1,621 research outputs found
Subtraction of test mass angular noise in the LISA Technology Package interferometer
We present recent sensitivity measurements of the LISA Technology Package
interferometer with articulated mirrors as test masses, actuated by
piezo-electric transducers. The required longitudinal displacement resolution
of 9 pm/sqrt[Hz] above 3 mHz has been demonstrated with an angular noise that
corresponds to the expected in on-orbit operation. The excess noise
contribution of this test mass jitter onto the sensitive displacement readout
was completely subtracted by fitting the angular interferometric data streams
to the longitudinal displacement measurement. Thus, this cross-coupling
constitutes no limitation to the required performance of the LISA Technology
Package interferometry.Comment: Applied Physics B - Lasers and Optics (2008
The end-to-end testbed of the Optical Metrology System on-board LISA Pathfinder
LISA Pathfinder is a technology demonstration mission for the Laser
Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). The main experiment on-board LISA
Pathfinder is the so-called LISA Technology Package (LTP) which has the aim to
measure the differential acceleration between two free-falling test masses with
an accuracy of 3x10^(-14) ms^(-2)/sqrt[Hz] between 1 mHz and 30 mHz. This
measurement is performed interferometrically by the Optical Metrology System
(OMS) on-board LISA Pathfinder. In this paper we present the development of an
experimental end-to-end testbed of the entire OMS. It includes the
interferometer and its sub-units, the interferometer back-end which is a
phasemeter and the processing of the phasemeter output data. Furthermore,
3-axes piezo actuated mirrors are used instead of the free-falling test masses
for the characterisation of the dynamic behaviour of the system and some parts
of the Drag-free and Attitude Control System (DFACS) which controls the test
masses and the satellite. The end-to-end testbed includes all parts of the LTP
that can reasonably be tested on earth without free-falling test masses. At its
present status it consists mainly of breadboard components. Some of those have
already been replaced by Engineering Models of the LTP experiment. In the next
steps, further Engineering Models and Flight Models will also be inserted in
this testbed and tested against well characterised breadboard components. The
presented testbed is an important reference for the unit tests and can also be
used for validation of the on-board experiment during the mission
Eigenmode in a misaligned triangular optical cavity
We derive relationships between various types of small misalignments on a
triangular Fabry-Perot cavity and associated geometrical eigenmode changes. We
focus on the changes of beam spot positions on cavity mirrors, the beam waist
position, and its angle. A comparison of analytical and numerical results shows
excellent agreement. The results are applicable to any triangular cavity close
to an isosceles triangle, with the lengths of two sides much bigger than the
other, consisting of a curved mirror and two flat mirrors yielding a waist
equally separated from the two flat mirrors. This cavity shape is most commonly
used in laser interferometry. The analysis presented here can easily be
extended to more generic cavity shapes. The geometrical analysis not only
serves as a method of checking a simulation result, but also gives an intuitive
and handy tool to visualize the eigenmode of a misaligned triangular cavity.Comment: 17 pages, 21 figure
Statistics of conductance oscillations of a quantum dot in the Coulomb-blockade regime
The fluctuations and the distribution of the conductance peak spacings of a
quantum dot in the Coulomb-blockade regime are studied and compared with the
predictions of random matrix theory (RMT). The experimental data were obtained
in transport measurements performed on a semiconductor quantum dot fabricated
in a GaAs-AlGaAs heterostructure. It is found that the fluctuations in the peak
spacings are considerably larger than the mean level spacing in the quantum
dot. The distribution of the spacings appears Gaussian both for zero and for
non-zero magnetic field and deviates strongly from the RMT-predictions.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Subtraction of temperature induced phase noise in the LISA frequency band
Temperature fluctuations are expected to be one of the limiting factors for
gravitational wave detectors in the very low frequency range. Here we report
the characterisation of this noise source in the LISA Pathfinder optical bench
and propose a method to remove its contribution from the data. Our results show
that temperature fluctuations are indeed limiting our measurement below one
millihertz, and that their subtraction leads to a factor 5.6 (15 dB) reduction
in the noise level at the lower end of the LISA measurement band 10^{-4} Hz,
which increases to 20.2 (26 dB) at even lower frequencies, i.e., 1.5x10^{-5}
Hz. The method presented here can be applied to the subtraction of other noise
sources in gravitational wave detectors in the general situation where multiple
sensors are used to characterise the noise source.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
Chromospheric heating by acoustic waves compared to radiative cooling
Acoustic and magnetoacoustic waves are among the possible candidate
mechanisms that heat the upper layers of solar atmosphere. A weak chromospheric
plage near a large solar pore NOAA 11005 was observed on October 15, 2008 in
the lines Fe I 617.3 nm and Ca II 853.2 nm with the Interferometric
Bidimemsional Spectrometer (IBIS) attached to the Dunn Solar Telescope.
Analyzing the Ca II observations with spatial and temporal resolutions of 0.4"
and 52 s, the energy deposited by acoustic waves is compared with that released
by radiative losses. The deposited acoustic flux is estimated from power
spectra of Doppler oscillations measured in the Ca II line core. The radiative
losses are calculated using a grid of seven 1D hydrostatic semi-empirical model
atmospheres. The comparison shows that the spatial correlation of maps of
radiative losses and acoustic flux is 72 %. In quiet chromosphere, the
contribution of acoustic energy flux to radiative losses is small, only of
about 15 %. In active areas with photospheric magnetic field strength between
300 G and 1300 G and inclination of 20-60 degrees, the contribution increases
from 23 % (chromospheric network) to 54 % (a plage). However, these values have
to be considered as lower limits and it might be possible that the acoustic
energy flux is the main contributor to the heating of bright chromospheric
network and plages.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journa
Dynamics of the solar atmosphere above a pore with a light bridge
Context: Solar pores are small sunspots lacking a penumbra that have a
prevailing vertical magnetic field component. They can include light bridges at
places with locally reduced magnetic field. Like sunspots, they exhibit a wide
range of oscillatory phenomena.
Aims: A large isolated pore with a light bridge (NOAA 11005) is studied to
obtain characteristics of a chromospheric filamentary structure around the
pore, to analyse oscillations and waves in and around the pore, and to
understand the structure and brightness of the light bridge.
Methods: Spectral imaging observations in the line Ca II 854.2 nm and
complementary spectropolarimetry in Fe I lines, obtained with the DST/IBIS
spectrometer and HINODE/SOT spectropolarimeter, were used to measure
photospheric and chromospheric velocity fields, oscillations, waves, the
magnetic field in the photosphere, and acoustic energy flux and radiative
losses in the chromosphere.
Results: The chromospheric filamentary structure around the pore has all
important characteristics of a superpenumbra: it shows an inverse Evershed
effect and running waves, and has a similar morphology and oscillation
character. The granular structure of the light bridge in the upper photosphere
can be explained by radiative heating. Acoustic waves leaking up from the
photosphere along the inclined magnetic field in the light bridge transfer
enough energy flux to balance the total radiative losses of the light-bridge
chromosphere.
Conclusions: The presence of a penumbra is not a necessary condition for the
formation of a superpenumbra. The light bridge is heated by radiation in the
photosphere and by acoustic waves in the chromosphere.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in
Astrononomy & Astrophysic
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