Since it became publicly available in 2004, the radiative transfer code STOKES has been used to model the spectroscopic, polarimetric, timing and imaging signatures for different astrophysical scenarios. Ten years later, at the release of a new versi
on of the Monte Carlo code, we make a census of the different scientific cases explored with STOKES and review the main results obtained so far.
In this first research note of a series of two, we conduct optical/UV investigations of the spectropolarimetric signatures emerging from the structure of quasars (Elvis 2000) applied to a purely theoretical, dusty model. We aim to explore the similar
ities/differences between an absorbing, disk-born outflow and the usual dusty torus that is supposed to hide the internal regions of active galactic nuclei (AGN). Using radiative transfer Monte Carlo simulations, we compute the continuum polarization signatures emerging from the model setup of Elvis (2000). We find that a dust-filled outflow produces very low amount of wavelength-depend polarization degrees, associated with a photon polarization angle perpendicular to the projected symmetry axis of the model. The polarization percentages are ten times lower than what can be produced by a toroidal model, with a maximal polarization degree found for intermediate viewing angle (i.e. when the observers line-of-sight crosses the outflowing material). The structure for quasars unsuccessfully blocks the radiation from the central irradiating source and shows a spectropolarimetric behavior that cannot be conciliated with observations. Either a new set of morphological parameters or different optical thickness must be considered.
The next generation of gravitational wave (gw) detectors is expected to fully enter into the quantum regime of force and displacement detection. With this aim, it is important to scale up the experiments on opto-mechanical effects from the microscopi
c regime to large mass systems and test the schemes that should be applied to reach the quantum regime of detection. In this work we present the experimental characterization of a prototype of massive gw detector, composed of two oscillators with a mass of the order of the kg, whose distance is read by a high finesse optical cavity. The mechanical response function is measured by exciting the oscillators though modulated radiation pressure. We demonstrate two effects crucial for the next generation of massive, cryogenic gw detectors (DUAL detectors): a) the reduction of the contribution of local susceptibility thanks to an average over a large interrogation area. Such effect is measured on the photo-thermal response thanks to the first implementation of a folded-Fabry-Perot cavity; b) the back-action reduction due to negative interference between acoustic modes. Moreover, we obtain the active cooling of an oscillation mode through radiation pressure, on the described mechanical device which is several orders of magnitude heavier than previously demonstrated radiation-pressure cooled systems.
We calculate the quantum noise limited displacement sensitivity of a Michelson-Fabry-Perot (MFP) with detuned cavities, followed by phase-sensitive homodyne detection. We show that the standard quantum limit can be surpassed even with resonant caviti
es and without any signal-recycling mirror nor additional cavities. Indeed, thanks to the homodyne detection, the output field quadrature can be chosen in such a way to cancel the effect of input amplitude fluctuations, i.e., eliminating the force noise. With detuned cavities, the modified opto-mechanical susceptivity allows to reach unlimited sensitivity for large enough (yet finite) optical power. Our expressions include mirror losses and cavity delay effect, for a realistic comparison with experiments. Our study is particularly devoted to gravitational wave detectors and we consider both an interferometer with free-falling mirrors, and a MFP as readout for a massive detector. In the latter case, the sensitivity curve of the recently conceived DUAL detector, based on two acoustic modes, is obtained.
