Frequency planning for LISA

authored by: Gerhard Heinzel, Javier Alvarez-Vizoso, Miguel Dovale-Álvarez, Karsten Wiesner
Abstract: The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is poised to revolutionize astrophysics and cosmology in the late 2030s by unlocking unprecedented insights into the most energetic and elusive astrophysical phenomena. The mission envisages three spacecraft, each equipped with two lasers, on a triangular constellation with 2.5 million-kilometer arm-lengths. Six interspacecraft laser links are established on a laser-transponder configuration, where five of the six lasers are offset phase locked to another. The need to determine a suitable set of transponder offset frequencies precisely, given the constraints imposed by the onboard metrology instrument and the orbital dynamics, poses an interesting technical challenge. In this paper we describe an algorithm that solves this problem via quadratic programming. The algorithm can produce concrete frequency plans for a given orbit and transponder configuration, ensuring that all of the critical interferometric signals stay within the desired frequency range throughout the mission lifetime, and enabling LISA to operate in science mode uninterruptedly.
Organisation(s): PhoenixD: Photonics, Optics, and Engineering - Innovation Across Disciplines
External Organisation(s): Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)
Type: Article
Journal: Physical Review D
Volume: 110
ISSN: 2470-0010
Publication date: 13.08.2024
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.110.042002 (Access: Open)

BibTeX

@article{5a02ba40ff82407eb03934758ac796b1,
title = "Frequency planning for LISA",
abstract = "The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is poised to revolutionize astrophysics and cosmology in the late 2030s by unlocking unprecedented insights into the most energetic and elusive astrophysical phenomena. The mission envisages three spacecraft, each equipped with two lasers, on a triangular constellation with 2.5 million-kilometer arm-lengths. Six interspacecraft laser links are established on a laser-transponder configuration, where five of the six lasers are offset phase locked to another. The need to determine a suitable set of transponder offset frequencies precisely, given the constraints imposed by the onboard metrology instrument and the orbital dynamics, poses an interesting technical challenge. In this paper we describe an algorithm that solves this problem via quadratic programming. The algorithm can produce concrete frequency plans for a given orbit and transponder configuration, ensuring that all of the critical interferometric signals stay within the desired frequency range throughout the mission lifetime, and enabling LISA to operate in science mode uninterruptedly.",
author = "Gerhard Heinzel and Javier Alvarez-Vizoso and Miguel Dovale-{\'A}lvarez and Karsten Wiesner",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2024 authors. Published by the American Physical Society. Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the {"}https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/{"}Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI. Open access publication funded by the Max Planck Society.",
year = "2024",
month = aug,
day = "13",
doi = "10.1103/PhysRevD.110.042002",
language = "English",
volume = "110",
journal = "Physical Review D",
issn = "2470-0010",
publisher = "American Institute of Physics",
number = "4",
}