Detecting the Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background Using Pulsar Timing

The direct detection of gravitational waves is a major goal of current astrophysics. We provide details of a new method for detecting a stochastic background of gravitational waves using pulsar timing data. Our results show that regular timing observations of 40 pulsars each with a timing accuracy o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2005-06, Vol.625 (2), p.L123-L126
Main Authors: Jenet, Fredrick A, Hobbs, George B, Lee, K. J, Manchester, Richard N
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The direct detection of gravitational waves is a major goal of current astrophysics. We provide details of a new method for detecting a stochastic background of gravitational waves using pulsar timing data. Our results show that regular timing observations of 40 pulsars each with a timing accuracy of 100 ns will be able to make a direct detection of the predicted stochastic background from coalescing black holes within 5 years. With an improved prewhitening algorithm, or if the background is at the upper end of the predicted range, a significant detection should be possible with only 20 pulsars.
ISSN:1538-4357
0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.1086/431220