Optical simulations of stray light on instrumented baffles surrounding Virgo end mirrors during O5

As part of the second phase of the upgrade program of Advanced Virgo, instrumented baffles are being constructed to be installed around the end mirrors in the main Fabry-Perot cavities, in continuation of what has been implemented for the input mode cleaner end mirror during phase I. According to the current design, these baffles will be equipped with more than 200 photosensors, allowing for real-time monitoring of the stray light around the mirrors. We present optical simulations of the light distribution in the detector’s main cavities to assess the ability of the sensors to effectively monitor the presence of defects in the mirrors’ surface and to play a role in the pre-alignment of the interferometer.