Testing the Equivalence Principle in space with MICROSCOPE: the data analysis challenge

Abstract

Theories beyond the Standard Model and General Relativity predict a violation of the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) just below the current best experimental upper limits. MICROSCOPE (Micro-Satelliteà traînée Compensée pour l'Observation du Principe d'Equivalence) will allow us to lower them by two orders of magnitude, and maybe to detect a WEP violation. However, analyzing the MICROSCOPE data will be challenging, mostly because of missing data and a colored noise burrying the signal of interest. In this communication, we apply an inpainting technique to simulated MICROSCOPE data and show that inpainting will help detect a WEP violation signal.