120265332
Fundamental Physics with Space Experiments
36133266
From laboratory experiments to LISA Pathfinder: achieving LISA geodesic motion
This paper presents a quantitative assessment of the performance of the upcoming LISA Pathfinder geodesic explorer mission. The findings are based on the results of extensive ground testing and simulation campaigns using flight hardware, flight control and operations algorithms. The results show that, for the central experiment of measuring the stray differential acceleration between the LISA test masses, LISA Pathfinder will be able to verify the overall acceleration noise to within a factor 2 of the LISA requirement at 1 mHz and within a factor 6 at 0.1 mHz. We also discuss the key elements of the physical model of disturbances, coming from LISA Pathfinder and ground measurement that will guarantee the LISA performance.
120641812
Progress in the development of a position sensor for LISA drag-free control
We report on progress in the development of free-falling moving test-masses for LISA and for the related technology demonstration mission. We present simple formulae to evaluate the performance of the device as a function of the various design parameters, and we compare them with preliminary experimental results from a test prototype we are developing. Quantitative agreement is found. Finally, we present a control law, along with a performance simulation, for low-frequency electrostatic suspension of the test-mass with minimal perturbation of the motion within the measuring frequency band.
63844509
The LISA Pathfinder interferometry-hardware and system testing
Preparations for the LISA Pathfinder mission have reached an exciting stage. Tests of the engineering model (EM) of the optical metrology system have recently been completed at the Albert Einstein Institute, Hannover, and flight model tests are now underway. Significantly, they represent the first complete integration and testing of the space-qualified hardware and are the first tests on an optical system level. The results and test procedures of these campaigns will be utilized directly in the ground-based flight hardware tests, and subsequently during in-flight operations. In addition, they allow valuable testing of the data analysis methods using the MATLAB-based LTP data analysis toolbox. This paper presents an overview of the results from the EM test campaign that was successfully completed in December 2009.
117102512
Towards an Ultracryogenic Bar Observatory for Gravitational Wave Bursts
123492651
Axion to magnon conversion. A scheme for the detection of galactic axions
Abstract We consider the possibility of detecting axions in the halo of our Galaxy by means of converting them into collective excitations of a ferromagnet. We calculate that, under optimal conditions, one can convert about 6000 axions per day in a 1 m 3 ferromagnet. The signal has an intrinsic diurnal modulation of order unit due to the combined effect of Earth rotation and motion of the solar system with respect to the galactic center. We discuss the ultimate limitations arising from thermal fluctuations of the magnetization.
23581346
Demonstrating the feasibility of probing the neutron-star equation of state with second-generation gravitational-wave detectors.
Fisher matrix and related studies have suggested that, with second-generation gravitational-wave detectors, it may be possible to infer the equation of state of neutron stars using tidal effects in a binary inspiral. Here, we present the first fully Bayesian investigation of this problem. We simulate a realistic data analysis setting by performing a series of numerical experiments of binary neutron-star signals hidden in detector noise, assuming the projected final design sensitivity of the Advanced LIGO-Virgo network. With an astrophysical distribution of events (in particular, uniform in comoving volume), we find that only a few tens of detections will be required to arrive at strong constraints, even for some of the softest equations of state in the literature. Thus, direct gravitational-wave detection will provide a unique probe of neutron-star structure.
118385730
Testing general relativity using gravitational waves from binary neutron stars: Effect of spins
We present a Bayesian data analysis pipeline for testing GR using gravitational wave signals from coalescing compact binaries, and in particular binary neutron stars. In this study, we investigate its performance when sources with spins are taken into account.
120094772
Gravitational waves as deformations of embedded Einstein spaces
We show how approximate radiative solutions of Einstein's equations can be constructed using small deformations of Einstein spacetimes embedded into a pseudo-Euclidean flat space of higher dimension. Infinitesimal deformations are seen then as vector fields in EN. All geometrical quantities can be then expressed in terms of embedding functions zA and their deformations . Then we require the deformations to keep Einstein equations satisfied up to a given order in e. The system obtained is then analyzed in particular cases of the Minkowski and Schwarzschild manifolds taken as a starting point, and solutions of deformations of Einstein's equations displaying radiative behavior are found up to the third order of expansion in small parameter e.
55961759
How serious can the stealth bias be in gravitational wave parameter estimation
The upcoming direct detection of gravitational waves will open a window to probing the strong-field regime of general relativity. As a consequence, waveforms that include the presence of deviations from general relativity have been developed (e.g., in the parametrized post-Einsteinian approach). TIGER, a data analysis pipeline which builds Bayesian evidence to support or question the validity of general relativity, has been written and tested. In particular, it was shown that the LIGO and Virgo detectors can probe deviations from general relativity in a regime than cannot be tested by Solar System tests or pulsar timing measurements. However, evidence from several detections is required before a deviation from general relativity can be confidently claimed. An interesting consequence is that, should general relativity not be the correct theory of gravity in its strong field regime, using standard general relativity templates for the matched filter analysis of interferometer data will introduce biases in the gravitational wave measured parameters with potentially serious consequences on the astrophysical inferences, such as the coalescence rate or the mass distribution. In this work we consider three heuristic possible deviations from general relativity and show that the biases introduced in the estimated parameters of gravitational waves emitted during the inspiral phase of spinless compact binary coalescence systems assuming the validity of general relativity manifest in various ways. The mass parameters are usually the most affected, with biases that can be as large as 30 standard deviations for the symmetric mass ratio, and nearly one percent for the chirp mass, which is usually estimated with subpercent accuracy. Other parameters do not show a significant bias. We conclude that statements about the nature of the observed sources, e.g., if both objects are neutron stars, depend critically on the explicit assumption that general relativity is the right theory of gravity in the strong field regime.
118457757
Towards a generic test of the strong field dynamics of general relativity using compact binary coalescence
Coalescences of binary neutron stars and/or black holes are amongst the most likely gravitational-wave signals to be observed in ground based interferometric detectors. Apart from the astrophysical importance of their detection, they will also provide us with our very first empirical access to the genuinely strong-field dynamics of General Relativity (GR). We present a new framework based on Bayesian model selection aimed at detecting deviations from GR, subject to the constraints of the Advanced Virgo and LIGO detectors. The method tests the consistency of coefficients appearing in the waveform with the predictions made by GR, without relying on any specific alternative theory of gravity. The framework is suitable for low signal-to-noise ratio events through the construction of multiple subtests, most of which involve only a limited number of coefficients. It also naturally allows for the combination of information from multiple sources to increase one's confidence in GR or a violation thereof. We expect it to be capable of finding a wide range of possible deviations from GR, including ones which in principle cannot be accommodated by the model waveforms, on condition that the induced change in phase at frequencies where the detectors are the most sensitive is comparable to the effect of a few percent change in one or more of the low-order post-Newtonian phase coefficients. In principle the framework can be used with any GR waveform approximant, with arbitrary parameterized deformations, to serve as model waveforms. In order to illustrate the workings of the method, we perform a range of numerical experiments in which simulated gravitational waves modeled in the restricted post-Newtonian, stationary phase approximation are added to Gaussian and stationary noise that follows the expected Advanced LIGO/Virgo noise curves.