Narrow-Band Searches for Gravitational Radiation With Spacecraft Doppler Tracking

Massimo Tinto, John W. Armstrong

Abstract: We discuss a filtering technique for reducing the two-way Doppler frequency fluctuations of noise sources localized in space (like the troposphere, or the master clock) that affect the sensitivity of spacecraft Doppler tracking searches for gravitational radiation. This method takes advantage of the sinusoidal behavior of the transfer function to the Doppler observable of these noise sources, which displays sharp nulls at selected Fourier components. The non-zero gravitational wave signal remaining at these frequencies makes this Doppler tracking technique the equivalent of a series of narrow-band detectors of gravitational radiation, distributed across the low-frequency band. Estimates for the sensitivities achievable with the future Cassini Doppler tracking experiments are presented in the context of broad-band gravitational wave bursts, monochromatic signals, and a stochastic background of gravitational radiation.
Published in: Proceedings of the 29th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting
December 2 - 4, 1997
Sheraton Long Beach Hotel
Long Beach, California
Pages: 107 - 116
Cite this article: Tinto, Massimo, Armstrong, John W., "Narrow-Band Searches for Gravitational Radiation With Spacecraft Doppler Tracking," Proceedings of the 29th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting, Long Beach, California, December 1997, pp. 107-116.
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