A Simulation of the LISA Data Stream from Galactic White Dwarf Binaries

TL;DR

This paper presents a detailed simulation of the LISA gravitational wave data stream from galactic white dwarf binaries, highlighting features and analysis methods for detecting individual sources and understanding the background.

Contribution

It introduces a simulation of the LISA data stream from 90,000 galactic binaries in the 1-5 mHz range, aiding in data analysis and source separation.

Findings

Simulation of 90,000 binaries in 1-5 mHz range

Comparison with globular cluster binary signals

Discussion of data analysis schemes

Abstract

Gravitational radiation from the galactic population of white dwarf binaries is expected to produce a background signal in the LISA frequency band. At frequencies below 1 mHz, this signal is expected to be confusion-limited and has been approximated as gaussian noise. At frequencies above about 5 mHz, the signal will consist of separable individual sources. We have produced a simulation of the LISA data stream from a population of 90k galactic binaries in the frequency range between 1 - 5 mHz. This signal is compared with the simulated signal from globular cluster populations of binaries. Notable features of the simulation as well as potential data analysis schemes for extracting information are presented.