  We describe an experiment in which we have used a cold damping feedback
mechanism to reduce the thermal noise of a mirror around its mechanical
resonance frequency. The monitoring of the brownian motion of the mirror allows
to apply an additional viscous force without any thermal fluctuations
associated. This scheme has been experimentally implemented with the radiation
pressure of an intensity-modulated laser beam. Large noise reductions, up to 30
dB, have been obtained. We have also checked the mechanical response of the
cold damped mirror, and monitored its transient evolution between the cooled
regime and the room temperature equilibrium. A simple theoretical model allows
to fully explain the experimental results. A possible application to the active
cooling of the violin modes in a gravitational-wave interferometer is
discussed.
