Quantum noise in second generation, signal-recycled laser interferometric gravitational-wave detectors

It has long been thought that the sensitivity of laser interferometric gravitational-wave detectors is limited by the free-mass standard quantum limit, unless radical redesigns of the interferometers or modifications of their input or output optics are introduced. Within a fully quantum-mechanical approach we show that in a second-generation interferometer composed of arm cavities and a signal recycling cavity, e.g., the LIGO-II configuration, (i) quantum shot noise and quantum radiation-pressure-fluctuation noise are dynamically correlated, (ii) the noise curve exhibits two resonant dips, (iii) the standard quantum limit can be beaten by a factor of 2, over a frequency range Δf/f∼1, but at the price of increasing noise at lower frequencies.