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GWDAW-10, Brownsville, 14 December 2005

LISA Update Bernard Schutz Albert Einstein Institute, Potsdam, Germany and Cardiff University, Wales. GWDAW-10, Brownsville, 14 December 2005. Current progress on LISA. LISA in Formulation Phase study (Astrium, Germany) LISA Pathfinder on track for launch 2009

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GWDAW-10, Brownsville, 14 December 2005

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  1. LISA UpdateBernard SchutzAlbert Einstein Institute, Potsdam, GermanyandCardiff University, Wales GWDAW-10, Brownsville, 14 December 2005

  2. Current progress on LISA • LISA in Formulation Phase study (Astrium, Germany) • LISA Pathfinder on track for launch 2009 • LIST re-formed this year, sharpening science goals • Strong focus on developing data analysis for LISA • Recent technology review at Goddard • Strong competition for funds and priority in both NASA and ESA • Science from LISA

  3. Hardware development • Astrium (Germany) study of LISA supports Formulation Phase activities (old Phase A and B). • Design down to components, mass budgets, power budgets, data telemetry requirements. • Trade-off studies for reducing costs, increasing reliability • LISA Pathfinder (LPF: ESA mission), launch 2009, will carry LTP (European sensor) and two systems of thrusters and controls (from US and Europe). • LPF nearing end of Phase B, engineering models of all components being qualified for launch. • LPF tests completely all the LISA metrology, which is the most challenging aspect of LISA. Ensures that LISA technology is at a state of readiness for a 2009 mission, much earlier than target launch date 2013.

  4. NASA membership T Prince (co-chair) P Bender S Buchman J Centrella N Cornish S Finn W Folkner J Gundlach C Hogan S Hughes P Madau S Phinney D Richstone K Thorne Serve from 01/2005 for two years. LIST meets twice/year, operates Working Groups and Task Forces Meetings open LIST guides project development, design Sets scientific priorities Compact binaries and merging black holes are highest priority goals EMRIs and backgrounds are next priority level Guides development of data analysis system New LISA International Science Team • ESA membership • K Danzmann (co-chair) • P Binetruy • M Cerdonio • M Cruise • C Cutler • J Hough • P Jetzer • Y Mellier • B Schutz • T Sumner • J-Y Vinet • S Vitale LIST website http://www.srl.caltech.edu/lisa/

  5. Data analysis • General recognition that LISA data analysis is challenging • Confusion of sources, problem not faced by ground-based projects • Low-frequency, long-duration sources • ESA and NASA are organizing communities • JPL (Tom Prince) is NASA focus, had workshop 13-15 October (http://www.tapir.caltech.edu/dokuwiki/workshop:start) • ESTEC (Oliver Jennrich) is ESA focus, had workshop 31 October. Issued invitation to submit letter of intent: over 45 institutions, with 250 scientists, responded. • Overall coordination provided by LIST Data Analysis Working Group (DAWG), co-chaired by N Cornish and B Schutz • Immediate goals • Developing infrastructure (LISA data generators, standards, etc) • Developing working, effective algorithms • Tool: mock data challenges • Longer-term goal (by 2009?) • Delivery of architecture design, hand-over to professional programmers

  6. Current issues • Both NASA and ESA have funding constraints. • Strong pressure from other missions waiting in queue, especially after failure of recent Japanese X-ray mission. • GSFC recently reviewed technology readiness of LISA and Con-X. Waiting for report. • NASA top-level management changes create uncertainty on priorities. However, no changes in priorities have been made or even suggested. • ESA preparing to make a decision early next year on dropping one existing mission from portfolio in order to cope with cost overruns. LISA is one candidate. • Important at this point to emphasize LISA’s extremely strong science case!

  7. LISA Science - 1 • LISA has both fundamental physics and astrophysics goals. • Fundamental physics: • Tests of relativistic gravity using mergers of comparable-mass BHs: • strong-gravity aspects (comparison with numerical relativity simulations) • Hawking area theorem (before and after measurements of M and J) • cosmic censorship hypothesis (is a/M > 1 after merger?) • Test uniqueness of Kerr (no hair theorem) by observing detailed waveforms from Extreme Mass-Ratio Inspiral events (EMRI’s) • Observe low-frequency GWs for first time and validate weak-field GR at these frequencies (eg polarization) by directly detecting GWs from known systems with known orbital frequencies; perhaps observe directly GWs from a system with known orbital decay (double pulsar PSRJ0737-3039) • Observe bursts of GWs from cosmic strings or other exotic sources

  8. LISA Science - 2 • Astrophysics • Study thousands of compact WD binaries, illuminate binary evolution, interaction, mass spectrum, … • Detect a handful of coalescences of BHs in range 105-107 M, learn when first massive holes formed and what this had to do with galaxy formation. • Detect possibly dozens or more mergers of smaller BHs, learn how supermassive BHs formed, learn how galaxies formed from fragments. • Using coordinated optical or X-ray observations, identify systems containing BH mergers, measure cosmological acceleration, study dark energy. • Detect hundreds of EMRIs, determine spectrum of masses and spins of BHs in galaxies, study evolution of their central galactic bulges. • Look for a cosmological background of GWs, which might have arisen during the epoch of the electroweak phase transition. • Discover unexpected sources, possibly components of the dark matter.

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