The International Pulsar Timing Array second data release: Search for an isotropic gravitational wave background
Abstract
We searched for an isotropic stochastic gravitational wave background in the second data release of the International Pulsar Timing Array, a global collaboration synthesizing decadal-length pulsar-timing campaigns in North America, Europe, and Australia. In our reference search for a power-law strain spectrum of the form $h_c = A(f/1\, \mathrm{yr}^{-1})^{\alpha }$, we found strong evidence for a spectrally similar low-frequency stochastic process of amplitude $A = 3.8^{+6.3}_{-2.5}\times 10^{-15}$ and spectral index α = −0.5 ± 0.5, where the uncertainties represent 95 per cent credible regions, using information from the auto- and cross-correlation terms between the pulsars in the array. For a spectral index of α = −2/3, as expected from a population of inspiralling supermassive black hole binaries, the recovered amplitude is $A = 2.8^{+1.2}_{-0.8}\times 10^{-15}$. None the less, no significant evidence of the Hellings–Downs correlations that would indicate a gravitational-wave origin was found. We also analysed the constituent data from the individual pulsar timing arrays in a consistent way, and clearly demonstrate that the combined international data set is more sensitive. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this combined data set produces comparable constraints to recent single-array data sets which have more data than the constituent parts of the combination. Future international data releases will deliver increased sensitivity to gravitational wave radiation, and significantly increase the detection probability.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jan 19, 2022
- Source ID
- 10.1093/mnras/stab3418
Entities
People
- A Berthereau
- A Mcewen
- A Petiteau
- A Possenti
- A R Kaiser
- A Samajdar
- A Sesana
- A Vecchio
- A. Brazier
- A. D. Johnson
- A. G. Lyne
- A. Parthasarathy
- Ann-Sofie Bak Nielsen
- Aurélien Chalumeau
- B Bécsy
- B Drachler
- B J Shapiro-albert
- B. B. P. Perera
- Benjamin W. Stappers
- Boris Goncharov
- C A Witt
- C J Russell
- C Tiburzi
- C. G. Bassa
- Cherry Ng
- Chiara M. F. Mingarelli
- D C Good
- D J Nice
- D Perrodin
- D R Madison
- D. R. Stinebring
- Daniel Reardon
- David J. Champion
- David L. Kaplan
- E Fonseca
- E Graikou
- E Van Der Wateren
- E. C. Ferrara
- Fronefield Crawford
- G H Janssen
- G. Theureau
- George Hobbs
- Golam Shaifullah
- Gregory Desvignes
- H T Cromartie
- H. Wahl
- Huanchen Hu
- I H Stairs
- I. Cognard
- J A Casey-clyde
- J Antoniadis
- J K Swiggum
- J M Sarkissian
- J R Gair
- J S Key
- J. B. Wang
- J. M. Cordes
- J. S. Hazboun
- James B. Simon
- James W. McKee
- Jiangyi Luo
- Jingxian Wang
- Joris Verbiest
- K Islo
- K Schmitz
- K. J. Lee
- Kai Liu
- Kathryn Crowter
- L Lentati
- L M Sampson
- L. Guillemot
- L. Speri
- Levi Schult
- Lin Wang
- Luke Zoltan Kelley
- M B Mickaliger
- M Bailes
- M Charisi
- M E Decesar
- M Falxa
- M T Lam
- M. Bonetti
- M. J. Keith
- M. L. Jones
- Marta Burgay
- Matthew Kerr
- Maura McLaughlin
- Michael Kramer
- Michele Vallisneri
- N Garver-daniels
- N J Cornish
- N K Porayko
- N S Pol
- P B Demorest
- P T Baker
- Paul Brook
- Paul S Ray
- R A Main
- R J Jennings
- R Karuppusamy
- R S Lynch
- R. N. Caballero
- R. N. Manchester
- Renée Spiewak
- Ryan M. Shannon
- S Babak
- S Burke-spolaor
- S J Vigeland
- S Sanidas
- S. Osłowski
- S. R. Taylor
- Scott Ransom
- Shi Dai
- Simin Zhang
- Siyuan Chen
- Sujash S. Chatterjee
- T Dolch
- T T Pennucci
- T. J. W. Lazio
- T. L. Smith
- W Fiore
- W G Lamb
- X Siemens
- Xing-Jiang Zhu
- Y J Guo
- Z. Arzoumanian
Organizations
- ASTRON
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche
- Arctic Sciences
- Arecibo Observatory
- Australia Telescope National Facility
- Australian Research Council
- Beijing Normal University
- Bielefeld University
- CERN
- CNES
- California Earthquake Authority
- California Institute of Technology
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
- Cavendish Laboratory
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
- Cornell University
- Eureka Scientific
- European Research Council
- Eötvös Loránd University
- Flatiron Institute
- Franklin & Marshall College
- George Mason University
- Goddard Space Flight Center
- Gran Sasso Science Institute
- Green Bank Observatory
- Hillsdale College
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
- Italian Space Agency
- Lafayette College
- Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics
- Ministry of Education, Universities and Research
- Montana State University
- Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- National Astronomical Observatory of China
- National Institute for Astrophysics
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory
- National Science Foundation
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
- Northwestern University
- Oberlin College
- Oregon State University
- PSL Research University
- Peking University
- Radboud University Nijmegen
- Rochester Institute of Technology
- Russian Academy of Sciences
- Science and Technology Facilities Council
- Space Telescope Science Institute
- Stavros Niarchos Foundation
- Swarthmore College
- Swinburne University of Technology
- United States Naval Research Laboratory
- University of Birmingham
- University of British Columbia
- University of Cagliari
- University of Colorado
- University of Connecticut
- University of Manchester
- University of Maryland
- University of Milan-Bicocca
- University of Orléans
- University of Paris
- University of Toronto
- University of Washington Bothell
- University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
- University of the Pacific
- Vanderbilt University
- West Virginia University
- Western Sydney University
- Widener University
- Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory