Unified model for the LISA measurements and instrument simulations

Abstract

LISA is a space-based mHz gravitational-wave observatory, with a planned launch in 2034. It is expected to be the first detector of its kind, and will present unique challenges in instrumentation and data analysis. An accurate preflight simulation of LISA data is a vital part of the development of both the instrument and the analysis methods. The simulation must include a detailed model of the full measurement and analysis chain, capturing the main features that affect the instrument performance and processing algorithms. Here, we propose a new model that includes, for the first time, proper relativistic treatment of reference frames with realistic orbits; a model for onboard clocks and clock synchronization measurements; proper modeling of total laser frequencies, including laser locking, frequency planning and Doppler shifts; better treatment of onboard processing and updated noise models. We then introduce two implementations of this model, LISANode and LISA Instrument. We demonstrate that TDI processing successfully recovers gravitational-wave signals from the significantly more realistic and complex simulated data. LISANode and LISA Instrument are already widely used by the LISA community and, for example, currently provide the mock data for the LISA Data Challenges.

29 pages, 16 figures, 4 tables

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Cited by in corpus (21)

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• Ranging Sensor Fusion in LISA Data Processing: Treatment of Ambiguities, Noise, and On-Board Delays in LISA Ranging Observables
• Frequency planning for LISA
• Doppler effect in TianQin time-delay interferometry
• Templated Anisotropic Analyses of the LISA Galactic Foreground
• Post-processing subtraction of tilt-to-length noise in LISA in the presence of gravitational wave signals
• Time-delay interferometry with onboard optical delays
• Probing the axion-photon coupling with space-based gravitational waves detectors
• Tilt-To-Length Coupling in LISA -- Uncertainty and Biases
• Time delay interferometry with minimal null frequencies
• Observable-based reformulation of time-delay interferometry
• Simulation-based population inference of LISA's Galactic binaries: Bypassing the global fit
• Clock synchronization and light-travel-time estimation for space-based gravitational-wave detectors
• Detectability of Gravitational-Wave Memory with LISA: A Bayesian Approach
• Accelerating the time-domain LISA response model with central finite differences and hybridization techniques
• Exploring Time Delay Interferometry Ranging as a Practical Ranging Approach in the Bayesian Framework
• Time delay interferometry with minimal null frequencies and shortened time span
• Modulation-assisted time-delay interferometric ranging for LISA
• Outer Solar System spacecraft to probe the $\mu$Hz gravitational wave frontier
• The DeepFMKit Python package: A toolbox for simulating and analyzing deep frequency modulation interferometers
• Parameter resolution of near-Earth asteroids using LISA