428 research outputs found
A Demonstration of LISA Laser Communication
Over the past few years questions have been raised concerning the use of
laser communications links between sciencecraft to transmit phase information
crucial to the reduction of laser frequency noise in the LISA science
measurement. The concern is that applying medium frequency phase modulations to
the laser carrier could compromise the phase stability of the LISA fringe
signal. We have modified the table-top interferometer presented in a previous
article by applying phase modulations to the laser beams in order to evaluate
the effects of such modulations on the LISA science fringe signal. We have
demonstrated that the phase resolution of the science signal is not degraded by
the presence of medium frequency phase modulations.Comment: minor corrections found in the CQG versio
Demonstration of the Zero-Crossing Phasemeter with a LISA Test-bed Interferometer
The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is being designed to detect and
study in detail gravitational waves from sources throughout the Universe such
as massive black hole binaries. The conceptual formulation of the LISA
space-borne gravitational wave detector is now well developed. The
interferometric measurements between the sciencecraft remain one of the most
important technological and scientific design areas for the mission.
Our work has concentrated on developing the interferometric technologies to
create a LISA-like optical signal and to measure the phase of that signal using
commercially available instruments. One of the most important goals of this
research is to demonstrate the LISA phase timing and phase reconstruction for a
LISA-like fringe signal, in the case of a high fringe rate and a low signal
level. We present current results of a test-bed interferometer designed to
produce an optical LISA-like fringe signal previously discussed in the
literature.Comment: find minor corrections in the CQG versio
Demonstration of Time Delay Interferometry and Spacecraft Ranging in a Space-based Gravitational Wave Detector using the UF-LISA Interferometry Simulator
Space-based gravitational-wave observatories such as the Laser Interferometer
Space Antenna (LISA) use time-shifted and time-scaled linear combinations of
differential laser-phase beat signals to cancel the otherwise overwhelming
laser frequency noise. Nanosecond timing precision is needed to accurately form
these Time-Delay Interferometry (TDI) combinations which defines a ~1 meter
requirement on the inter-spacecraft ranging capability. The University of
Florida Hardware-in-the-loop LISA Interferometry Simulator (UFLIS) has been
used to test Time-Delay Interferometry in a configuration which incorporates
variable delays, realistic Doppler shifts, and simulated gravitational-wave
signals. The TDI 2.0 combinations are exploited to determine the time-changing
delays with nanosecond accuracy using a TDI-ranging reference tone. These
variable delays are used in forming the TDI combinations to achieve the LISA
interferometry sensitivity resulting from 10 orders of magnitude laser
frequency noise cancellation.Comment: Accepted: Physical Review D, 12 pages, 12 figure
Psychometric precision in phenotype definition is a useful step in molecular genetic investigation of psychiatric disorders
Affective disorders are highly heritable, but few genetic risk variants have been consistently replicated in molecular genetic association studies. The common method of defining psychiatric phenotypes in molecular genetic research is either a summation of symptom scores or binary threshold score representing the risk of diagnosis. Psychometric latent variable methods can improve the precision of psychiatric phenotypes, especially when the data structure is not straightforward. Using data from the British 1946 birth cohort, we compared summary scores with psychometric modeling based on the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) scale for affective symptoms in an association analysis of 27 candidate genes (249 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)). The psychometric method utilized a bi-factor model that partitioned the phenotype variances into five orthogonal latent variable factors, in accordance with the multidimensional data structure of the GHQ-28 involving somatic, social, anxiety and depression domains. Results showed that, compared with the summation approach, the affective symptoms defined by the bi-factor psychometric model had a higher number of associated SNPs of larger effect sizes. These results suggest that psychometrically defined mental health phenotypes can reflect the dimensions of complex phenotypes better than summation scores, and therefore offer a useful approach in genetic association investigations
Free-Flight Experiments in LISA Pathfinder
The LISA Pathfinder mission will demonstrate the technology of drag-free test masses for use as inertial references in future space-based gravitational wave detectors. To accomplish this, the Pathfinder spacecraft will perform drag-free flight about a test mass while measuring the acceleration of this primary test mass relative to a second reference test mass. Because the reference test mass is contained within the same spacecraft, it is necessary to apply forces on it to maintain its position and attitude relative to the spacecraft. These forces are a potential source of acceleration noise in the LISA Pathfinder system that are not present in the full LISA configuration. While LISA Pathfinder has been designed to meet it's primary mission requirements in the presence of this noise, recent estimates suggest that the on-orbit performance may be limited by this 'suspension noise'. The drift-mode or free-flight experiments provide an opportunity to mitigate this noise source and further characterize the underlying disturbances that are of interest to the designers of LISA-like instruments. This article provides a high-level overview of these experiments and the methods under development to analyze the resulting data
Numerical simulation of time delay interferometry for eLISA/NGO
eLISA/NGO is a new gravitational wave detection proposal with arm length of
10^6 km and one interferometer down-scaled from LISA. Just like LISA and
ASTROD-GW, in order to attain the requisite sensitivity for eLISA/NGO, laser
frequency noise must be suppressed to below the secondary noises such as the
optical path noise, acceleration noise etc. In previous papers, we have
performed the numerical simulation of the time delay interferometry (TDI) for
LISA and ASTROD-GW with one arm dysfunctional by using the CGC 2.7 ephemeris.
