First stage of LISA data processing II: Alternative filtering dynamic models for LISA

Space-borne gravitational wave detectors, such as (e)LISA, are designed to operate in the low-frequency band (mHz to Hz), where there is a variety of gravitational wave sources of great scientific value. To achieve the extraordinary sensitivity of these detector, the precise synchronization of the clocks on the separate spacecraft and the accurate determination of the interspacecraft distances are important ingredients. In our previous paper (Phys. Rev. D 90, 064016 [2014]), we have described a hybrid-extend Kalman filter with a full state vector to do this job. In this paper, we explore several different state vectors and their corresponding (phenomenological) dynamic models, to reduce the redundancy in the full state vector, to accelerate the algorithm, and to make the algorithm easily extendable to more complicated scenarios.

First stage of LISA data processing: Clock synchronization and arm-length determination via a hybrid-extended Kalman filter

In this paper, we describe a hybrid-extended Kalman filter algorithm to synchronize the clocks and to precisely determine the inter-spacecraft distances for space-based gravitational wave detectors, such as (e)LISA. According to the simulation, the algorithm has significantly improved the ranging accuracy and synchronized the clocks, making the phase-meter raw measurements qualified for time- delay interferometry algorithms.