Non-linear quantization error reduction for the temperature measurement subsystem on-board LISA Pathfinder.

Area of Science:

• Space physics and instrumentation
• Gravitational wave detection technology
• Precision measurement systems

Background:

• The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) Pathfinder mission aims to validate technologies for space-based gravitational wave detection.
• Accurate measurement of thermal noise (∼10 μK Hz^-1/2) is critical for validating LISA's noise models.
• Temperature sensors on LISA Pathfinder face performance degradation due to analog-to-digital converter non-linearities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a data post-processing method to mitigate analog-to-digital converter non-linearities in temperature measurements.
• To improve the accuracy of thermal noise monitoring for the LISA mission.
• To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method using on-ground validation test data.

Main Methods:

• Implementing a novel data post-processing technique to correct for analog-to-digital converter non-linearities.
• Applying the method to experimental data from LISA Pathfinder's temperature measurement subsystem.
• Analyzing the noise reduction achieved in the sub-millihertz frequency range.

Main Results:

• The post-processing method effectively reduces the impact of analog-to-digital converter errors by a factor of three to six.
• An average noise reduction of 2.7 times was achieved in the 0.3 mHz-2 mHz frequency band.
• The method shows significant potential for improving in-flight data quality for LISA Pathfinder.

Conclusions:

• The developed post-processing technique successfully mitigates critical noise sources in temperature measurements.
• This advancement is crucial for validating noise models and ensuring the success of the future LISA mission.
• The findings demonstrate a viable approach to enhance precision measurements in space-based observatories.