Calibrating the system dynamics of LISA Pathfinder

Verfasst von

LISA Pathfinder Collaboration , H. Audley, K. Danzmann, I. Diepholz, G. Heinzel, M. Hewitson, N. Karnesis, B. Kaune, S. Paczkowski, J. Reiche, Gudrun Wanner, L. Wissel, A. Wittchen, Michael Born

Abstract

LISA Pathfinder (LPF) was a European Space Agency mission with the aim to test key technologies for future space-borne gravitational-wave observatories like LISA. The main scientific goal of LPF was to demonstrate measurements of differential acceleration between free-falling test masses at the sub-femto-g level, and to understand the residual acceleration in terms of a physical model of stray forces, and displacement readout noise. A key step toward reaching the LPF goals was the correct calibration of the dynamics of LPF, which was a three-body system composed by two test-masses enclosed in a single spacecraft, and subject to control laws for system stability. In this work, we report on the calibration procedures adopted to calculate the residual differential stray force per unit mass acting on the two test-masses in their nominal positions. The physical parameters of the adopted dynamical model are presented, together with their role on LPF performance. The analysis and results of these experiments show that the dynamics of the system was accurately modeled and the dynamical parameters were stationary throughout the mission. Finally, the impact and importance of calibrating system dynamics for future space-based gravitational wave observatories is discussed.

Details

Organisationseinheit(en)
Institut für Gravitationsphysik
PhoenixD: Simulation, Fabrikation und Anwendung optischer Systeme
Quest: Centre for Quantum Engineering and Space-Time Research
Institut für Quantenoptik
QuantumFrontiers
Externe Organisation(en)
Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik (Albert-Einstein-Institut)
Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik (MPQ)
Typ
Artikel
Journal
Physical Review D
Band
97
Anzahl der Seiten
14
ISSN
2470-0010
Publikationsdatum
15.06.2018
Publikationsstatus
Veröffentlicht
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Physik und Astronomie (sonstige)
Elektronische Version(en)
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.97.122002 (Zugang: Geschlossen )
https://arxiv.org/abs/1806.08581 (Zugang: Offen )