Missions

The LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) space mission will allow the detection of low frequency gravitational waves and will have a large scientific impact in various fields such as astrophysics, cosmology, and fundamental physics. The LISA mission consists in performing interferometric measurements of laser links exchanged between three spacecraft in heliocentric orbits. The signatures from gravitational waves will be imprinted in those interferometric measurements and will have to be extracted from various instrumental noises. In particular, it will be crucial to reduce the laser frequency noise by about 8 orders of magnitude in order to reach the sensitivity required to detect gravitational waves. This will be achieved by a technique named “Time Delay Interferometry” (TDI) which combines the various interferometric measurements by applying temporal delays. This procedure will be performed during the data preprocessing step which will also reduce various other noises present in the LISA data. The resulting TDI data will be used to search for gravitational waves.

Activities

In this project, we will develop new methods to reduce various noises in the LISA data efficiently in order to detect gravitational waves and to extract scientific results for various types of sources. These methods will then be implemented in a LISA data preprocessing pipeline.

Skills

This position is devoted to a software engineer. Strong skills in software development, data analysis, and numerical calculations are required. In addition, knowledge of the LISA mission and of its instruments will be favoured.

Work Context

This project will be conducted within the « Theory and metrology” group at SYRTE, which is largely involved in the development of the LISA preprocessing pipeline. Furthermore, SYRTE is also developing laser systems needed to test various LISA instrument components, is involved in the development of galactic binary waveforms and will be involved in the validation and testing of the payload. SYRTE is a full member of the LISA consortium and is part of the instrument working group, the simulation expert group and the “on-ground instrument processing” expert group. In addition, the group has developed various collaborations around these topics.

The position is located in a sector under the protection of scientific and technical potential (PPST), and therefore requires, in accordance with the regulations, that your arrival is authorized by the competent authority of the MESR.

Constraints and risks

None

Additional Information

The position is initially for one year, starting earliest on 1st November 2024, with the possibility of extension to two or more years.
For further information, contact Marc Lilley (marc.lilley@obspm.fr), Aurélien Hees (aurelien.hees@obspm.fr) or Peter Wolf (peter.wolf@obspm.fr).