Performance of a gas spring harmonic oscillator

Abstract
The characteristics and the performances of a gas spring, to be used in the future in a three-dimensional multiple attenuation system, designed to support the heavy test masses for a low-frequency gravitational wave interferometric antenna, are presented. This multiple system is expected to attenuate 10−9 (10−11) at 10 Hz in the vertical (horizontal) direction. This experiment, in which masses up to 430 kg have been levitated, has shown that the height of the resonance peaks in the gas spring vertical and horizontal transfer functions should not prevent us from obtaining the required high attenuation factors. A gas temperature feedback system, for the gas volume control, has given satisfactory results.