The paucity of observed supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) may imply that the gravitational wave background (GWB) from this population is anisotropic, rendering existing analyses suboptimal. We present the first constraints on the angular distribution of a nanohertz stochastic GWB from circular, inspiral-driven SMBHBs using the 2015 European Pulsar Timing Array data. Our analysis of the GWB in the ∼2-90nHz band shows consistency with isotropy, with the strain amplitude in l>0 spherical harmonic multipoles 40% of the monopole value. We expect that these more general techniques will become standard tools to probe the angular distribution of source populations.

Taylor, S., Mingarelli, C., Gair, J., Sesana, A., Theureau, G., Babak, S., et al. (2015). Limits on Anisotropy in the Nanohertz Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 115(4) [10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.041101].

Limits on Anisotropy in the Nanohertz Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background

Sesana A.;
2015

Abstract

The paucity of observed supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) may imply that the gravitational wave background (GWB) from this population is anisotropic, rendering existing analyses suboptimal. We present the first constraints on the angular distribution of a nanohertz stochastic GWB from circular, inspiral-driven SMBHBs using the 2015 European Pulsar Timing Array data. Our analysis of the GWB in the ∼2-90nHz band shows consistency with isotropy, with the strain amplitude in l>0 spherical harmonic multipoles 40% of the monopole value. We expect that these more general techniques will become standard tools to probe the angular distribution of source populations.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
gravitational waves, pulsar timing, cosmology
English
2015
115
4
041101
none
Taylor, S., Mingarelli, C., Gair, J., Sesana, A., Theureau, G., Babak, S., et al. (2015). Limits on Anisotropy in the Nanohertz Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 115(4) [10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.041101].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/290677
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