2019/07/29 by Etienne Savalle, E Savalle, Christine Guerlin +9
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Frequency and Time Standards #Atomic and Subatomic Physics Research #Gravitation #Gravitational wave #Limit (mathematics) #Orbit (dynamics) #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Redshift #Space (punctuation) #Test (biology) #astro-ph.IM #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/1361-6382/ab4f25
31 pages, submitted to CQG
arxiv created 2019/07/29 · openalex publication_date 2019/10/18 · openalex created_date 2019/10/25 · arxiv updated 2020/01/08 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We investigate the performance of the upcoming ACES (atomic clock ensemble in space) space mission in terms of its primary scientific objective, the test of the gravitational redshift. Whilst the ultimate performance of that test is determined by the systematic uncertainty of the on-board clock at 2–3 ppm, we determine whether, and under which conditions, that limit can be reached in the presence of coloured realistic noise, data gaps and orbit determination (OD) uncertainties. To do so we have developed several methods and software tools to simulate and analyse ACES data. Using those we find that the target uncertainty of 2–3 ppm can be reached after only a few measurement sessions of 10–20 d each, with a relatively modest requirement on OD of ∼300 m.