Story perspectives

China’s Taiji-2 Core Hits Picometer Precision, Rivaling LIGO

5/12/2026

Summary

Story summary

Chinese researchers at the Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, tested the optical core for Taiji-2.
Ground tests recorded picometer-level precision, detecting displacements as small as one ten-thousandth of a human hair’s diameter.
The core achieved a tenfold improvement in stability, reduced noise, and suppressed temperature-induced interference.
The team published the results in Research, positioning the project alongside U.S. LIGO and ESA’s LISA as major space-based gravitational-wave efforts.

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Story summary

Chinese researchers at the Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, tested the optical core for Taiji-2.
Ground tests recorded picometer-level precision, detecting displacements as small as one ten-thousandth of a human hair’s diameter.
The core achieved a tenfold improvement in stability, reduced noise, and suppressed temperature-induced interference.
The team published the results in Research, positioning the project alongside U.S. LIGO and ESA’s LISA as major space-based gravitational-wave efforts.