The results are well below their respective limits which the laser frequency
noise is required to be suppressed. In this paper, we follow the same procedure
to simulate the time delay interferometry numerically. To do this, we work out
a set of 1000-day optimized mission orbits of the eLISA/NGO spacecraft starting
at January 1st, 2021 using the CGC 2.7 ephemeris framework. We then use the
numerical method to calculate the residual optical path differences in the
second-generation TDI solutions as in our previous papers. The maximum path
length difference, for all configurations calculated, is below 13 mm (43 ps).
It is well below the limit which the laser frequency noise is required to be
suppressed for eLISA/NGO. We compare and discuss the resulting differences due
to the different arm lengths for various mission proposals -- eLISA/NGO, an
NGO-LISA-type mission with a nominal arm length of 2 x 10^6 km, LISA and
ASTROD-GW.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, 3 tables, minor changes in description to match
the accepted version of Classical and Quantum Gravity. arXiv admin note: text
overlap with arXiv:1102.496
A Path Algorithm for Constrained Estimation
Many least squares problems involve affine equality and inequality
constraints. Although there are variety of methods for solving such problems,
most statisticians find constrained estimation challenging. The current paper
proposes a new path following algorithm for quadratic programming based on
exact penalization. Similar penalties arise in regularization in model
selection. Classical penalty methods solve a sequence of unconstrained problems
that put greater and greater stress on meeting the constraints. In the limit as
the penalty constant tends to , one recovers the constrained solution.
In the exact penalty method, squared penalties are replaced by absolute value
penalties, and the solution is recovered for a finite value of the penalty
constant. The exact path following method starts at the unconstrained solution
and follows the solution path as the penalty constant increases. In the
process, the solution path hits, slides along, and exits from the various
constraints. Path following in lasso penalized regression, in contrast, starts
with a large value of the penalty constant and works its way downward. In both
settings, inspection of the entire solution path is revealing. Just as with the
lasso and generalized lasso, it is possible to plot the effective degrees of
freedom along the solution path. For a strictly convex quadratic program, the
exact penalty algorithm can be framed entirely in terms of the sweep operator
of regression analysis. A few well chosen examples illustrate the mechanics and
potential of path following.Comment: 26 pages, 5 figure
Measuring gravitational waves from binary black hole coalescences: II. the waves' information and its extraction, with and without templates
We discuss the extraction of information from detected binary black hole
(BBH) coalescence gravitational waves, focusing on the merger phase that occurs
after the gradual inspiral and before the ringdown. Our results are: (1) If
numerical relativity simulations have not produced template merger waveforms
before BBH detections by LIGO/VIRGO, one can band-pass filter the merger waves.
For BBHs smaller than about 40 solar masses detected via their inspiral waves,
the band pass filtering signal to noise ratio indicates that the merger waves
should typically be just barely visible in the noise for initial and advanced
LIGO interferometers. (2) We derive an optimized (maximum likelihood) method
for extracting a best-fit merger waveform from the noisy detector output; one
"perpendicularly projects" this output onto a function space (specified using
wavelets) that incorporates our prior knowledge of the waveforms. An extension
of the method allows one to extract the BBH's two independent waveforms from
outputs of several interferometers. (3) If numerical relativists produce codes
for generating merger templates but running the codes is too expensive to allow
an extensive survey of the merger parameter space, then a coarse survey of this
parameter space, to determine the ranges of the several key parameters and to
explore several qualitative issues which we describe, would be useful for data
analysis purposes. (4) A complete set of templates could be used to test the
nonlinear dynamics of general relativity and to measure some of the binary
parameters. We estimate the number of bits of information obtainable from the
merger waves (about 10 to 60 for LIGO/VIRGO, up to 200 for LISA), estimate the
information loss due to template numerical errors or sparseness in the template
grid, and infer approximate requirements on template accuracy and spacing.Comment: 33 pages, Rextex 3.1 macros, no figures, submitted to Phys Rev
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State-of-the-art Model M-2 Maintenance System
The Model M-2 Maintenance System is part of an ongoing program within the Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program (CFRP) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to improve remote manipulation technology for future nuclear fuel reprocessing and other remote applications. Techniques, equipment, and guidelines which can improve the efficiency of remote maintenance are being developed. The Model M-2 Maintenance System, installed in the Integrated Equipment Test (IET) Facility at ORNL, provides a complete, integrated remote maintenance system for the demonstration and development of remote maintenance techniques. The system comprises a pair of force-reflecting servomanipulator arms, television viewing, lighting, and auxiliary lifting capabilities, thereby allowing manlike maintenance operations to be executed remotely within the remote cell mockup area in the IET. The Model M-2 Maintenance System incorporates an upgraded version of the proven Central Research Laboratories' Model M servomanipulator. Included are state-of-the-art brushless dc servomotors for improved performance, remotely removable wrist assemblies, geared azimuth drive, and a distributed microprocessor-based digital control system. 5 references, 8 figures
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