63 research outputs found
Electrostatic Patch Effect in Cylindrical Geometry. III. Torques
We continue to study the effect of uneven voltage distribution on two close
cylindrical conductors with parallel axes started in our papers [1] and [2],
now to find the electrostatic torques. We calculate the electrostatic potential
and energy to lowest order in the gap to cylinder radius ratio for an arbitrary
relative rotation of the cylinders about their symmetry axis. By energy
conservation, the axial torque, independent of the uniform voltage difference,
is found as a derivative of the energy in the rotation angle. We also derive
both the axial and slanting torques by the surface integration method: the
torque vector is the integral over the cylinder surface of the cross product of
the electrostatic force on a surface element and its position vector. The
slanting torque consists of two parts: one coming from the interaction between
the patch and the uniform voltages, and the other due to the patch interaction.
General properties of the torques are described. A convenient model of a
localized patch suggested in [2] is used to calculate the torques explicitly in
terms of elementary functions. Based on this, we analyze in detail patch
interaction for one pair of patches, namely, the torque dependence on the patch
parameters (width and strength) and their mutual positions. The effect of the
axial torque is then studied for the experimental conditions of the STEP
mission.Comment: 28 pages, 6 Figures. Submitted to Classical Quantum Gravit
Dark gravitomagnetism with LISA and gravitational waves space detectors
We present here the proposal to use the LISA interferometer for detecting the gravito-
magnetic field due to the rotation of the Milky Way, including the contribution given by
the dark matter halo. The galactic signal would be superposed to the gravitomagnetic
field of the Sun. The technique to be used is based on the asymmetric propagation of
light along the closed contour of the space interferometer (Sagnac-like approach). Both
principle and practical aspects of the proposed experiment are discussed. The strategy
for disentangling the sought for signal from the kinematic terms due to proper rotation
and orbital motion is based on the time modulation of the time of flight asymmetry.
Such modulation will be originated by the annual oscillation of the plane of the interfer-
ometer with respect to the galactic plane. Also the effect of the gravitomagnetic field on
the polarization of the electromagnetic signals is presented as an in principle detectable
phenomenon
Patch effect in drag-free satelites
To compensate for the non–gravitational orbital disturbances drag free satellites monitor and control their position with respect to a reference body enclosed inside their structure. The body, shielded from the environment, follows a free fall trajectory when its motion can be ideally considered decoupled from that of the spacecraft. Lessons learned from Gravity Probe B and the design of the Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle experiment strongly motivate the study of the force and torque between the reference body and the spacecraft due to uneven distributions of electrostatic potentials. Additional interest to that comes also from prospective space experiments as Microscope and the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna
The role of low-energy electrons in the charging process of LISA test masses
The estimate of the total electron yield is fundamental for our understanding of the test-mass charging associated with cosmic rays in the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) Pathfinder mission and in the forthcoming gravitational wave observatory LISA. To unveil the role of low energy electrons in this process owing to galactic and solar energetic particle events, in this work we study the interaction of keV and sub-keV electrons with a gold slab using a mixed Monte Carlo (MC) and ab-initio framework. We determine the energy spectrum of the electrons emerging from such a gold slab hit by a primary electron beam by considering the relevant energy loss mechanisms as well as the elastic scattering events. We also show that our results are consistent with experimental data and MC simulations carried out with the GEANT4-DNA toolkit
Electrostatic Patch Effect in Cylindrical Geometry. I. Potential and Energy between Slightly Non-Coaxial Cylinders
We study the effect of any uneven voltage distribution on two close
cylindrical conductors with parallel axes that are slightly shifted in the
radial and by any length in the axial direction. The investigation is
especially motivated by certain precision measurements, such as the Satellite
Test of the Equivalence Principle (STEP). By energy conservation, the force can
be found as the energy gradient in the vector of the shift, which requires
determining potential distribution and energy in the gap. The boundary value
problem for the potential is solved, and energy is thus found to the second
order in the small transverse shift, and to lowest order in the gap to cylinder
radius ratio. The energy consists of three parts: the usual capacitor part due
to the uniform potential difference, the one coming from the interaction
between the voltage patches and the uniform voltage difference, and the energy
of patch interaction, entirely independent of the uniform voltage. Patch effect
forces and torques in the cylindrical configuration are derived and analyzed in
the next two parts of this work.Comment: 26 pages, 1 Figure. Submitted to Classical and Quantum Gravit
Data series subtraction with unknown and unmodeled background noise
LISA Pathfinder (LPF), ESA's precursor mission to a gravitational wave
observatory, will measure the degree to which two test-masses can be put into
free-fall, aiming to demonstrate a residual relative acceleration with a power
spectral density (PSD) below 30 fm/s/Hz around 1 mHz. In LPF data
analysis, the measured relative acceleration data series must be fit to other
various measured time series data. This fitting is required in different
experiments, from system identification of the test mass and satellite dynamics
to the subtraction of noise contributions from measured known disturbances. In
all cases, the background noise, described by the PSD of the fit residuals, is
expected to be coloured, requiring that we perform such fits in the frequency
domain. This PSD is unknown {\it a priori}, and a high accuracy estimate of
this residual acceleration noise is an essential output of our analysis. In
this paper we present a fitting method based on Bayesian parameter estimation
with an unknown frequency-dependent background noise. The method uses noise
marginalisation in connection with averaged Welch's periodograms to achieve
unbiased parameter estimation, together with a consistent, non-parametric
estimate of the residual PSD. Additionally, we find that the method is
equivalent to some implementations of iteratively re-weighted least-squares
fitting. We have tested the method both on simulated data of known PSD, and to
analyze differential acceleration from several experiments with the LISA
Pathfinder end-to-end mission simulator.Comment: To appear Phys. Rev. D90 August 201
Laser Interferometer Space Antenna
Following the selection of The Gravitational Universe by ESA, and the
successful flight of LISA Pathfinder, the LISA Consortium now proposes a 4 year
mission in response to ESA's call for missions for L3. The observatory will be
based on three arms with six active laser links, between three identical
spacecraft in a triangular formation separated by 2.5 million km.
LISA is an all-sky monitor and will offer a wide view of a dynamic cosmos
using Gravitational Waves as new and unique messengers to unveil The
Gravitational Universe. It provides the closest ever view of the infant
Universe at TeV energy scales, has known sources in the form of verification
binaries in the Milky Way, and can probe the entire Universe, from its smallest
scales near the horizons of black holes, all the way to cosmological scales.
The LISA mission will scan the entire sky as it follows behind the Earth in its
orbit, obtaining both polarisations of the Gravitational Waves simultaneously,
and will measure source parameters with astrophysically relevant sensitivity in
a band from below Hz to above Hz.Comment: Submitted to ESA on January 13th in response to the call for missions
for the L3 slot in the Cosmic Vision Programm
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