusses a number of astrophysical and cosmological gravitational wave sources, including black holes, neutron stars, possible more exotic objects, and sources in the early Universe. The third part of the book reviews the methods to calculate gravitational waveforms. The fourth and last part of the book covers techniques employed in gravitational wave astronomy data analysis. This book represents both a valuable resource for graduate students and an important reference for researchers in gravitational wave astronomy.

A comprehensive book that includes essential techniques with their fundamental, instrumentation and application in structural and composition characterization of condensed matter.

Handbook of Optical Sensors provides a comprehensive and integrated view of optical sensors, addressing the fundamentals, structures, technologies, applications, and future perspectives. Featuring chapters authored by recognized experts and major contributors to the field, this essential reference: Explains the basic aspects of optical sensors and

This textbook for upper-level undergraduates covers the fundamentals and incorporates key themes of quantum physics. Major themes include boson condensation and fermion exclusivity, entanglement, quantum field theory, measurement precision set by quantum mechanics, and topology.

This thesis covers a diverse set of topics related to space-based gravitational wave detectors such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). The core of the thesis is devoted to the preprocessing of the interferometric link data for a LISA constellation, specifically developing optimal Kalman filters to reduce arm length noise due to clock noise. The approach is to apply Kalman filters of increasing complexity to make optimal estimates of relevant quantities such as constellation arm length, relative clock drift, and Doppler frequencies based on the available measurement data. Depending on the complexity of the filter and the simulated data, these Kalman filter estimates can provide up to a few orders of magnitude improvement over simpler estimators. While the basic concept of the LISA measurement (Time Delay Interferometry) was worked out some time ago, this work brings a level of rigor to the processing of the constellation-level data products. The thesis concludes with some topics related to the eLISA such as a new class of phenomenological waveforms for extreme mass-ratio inspiral sources (EMRIs, one of the main source for eLISA), an octahedral space-based GW detector that does not require drag-free test masses, and some efficient template-search algorithms for the case of relatively high SNR signals.

This volume contains the Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute "Quantum Optics and Experimental General Relativity" which was held in Bad Windsheim, Federal Republic of Germany, from August 16 to 29, 1981. At first glance, one might wonder why a meeting should cover these two topics, and a good bit of quantum measurement theory as well, all of which seem to be completely unrelated. The key to what one may call this grand unification lies in the effort, underway in a number of laboratories around the world, to detect gravitational radiation. Present research is pursuing the development of two types of detectors: laser interferometers and resonant bar detectors. Be cause the signals that one is trying to measure are so weak the quan tum mechanical nature of the detectors comes into play. The analy sis of the effects which result from this is facilitated by the use of techniques which have been developed in quantum optics over the years. This analysis also forces one to confront certain issues in the quantum theory of measurement. The laser interferometer detectors, using as they do light, are clearly within the realm of subjects usually considered by quantum optics. For example, the analysis of the noise present in such a de tector can make use of the many techniques which have been developed in quantum optics.

The recent generation in the laboratory of phase squeezed and intensity squeezed light beams has brought to fruition the theoretical predictions of such non-classical phenomena which have been made and developed in recent years by a number of workers in the field of quantum optics. A vigorous development is now underway of both theory and experiment and the first measurements have been coi:Jfirmed and extended already in some half dozen laboratories. Although the fields of application of these novellight sources are as yet somewhat hazy in our minds and some inspired thinking is required along these lines, the pace and excitement of the research is very clear. It is to he hoped that the new possibilities of: making measurements below the quantum shot noise lirnit which is made possible by these squeezed states of light willlead to further fundamental advances in the near future. In this NATO ARW a number of the leaders in the field met in the extremely pleasant surroundings of Cortina d'Ampezzo and their contributions are recorded in this volume. The meeting was held at the Istituto d'Arte which was enjoying its lOOth anniversary celebrations. This ARW was preceeded by an ONR Special Seminar on "Photons and Quantum Fluctuations", the proceedings of which will be published by Adam Hilger Ltd. The timeliness of the meeting was acknowledged by the support of the NATO Scientific Affairs Division which we would like to acknowledge on behalf of all the participants.