From StarTalk.

Neil presses on LIGO’s mind-boggling sensitivity—detecting arm-length changes far smaller than a proton—then challenges whether that beats quantum limits. Nergis explains quantum squeezing: you trade uncertainty between a light wave’s amplitude and phase (Heisenberg), cranking down the noise in phase—the thing LIGO measures—while letting amplitude get noisier. No laws are broken; the instrument is engineered to isolate vibrations, operate in vacuum, bounce light ~100× per arm, and read a tiny phase mismatch at a “dark fringe,” where any leakage of light means a passing gravitational wave.

From ‘When Black Holes Collide, with Nergis Mavalvala’: https://youtu.be/HiqQF5KRHLs?si=Ugox01A3bQT5AdJp

Get the StarTalk book, ‘To Infinity and Beyond: A Journey of Cosmic Discovery’ on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3PL0NFn

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/startalkradio

FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE to StarTalk:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/startalkradio
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StarTalk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startalk
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@neildegrassetyson