Signatures of Correlation of Spacetime Fluctuations in Laser Interferometers

Signatures of Correlation of Spacetime Fluctuations in Laser Interferometers | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Signatures of Correlation of Spacetime Fluctuations in Laser Interferometers Sharmila Balamurugan, Sander Vermeulen, Animesh Datta This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6934170/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 23 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Spacetime fluctuations (SFs), a common feature of different proposed gravity models, could be detected using laser interferometers. In the search for SFs, a correspondence between the expected output signals and different gravity models is needed, both for guiding the design of future interferometers, and for identifying the signal in experimental data. In this work, we provide such a correspondence for some classes of SFs and geometries of the interferometers. We consider three different classes of SFs, characterised by the decay behaviours and symmetries of their two-point correlation functions. Our approach applies to Michelson laser interferometers with Fabry-Pérot arm cavities such as the km-long LIGO detectors and those without arm cavities such as the laboratory-scale setups QUEST and GQuEST. Analysing the expected interferometer output signals, we identify three characteristic signatures for each class of SF. The designed broadband sensitivity of the laboratory-scale instruments would allow all characteristic signatures of the different classes of SFs to be observed, and such observations could provide more information on the nature of the SFs than those from LIGO. On the other hand, we find that LIGO is better suited for detecting the bare presence or absence of SFs. Physical sciences/Physics/Astronomy and astrophysics/General relativity and gravity Physical sciences/Physics/Quantum physics/Theoretical physics Physical sciences/Physics/Optical physics Physical sciences/Physics/Techniques and instrumentation Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SuppCharCorrOptSignSSA.pdf Supplementary material for “Signatures of Correlation of Spacetime Fluctuations in Laser Interferometers” Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 23 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6934170","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":482914827,"identity":"72cca1f2-7a7b-4c86-88ec-1018a2e212d1","order_by":0,"name":"Sharmila Balamurugan","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3947-3628","institution":"University of Warwick","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sharmila","middleName":"","lastName":"Balamurugan","suffix":""},{"id":482914828,"identity":"0ca7c35c-a9b2-430c-ac5a-836cb04d82a6","order_by":1,"name":"Sander Vermeulen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"California Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sander","middleName":"","lastName":"Vermeulen","suffix":""},{"id":482914829,"identity":"ac4545f8-8577-478f-b629-3a6ee93fb3f9","order_by":2,"name":"Animesh Datta","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4021-4655","institution":"University of Warwick","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Animesh","middleName":"","lastName":"Datta","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-06-20 00:55:29","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6934170/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6934170/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-67313-3","type":"published","date":"2025-12-23T05:00:00+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":100765586,"identity":"fc0bd326-cf7f-4372-9264-83419f7d7daf","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-21 08:46:31","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":496613,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"CharCorrOptSignSSA.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6934170/v1_covered_468777ad-835e-4f71-949b-3d59aefe0380.pdf"},{"id":87686979,"identity":"0da53fc2-86cb-464d-adde-453dadadb82b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-28 02:54:09","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":404542,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Supplementary material for \u0026#x201C;Signatures of Correlation of Spacetime Fluctuations in Laser Interferometers\u0026#x201D;","description":"","filename":"SuppCharCorrOptSignSSA.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6934170/v1/1d4817f2d7a3d1ada7d15e90.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Signatures of Correlation of Spacetime Fluctuations in Laser Interferometers","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6934170/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6934170/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Spacetime fluctuations (SFs), a common feature of different proposed gravity models, could be detected using laser interferometers. In the search for SFs, a correspondence between the expected output signals and different gravity models is needed, both for guiding the design of future interferometers, and for identifying the signal in experimental data. In this work, we provide such a correspondence for some classes of SFs and geometries of the interferometers. We consider three different classes of SFs, characterised by the decay behaviours and symmetries of their two-point correlation functions. Our approach applies to Michelson laser interferometers with Fabry-Pérot arm cavities such as the km-long LIGO detectors and those without arm cavities such as the laboratory-scale setups QUEST and GQuEST. Analysing the expected interferometer output signals, we identify three characteristic signatures for each class of SF. The designed broadband sensitivity of the laboratory-scale instruments would allow all characteristic signatures of the different classes of SFs to be observed, and such observations could provide more information on the nature of the SFs than those from LIGO. 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