LISA-PF radiation monitor performance during the evolution of SEP events for the monitoring of test-mass charging

Cosmic rays of solar and galactic origin at energies >100 MeV/n charge and induce spurious forces on free-floating test masses on board interferometers devoted to gravitational wave detection in space. LISA Pathfinder (LISAPF), the technology testing mission for eLISA/NGO, will carry radiation monitors for on board test-mass charging monitoring. We present here the results of a simulation of radiation monitor performance during the evolution of solar energetic particle (SEP) events of different intensity. This simulation was carried out with the Fluka Monte Carlo package by taking into account for the first time both energy and spatial distributions of solar protons for the SEP events of 23 February 1956, 15 November 1960 and 7 May 1978. Input data for the Monte Carlo simulations was inferred from neutron monitor measurements. Conversely, for the SEP event of 13 December 2006 observed by the PAMELA experiment in space, we used the proton pitch angle distribution (PAD) computed from the Particle Acceleration and Transport in the Heliosphere (PATH) code. We plan to adopt this approach at the time of LISA-PF data analysis in order to optimize the correlation between radiation monitor observations and test-mass charging. The results of this work can be extended to the future space interferometers and other space missions carrying instruments for SEP detection.