Discriminating a gravitational wave background from instrumental noise in the LISA detector

Abstract
The multiple Doppler readouts available with the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) permit simultaneous formation of several observables. All are independent of laser phase fluctuations, but have different couplings to gravitational waves and the various LISA instrumental noises. Comparison, for example, of the Michelson interferometer observable with the fully symmetric Sagnac data-type allows discrimination between a confusion-limited gravitational wave background and instrumental noise.