LISA Pathfinder test-mass charging during galactic cosmic-ray flux short-term variations

作者：Grimani C^*; Fabi M; Lobo A; Mateos I; Telloni D

来源：Classical and Quantum Gravity, 2015, 32(3): 035001.

DOI：10.1088/0264-9381/32/3/035001

• gravitational radiation detectors
• solar cycles
• cosmic rays
• interplanetary propagation

Metal free-floating test masses aboard the future interferometers devoted to gravitational wave detection in space are charged by galactic and solar cosmic rays with energies > 100 MeV/n. This process represents one of the main sources of noise in the lowest frequency band (< 10(-3) Hz) of these experiments. We study here the charging of the LISA Pathfinder (LISA-PF) gold-platinum test masses due to galactic cosmic-ray (GCR) protons and helium nuclei with the Fluka Monte Carlo toolkit. Projections of the energy spectra of GCRs during the LISA-PF operations in 2015 are considered. This work was carried out on the basis of the solar activity level and solar polarity epoch expected for LISA-PF. The effects of GCR short-term variations are evaluated here for the first time. Classical Forbush decreases, GCR variations induced by the Sun rotation, and fluctuations in the LISA-PF frequency bandwidth are discussed.

• 出版日期2015-2-5