Determination of the Equivalence Principle violation signal for the MICROSCOPE space mission: optimization of the signal processing

TL;DR

This paper discusses optimizing signal processing techniques for the MICROSCOPE space mission to accurately detect potential violations of the Equivalence Principle amidst measurement perturbations and aliasing effects.

Contribution

It introduces a numerical simulation framework and compares data analysis procedures to minimize aliasing and perturbation impacts on EP violation detection.

Findings

Numerical simulations estimate perturbation effects at various frequencies.

Optimized data analysis procedures reduce aliasing impacts.

Method enhances the accuracy of EP violation measurements.

Abstract

The MICROSCOPE space mission aims at testing the Equivalence Principle (EP) with an accuracy of $10^{-15}$. The test is based on the precise measurement delivered by a differential electrostatic accelerometer on-board a drag-free microsatellite which includes two cylindrical test masses submitted to the same gravitational field and made of different materials. The experiment consists in testing the equality of the electrostatic acceleration applied to the masses to maintain them relatively motionless at a well-known frequency. This high precision experiment is compatible with only very little perturbations. However, aliasing arises from the finite time span of the measurement, and is amplified by measurement losses. These effects perturb the measurement analysis. Numerical simulations have been run to estimate the contribution of a perturbation at any frequency on the EP violation frequency and to test its compatibility with the mission specifications. Moreover, different data analysis procedures have been considered to select the one minimizing these effects taking into account the uncertainty about the frequencies of the implicated signals.