LISA Benchtop Experiment

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is expected to launch in the middle of the next decade. LISA will detect gravitational waves generated by sources ranging from galactic sources like neutron star and white dwarf binaries to mergers between super-massive black holes in the centers of colliding galaxies. LISA will consist of six freely-falling proof masses shielded by three identical spacecraft. The spacecraft will be steered around the proof masses and laser interferometer will monitor the distances between the proof masses. One of the main challenges to test LISA interferometry on the ground is the long light travel time of 16 s between the spacecraft. At UF, we developed a technique to experimentally simulate the light travel time that enables us to build a LISA benchtop interferometer and test many aspects of LISA interferometry. We plan to test time delay interferometry, stabilize the laser frequency to a LISA arm, generate LISA-like signals, verify on-board data reduction schemes, and host mock data challenges well before LISA is launched. In this report we will give an overview of LISA interferometry and discuss the status and future plans of our experiment.