A preliminary exploration of the effects of baseline length for the LIFE space mission

TL;DR

This study investigates the optimal baseline length for the LIFE space mission's nulling interferometry, suggesting shorter baselines can maintain performance while simplifying implementation.

Contribution

It introduces a revised analysis method and demonstrates that shorter, discrete baselines can be effective for the mission's planet detection goals.

Findings

LIFE can use baselines of 25-80m with less than 10% performance loss.

Shorter baselines reduce mission complexity and implementation costs.

A new technique for selecting optimal baselines based on science targets was developed.

Abstract

By aiming to find and characterise dozens of habitable exoplanets through the technique of nulling interferometry, the LIFE space mission will produce transformational science. One of the key parameters for such an interferometric mission is the nulling baseline length - the distance between nulled apertures, which past studies have assumed to be 10-100m. Advances in planet occurrence statistics and simulation tools allow us now to revisit this key assumption with significantly more detail, particularly with the intention to reduce the range of baselines considered due to mission implementation concerns. We utilise the LIFEsim mission simulator along with revised mathematical tools to identify whether the range of baselines could be reduced without significantly affecting planet yield and fringe tracking performance. Along the way, we also determine a new astrophysically motivated technique for choosing which baselines are optimal for a given science target. We find that indeed, LIFE could utilise a considerably shorter range of baselines, such as 25-80m, or even discrete baselines without much (<10%) loss of performance. Nevertheless, careful trade-offs between performance and implementation simplification must be made, especially considering any spectral weighting that may be required by the scientific goals, and the potential loss of target-specific baseline optimisation.