Potential radiation-pressure-induced instabilities in cavity interferometers

Abstract

The mirrors of an interferometer may be rendered dynamically unstable by the radiation pressure of the sensing light. We assess the importance of this effect for optical cavities, concentrating in particular on proposed laser-interferometric gravitational wave detectors. Both broadband and narrow-band systems are considered. While the potential instabilities may well be important for cavities with weak suspensions, realistic gravitational wave detectors should not encounter any problems.