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Space-borne gravitational wave detection imposes a demanding requirement on the sensitivity of the laser interferometer. Among all disturbances that affect the measurement accuracy of the laser interferometer, temperature fluctuations contribute significantly. In this paper, the structure model and the interference path design of Taiji-1 laser interferometer have been used to conduct a preliminary simulation analysis of the temperature fluctuation noise through the finite element method. The temperature, the displacement and the optical path difference fluctuations have been obtained and theoretically analyzed. The preliminary simulation results are consistent with the theoretical analysis, which shows that the thermal–structural–optical simulation scheme adopted in this paper is reasonable. With the preliminary simulation results and the actual temperature control of Taiji-1 laser interferometer, we estimate that in Taiji-1 laser interferometer system, the temperature fluctuation is below the order of mK, the node displacement is within 1 0 0 pm, and the interference arm length difference fluctuation amplitude of the laser interferometer is also within 1 0 0 pm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taiji-1 is the first technology demonstration satellite of the Taiji Program in Space, which, served as the pre-PathFinder mission, had finished its nominal science operational phase and successfully accomplished the mission goal. The gravitational reference sensor (GRS) on-board Taiji-1 is one of the key science payloads that coupled strongly to other instruments, sub-systems and also the satellite platform itself. Fluctuations of the physical environment inside the satellite and mechanical disturbances of the platform generate important noises in the GRS measurements, therefore their science data can also be used to evaluate the performance of the μ N -thrusters and the stability of the platform. In this work, we report on the methods employed in Taiji-1 GRS data processing in the systematical modelings of the spacecraft orbit and attitude perturbations, mechanical disturbances, and internal environment changes. The modeled noises are then removed carefully from the GRS science data to improve the data quality and the GRS in-orbit performance estimations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]