Billionth of a billionth to billions of billions – measurements at (and beyond) the quantum mechanical limits

Measurement is a concept that is so ubiquitous in any experimental science, as it is the only avenue  through which we can understand the world, and beyond. In the last two decades, technological advances have allowed us to construct ever more precise sensors, to the point that we are now limited by the laws of quantum mechanics even when measuring systems at macroscopic scales. In this talk, I will describe two experiments I have worked on, that have leveraged lasers to preform measurements with exquisite precision. While these experiments (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory and optical tweezers) are aimed at advancing fundamental physics, I will also motivate why these techniques can be of interest to the broader scientific community.