Octahedron configuration for a displacement noise-cancelling gravitational wave detector in space

Yan Wang, David Keitel, Stanislav Babak, Antoine Petiteau, Markus Otto, Simon Barke, Fumiko Kawazoe, Alexander Khalaidovski, Vitali Müller, Daniel Schütze, Holger Wittel, Karsten Danzmann, and Bernard F. Schutz
Phys. Rev. D 88, 104021 – Published 19 November 2013

Abstract

We study for the first time a three-dimensional octahedron constellation for a space-based gravitational wave detector, which we call the octahedral gravitational observatory (OGO). With six spacecraft the constellation is able to remove laser frequency noise and acceleration disturbances from the gravitational wave signal without needing LISA-like drag-free control, thereby simplifying the payloads and placing less stringent demands on the thrusters. We generalize LISA’s time-delay interferometry to displacement-noise free interferometry (DFI) by deriving a set of generators for those combinations of the data streams that cancel laser and acceleration noise. However, the three-dimensional configuration makes orbit selection complicated. So far, only a halo orbit near the Lagrangian point L1 has been found to be stable enough, and this allows only short arms up to 1400 km. We derive the sensitivity curve of OGO with this arm length, resulting in a peak sensitivity of about 2×1023Hz1/2 near 100 Hz. We compare this version of OGO to the present generation of ground-based detectors and to some future detectors. We also investigate the scientific potentials of such a detector, which include observing gravitational waves from compact binary coalescences, the stochastic background, and pulsars as well as the possibility to test alternative theories of gravity. We find a mediocre performance level for this short arm length detector, between those of initial and advanced ground-based detectors. Thus, actually building a space-based detector of this specific configuration does not seem very efficient. However, when alternative orbits that allow for longer detector arms can be found, a detector with much improved science output could be constructed using the octahedron configuration and DFI solutions demonstrated in this paper. Also, since the sensitivity of a DFI detector is limited mainly by shot noise, we discuss how the overall sensitivity could be improved by using advanced technologies that reduce this particular noise source.

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  • Received 18 June 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.88.104021

© 2013 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Yan Wang1,*, David Keitel1,†, Stanislav Babak2,‡, Antoine Petiteau2,3, Markus Otto1,§, Simon Barke1, Fumiko Kawazoe1, Alexander Khalaidovski1, Vitali Müller1, Daniel Schütze1, Holger Wittel1, Karsten Danzmann1, and Bernard F. Schutz2

  • 1Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik (Albert-Einstein-Institut), Callinstraße 38, 30167 Hannover, Germany
  • 2Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik (Albert-Einstein-Institut), Am Mühlenberg 1, 14476 Golm, Germany
  • 3APC, Université Paris Diderot, Observatoire de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 10 rue Alice Domon et Léonie Duquet, 75205 Paris Cedex 13, France

  • *yan.wang@aei.mpg.de
  • david.keitel@aei.mpg.de
  • stba@aei.mpg.de
  • §markus.otto@aei.mpg.de

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Vol. 88, Iss. 10 — 15 November 2013

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