Inertial control of the mirror suspensions of the VIRGO interferometer for gravitational wave detection

In order to achieve full detection sensitivity at low frequencies, the mirrors of interferometric gravitational wave detectors must be isolated from seismic noise. The VIRGO vibration isolator, called the superattenuator, is fully effective at frequencies above 4 Hz. But the residual motion of the mirror at the mechanical resonant frequencies of the system is too large for the interferometer locking system and must be damped. A multidimensional feedback system, using inertial sensors and digital processing, has been designed for this purpose. An experimental procedure for determining the feedback control of the system has been defined. In this article a full description of the system is given and experimental results are presented.