Uploaded August 2020 | Updated September 2026, 58 minutes ago
Background for gravitational wave signal at LISA from refractive index of solar wind plasma
Adam Smetana
A strong indication is presented that the space-based gravitational antennas, in particular the LISA concept, are going to be sensitive to a strong background signal interfering with the prospected signal of gravitational waves. The false signal is due to variations in the electron number density of the solar wind, causing variations in the refractive index of plasma flowing through interplanetary space. As countermeasures, two solutions are proposed. The first solution is to deploy enough solar wind detectors to the LISA mission to allow for reliable knowledge of the solar wind background. The second solution is to equip the LISA interferometer with a second laser beam with a distinct wavelength to allow cancelling of the background solar wind signal from the interferometric data.
Background for gravitational wave signal at LISA from refractive index of solar wind plasma
Adam Smetana
A strong indication is presented that the space-based gravitational antennas, in particular the LISA concept, are going to be sensitive to a strong background signal interfering with the prospected signal of gravitational waves. The false signal is due to variations in the electron number density of the solar wind, causing variations in the refractive index of plasma flowing through interplanetary space. As countermeasures, two solutions are proposed. The first solution is to deploy enough solar wind detectors to the LISA mission to allow for reliable knowledge of the solar wind background. The second solution is to equip the LISA interferometer with a second laser beam with a distinct wavelength to allow cancelling of the background solar wind signal from the interferometric data.
