On angular dependent response to gravitational-wave signals for time-delay interferometry combinations

Abstract: Space-based gravitational wave (GW) detectors are designed for wave sources in the millihertz band with different locations and orientations. Time-delay interferometry (TDI) technique is an indispensable ingredient in space-borne GW detection that effectively suppresses the laser phase noise. The abundant TDI solutions derived in the literature also feature distinct angular-dependent sensitivities. Because a GW source's angular location is unknown prior to the signals' detection, a solid-angle average is often performed when analyzing the sensitivity function of a given TDI combination. The present study explores the angular dependence of the detector's sensitivity. This detail is relevant, because once the initial detection is achieved, the source's location can be extracted and used to provide information on a refined TDI combination tailored for the specific GW source. As the TDI technique is a post-processing algorithm, such a procedure can be implemented in practice. We evaluate the angular dependence of the detector's response function to the GW signals for different TDI combinations as a function of the orientation angles. Moreover, we classify the response functions into seven categories at the low-frequency limit, leveraging the characteristics of the underlying geometrical TDI combinations. By further averaging out the azimuthal angle $φ_D$ in the detector's plane, the main features of the resulting response functions and their zenithal dependence with respect to the GW source are scrutinized. The findings presented in this work provide pertinent insights for ongoing space-borne detector programs.