The resolving power of LISA: comparing techniques for binary analysis

Millions of short period binaries in the Milky Way will radiate gravitational waves in the low-frequency band with enough power to be detectable by LISA, making the foreground of galactic binaries the most prolific source in the band. Characterizing the resolving power of LISA is important for understanding what science will be possible with LISA observations of these binaries (e.g., mass transfer rates in accreting binaries, the structure of the galaxy, etc.) and understanding how well other sources can be resolved amidst the myriad of resolvable LISA sources. This paper reports on a work in-progress to understand how well different analysis methods can resolve pairs of binary star systems on the sky and in frequency. Preliminary quantitative results described here focus on two methods - gCLEAN and MaxEnt - and their ability to resolve sources of identical frequency as a function of angular separation.