您选择的条件: Xin-Chun Hu
  • Orbital effects on time delay interferometry for TianQin

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: The proposed space-borne laser interferometric gravitational wave (GW) observatory TianQin adopts a geocentric orbit for its nearly equilateral triangular constellation formed by three identical drag-free satellites. The geocentric distance of each satellite is $\approx 1.0 \times 10^{5} ~\mathrm{km}$, which makes the armlengths of the interferometer be $\approx 1.73 \times 10^{5} ~\mathrm{km}$. It is aimed to detect the GWs in $0.1 ~\mathrm{mHz}-1 ~\mathrm{Hz}$. For space-borne detectors, the armlengths are unequal and change continuously which results in that the laser frequency noise is nearly $7-8$ orders of magnitude higher than the secondary noises (such as acceleration noise, optical path noise, etc.). The time delay interferometry (TDI) that synthesizes virtual interferometers from time-delayed one-way frequency measurements has been proposed to suppress the laser frequency noise to the level that is comparable or below the secondary noises. In this work, we evaluate the performance of various data combinations for both first- and second-generation TDI based on the five-year numerically optimized orbits of the TianQin's satellites which exhibit the actual rotating and flexing of the constellation. We find that the time differences of symmetric interference paths of the data combinations are $\sim 10^{-8}$ s for the first-generation TDI and $\sim 10^{-12}$ s for the second-generation TDI, respectively. While the second-generation TDI is guaranteed to be valid for TianQin, the first-generation TDI is possible to be competent for GW signal detection with improved stabilization of the laser frequency noise in the concerned GW frequencies.

  • Analyses of Laser Propagation Noises for TianQin Gravitational Wave Observatory Based on the Global Magnetosphere MHD Simulations

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: TianQin is a proposed space-borne gravitational wave (GW) observatory composed of three identical satellites orbiting around the geocenter with a radius of $10^5$ km. It aims at detecting GWs in the frequency range of 0.1 mHz -- 1 Hz. The detection of GW relies on the high precision measurement of optical path length at $10^{-12}$~m level. The dispersion of space plasma can lead to the optical path difference (OPD, $\Delta l$) along the propagation of laser beams between any pair of satellites. Here, we study the OPD noises for TianQin. The Space Weather Modeling Framework is used to simulate the interaction between the Earth magnetosphere and solar wind. From the simulations, we extract the magnetic field and plasma parameters on the orbits of TianQin at four relative positions of the satellite constellation in the Earth magnetosphere. We calculate the OPD noise for single link, Michelson combination, and Time-Delay Interferometry (TDI) combinations ($\alpha$ and $X$). For single link and Michelson interferometer, the maxima of $|\Delta l|$ are on the order of 1 pm. For the TDI combinations, these can be suppressed to about 0.004 and 0.008 pm for $\alpha$ and $X$. The OPD noise of the Michelson combination is colored in the concerned frequency range; while the ones for the TDI combinations are approximately white. Furthermore, we calculate the ratio of the equivalent strain of the OPD noise to that of TQ, and find that the OPD noises for the TDI combinations can be neglected in the most sensitive frequency range of TQ.