Magnetic-Induced Force Noise in LISA Pathfinder Free-Falling Test Masses

LISA Pathfinder was a mission designed to test key technologies required for gravitational wave detection in space. Magnetically driven forces play a key role in the instrument sensitivity in the low-frequency regime, which corresponds to the measurement band of interest for future space-borne gravitational wave observatories. Magnetically induced forces couple to the test mass motion, introducing a contribution to the relative acceleration noise between the free-falling test masses. In this Letter we present the first complete estimate of this term of the instrument performance model. Our results set the magnetic-induced acceleration noise during the February 2017 noise run of 0.25_{-0.08}^{+0.15} fm s^{-2}/sqrt[Hz] at 1 mHz and 1.01_{-0.24}^{+0.73} fm s^{-2}/sqrt[Hz] at 0.1 mHz. We also discuss how the nonstationarities of the interplanetary magnetic field can affect these values during extreme space weather conditions.

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Publication Details

Journal
Physical Review Letters
Published
2025-02-18
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.134.071401
Citations
10
Primary Topic
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
11.55

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article

Magnetic-Induced Force Noise in LISA Pathfinder Free-Falling Test Masses

Carlos F. Sopuerta, João Mendes, D. Vetrugno, L. Martin-Polo et al.
10 citations
Physical Review Letters
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
11.55
article

Magnetic-Induced Force Noise in LISA Pathfinder Free-Falling Test Masses

Carlos F. Sopuerta, João Mendes, D. Vetrugno, L. Martin-Polo, N. Karnesis, M. Born, F. Gibert, M. de Deus Silva, G Heinzel, O Jennrich, James Ira Thorpe, H. Audley, D. Serrano, R. Dolesi, L. Liu, J. Martino, M Hewitson, M. Nofrarías, I Harrison, J. Slutsky, A Cesarini, K Danzmann, G Russano, M Freschi, R Giusteri, S Paczkowski, J. P. López-Zaragoza, R Maarschalkerweerd, H. Inchauspé, V Ferroni, F. Rivas, Pierre Binétruy, D. I. Robertson, B. Kaune, D Hollington, L. Sala, F Martin-Porqueras, J. A. Lobo, C. J. Killow, Natalia Korsakova, A. M. Cruise, D Bortoluzzi, George Dixon, Peter Wass, P. W. McNamara, A. Wittchen, Marie-Sophie Hartig, L. Wissel, J. Grzymisch, J. Baird, S. Vitale, E Castelli, C Grimani, L Ferraioli, A Cavalleri, J Ramos-Castro, D Giardini, I Diepholz, N Meshksar, M. Perreur-Lloyd, D Hoyland, M Hueller, T. J. Sumner, P. Zweifel, H. Ward, W. J. Weber, P. Pivato, L. Mendes, P. Jetzer, D. Texier, G Wanner, M. Armano, D. Mance, E. D. Fitzsimons, E. Plagnol, L. Gesa, J. Reiche, A. Petiteau, V. Martín
article en
10 citations

Abstract

LISA Pathfinder was a mission designed to test key technologies required for gravitational wave detection in space. Magnetically driven forces play a key role in the instrument sensitivity in the low-frequency regime, which corresponds to the measurement band of interest for future space-borne gravitational wave observatories. Magnetically induced forces couple to the test mass motion, introducing a contribution to the relative acceleration noise between the free-falling test masses. In this Letter we present the first complete estimate of this term of the instrument performance model. Our results set the magnetic-induced acceleration noise during the February 2017 noise run of 0.25_{-0.08}^{+0.15} fm s^{-2}/sqrt[Hz] at 1 mHz and 1.01_{-0.24}^{+0.73} fm s^{-2}/sqrt[Hz] at 0.1 mHz. We also discuss how the nonstationarities of the interplanetary magnetic field can affect these values during extreme space weather conditions.

Physical Review LettersVol. 134(7)
Leibniz University Hannover (DE), Goddard Space Flight Center (US), Institute of Space Sciences (ES), Délégation Paris 7 (FR), University of Trento (IT), University of Zurich (CH), Université Paris Cité (FR), Fondazione Bruno Kessler (IT), European Space Agency (FR), University of Florida (US), ETH Zurich (CH), Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (ES), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics And Applications (IT), Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur (FR), Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (DE), Decision & Information Sciences for Production Systems (FR), Barcelona Activa (ES), Imperial College London (GB), UK Astronomy Technology Centre (GB), University of Glasgow (GB), University of Birmingham (GB), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (ES)
National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, UK Space Agency, European Space Agency, Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, Imperial College London, University of Glasgow, University of Birmingham, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Generalitat de Catalunya, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Université Paris Diderot, Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie, Université Sorbonne Paris Cité, Observatoire de Paris, Université de Recherche Paris Sciences et Lettres, Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Labex UnivEarthS
Openalex Percentile: Top 2%
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
11.55
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