A gamma-ray pulsar timing array constrains the nanohertz gravitational wave background

Ajello M, Atwood WB, Baldini L, Ballet J, Barbiellini G, Bastieri D, Bellazzini R, Berretta A, Bhattacharyya B, Bissaldi E, Blandford RD, Bloom E, Bonino R, Bruel P, Buehler R, Burns E, Buson S, Cameron RA, Caraveo PA, Cavazzuti E, Cibrario N, Ciprini S, Clark CJ, Cognard , Coronado-Blazquez J, Crnogorcevic M, Cromartie H, Crowter K, Cutini S, D'Ammando F, De Gaetano S, De Palma F, Digel SW, Di Lalla N, Dirirsa FF, Di Venere L, Dominguez A, Ferrara EC, Fiori A, Franckowiak A, Fukazawa Y, Funk S, Fusco P, Gammaldi , Gargano F, Gasparrini D, Giglietto N, Giordano F, Giroletti M, Green D, Grenier IA, Guillemot L, Guiriec S, Gustafsson M, Harding AK, Hays E, Hewitt JW, Horan D, Hou X, Johannesson G, Keith MJ, Kerr M, Kramer M, Martí-Devesa G, Kuss M, Larsson S, Latronico L, Li J, Longo F, Loparco F, Lovellette MN, Lubrano P, Maldera S, Manfreda A, Mazziotta MN, Mereu , Michelson PF, Mirabal N, Mitthumsiri W, Mizuno T, Monzani ME, Morselli A, Negro M, Nieder L, Ojha R, Omodei N, Orienti M, Orlando E, Ormes JF, Paneque D, Parthasarathy A, Pei Z, Persic M, Pesce-Rollins M, Pillera R, Poon H, Porter TA, Principe G, Racusin JL, Raino S, Rando R, Rani B, Ransom SM, Ray PS, Razzano M, Razzaque S, Reimer A, Reimer O, Roy J, Sanchez-Conde M, Parkinson PMS, Scargle J, Scotton L, Serini D, Sgro C, Siskind EJ, Smith DA, Spandre G, Spiewak R, Spinelli P, Stairs , Suson DJ, Swihart SJ, Tabassum S, Thayer JB, Theureau G, Torres DF, Troja E, Valverde J, Wadiasingh Z, Wood K, Zaharijas G (2022)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2022

Journal

Book Volume: 376

Pages Range: 521-+

Journal Issue: 6592

DOI: 10.1126/science.abm3231

Abstract

After large galaxies merge, their central supermassive black holes are expected to form binary systems. Their orbital motion should generate a gravitational wave background (GWB) at nanohertz frequencies. Searches for this background use pulsar timing arrays, which perform long-term monitoring of millisecond pulsars at radio wavelengths. We used 12.5 years of Fermi Large Area Telescope data to form a gamma-ray pulsar timing array. Results from 35 bright gamma-ray pulsars place a 95% credible limit on the GWB characteristic strain of 1.0 x 10(-14) at a frequency of 1 year(-1). The sensitivity is expected to scale with t(obs), the observing time span, as t(obs)(-13/6). This direct measurement provides an independent probe of the GWB while offering a check on radio noise models.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

Clemson University United States (USA) (US) University of California Santa Cruz United States (USA) (US) University of Pisa / Università di Pisa (UniPi) Italy (IT) University of Paris 4 - Paris-Sorbonne / Université paris IV Paris-Sorbonne France (FR) National Institute for Nuclear Physics / Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) Italy (IT) Università degli Studi di Perugia Italy (IT) University of Bari Aldo Moro / Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro Italy (IT) Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY Germany (DE) Stanford University United States (USA) (US) Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) India (IN) École Polytechnique - Université Paris-Saclay France (FR) Louisiana State University United States (USA) (US) Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg Germany (DE) National Institute for Astrophysics / Istituto Nazionale Astrofisica (INAF) Italy (IT) Italian Space Agency / Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) Italy (IT) University of Manchester United Kingdom (GB) University of Orléans / Université d'Orléans France (FR) Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) Spain (ES) University of Maryland United States (USA) (US) Cornell University United States (USA) (US) University of British Columbia Canada (CA) Max-Planck-Institut für Physik (Werner-Heisenberg-Institut, MPP) / Max Planck Institute for Physics Germany (DE) Università del Salento Italy (IT) University of Savoy Mont Blanc / Université Savoie Mont Blanc France (FR) Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) Spain (ES) Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) Germany (DE) Hiroshima University / 広島大学 Japan (JP) Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck / University of Innsbruck Austria (AT) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) United States (USA) (US) U.S. Naval Research Laboratory United States (USA) (US) University of Nova Gorica / Univerza v Novi Gorici Slovenia (SI) Georg-August-Universität Göttingen Germany (DE) Los Alamos National Laboratory United States (USA) (US) University of North Florida (UNF) United States (USA) (US) Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) / 中国科学院 China (CN) University of Iceland (UI) / Háskóli Íslands Iceland (IS) Royal Institute of Technology / Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (KTH) Sweden (SE) University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) China (CN) Mahidol University / มหาวิทยาลัยมหิดล Thailand (TH) Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science & Technology (CRESST) United States (USA) (US) Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics / Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik (Albert-Einstein-Institut) Germany (DE) University of Denver United States (USA) (US) Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie / Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy Germany (DE) University of Padua / Universita degli Studi di Padova Italy (IT) National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) United States (USA) (US) University of Johannesburg South Africa (ZA) Ames Research Center United States (USA) (US) University of Montpellier / Université Montpellier France (FR) NYCB Real-Time Computing, Inc. United States (USA) (US) Université Bordeaux 1, Sciences et Technologies France (FR) Purdue University Northwest / Purdue University Calumet United States (USA) (US) New York University Abu Dhabi (NYU Abu Dhabi) United Arab Emirates (AE) Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA) / Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies Spain (ES)

How to cite

APA:

Ajello, M., Atwood, W.B., Baldini, L., Ballet, J., Barbiellini, G., Bastieri, D.,... Zaharijas, G. (2022). A gamma-ray pulsar timing array constrains the nanohertz gravitational wave background. Science, 376(6592), 521-+. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abm3231

MLA:

Ajello, M., et al. "A gamma-ray pulsar timing array constrains the nanohertz gravitational wave background." Science 376.6592 (2022): 521-+.

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