Preparing ACES-PHARAO data analysis

Abstract

The Atomic Clocks Ensemble in Space (ACESPHARAO mission [1]) will realize, on board of the International Space Station, a time scale of very high stability and accuracy, connected to a dedicated microwave link (MWL) for comparison to ground clocks. This will allow to perform high performance time transfers between distant ground stations, as well as fundamental physics tests, such as measuring the gravitational redshift with unprecedented accuracy, and search for a violation of the Lorentz local invariance. Our team at SYRTE is currently developing a dedicated software for analyzing the data retrieved by the MWL. It will be a crucial component of the processing chain, allowing to reach the nominal scientific performances, thus complementing the quicklook data provided by the ground segment. During ACES flight, our software will run in a data processing center that will be set up in SYRTE, and process data as requested by IWG (ACES Investigator Working Group) request. We will present the current status of the data analysis software and its expected capabilities, mostly based on data generated by our own data simulator, but also some preliminary results of comparisons with actual test data from the instruments. Our simulator itself will also be presented, as it plays a key role in the validation of the data analysis software, and also allows to assert the sensitivity of ACES data to various theoretical signatures.