scholarly journals Constraints on cosmic string tension imposed by the limit on the stochastic gravitational wave background from the European Pulsar Timing Array

2012 ◽  
Vol 85 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sotirios A. Sanidas ◽  
Richard A. Battye ◽  
Benjamin W. Stappers
2020 ◽  
Vol 501 (1) ◽  
pp. 701-712
Author(s):  
N Yonemaru ◽  
S Kuroyanagi ◽  
G Hobbs ◽  
K Takahashi ◽  
X-J Zhu ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Cosmic strings are potential gravitational-wave (GW) sources that can be probed by pulsar timing arrays (PTAs). In this work we develop a detection algorithm for a GW burst from a cusp on a cosmic string, and apply it to Parkes PTA data. We find four events with a false alarm probability less than 1 per cent. However further investigation shows that all of these are likely to be spurious. As there are no convincing detections we place upper limits on the GW amplitude for different event durations. From these bounds we place limits on the cosmic string tension of Gμ ∼ 10−5, and highlight that this bound is independent from those obtained using other techniques. We discuss the physical implications of our results and the prospect of probing cosmic strings in the era of Square Kilometre Array.


2012 ◽  
Vol 425 (2) ◽  
pp. 1597-1597 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. van Haasteren ◽  
Y. Levin ◽  
G. H. Janssen ◽  
K. Lazaridis ◽  
M. Kramer ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (01) ◽  
pp. 1341008 ◽  
Author(s):  
BHAL CHANDRA JOSHI

In the last decade, the use of an ensemble of radio pulsars to constrain the characteristic strain caused by a stochastic gravitational wave background has advanced the cause of detection of very low frequency gravitational waves (GWs) significantly. This electromagnetic means of GW detection, called Pulsar Timing Array (PTA), is reviewed in this paper. The principle of operation of PTA, the current operating PTAs and their status are presented along with a discussion of the main challenges in the detection of GWs using PTA.


2011 ◽  
Vol 414 (2) ◽  
pp. 1777-1787 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. R. B. Yardley ◽  
W. A. Coles ◽  
G. B. Hobbs ◽  
J. P. W. Verbiest ◽  
R. N. Manchester ◽  
...  

Symmetry ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2418
Author(s):  
Michele Maiorano ◽  
Francesco De Paolis ◽  
Achille A. Nucita

Pulsar timing uses the highly stable pulsar spin period to investigate many astrophysical topics. In particular, pulsar timing arrays make use of a set of extremely well-timed pulsars and their time correlations as a challenging detector of gravitational waves. It turns out that pulsar timing arrays are particularly sensitive to ultra-low-frequency gravitational waves, which makes them complementary to other gravitational-wave detectors. Here, we summarize the basics, focusing especially on supermassive black-hole binaries and cosmic strings, which have the potential to form a stochastic gravitational-wave background in the pulsar timing array detection band, and the scientific goals on this challenging topic. We also briefly outline the recent interesting results of the main pulsar timing array collaborations, which have found strong evidence of a common-spectrum process compatible with a stochastic gravitational-wave background and mention some new perspectives that are particularly interesting in view of the forthcoming radio observatories such as the Five hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, the MeerKAT telescope, and the Square Kilometer Array.


2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S291) ◽  
pp. 177-177
Author(s):  
Ryan Shannon

AbstractThe direct detection of gravitational waves will usher in a new era of astrophysics, enabling the study of regions of the universe opaque to electromagnetic radiation or electromagnetically quiet. An ensemble of pulsars (referred to as a pulsar timing array) provides a set of clocks distributed across the Galaxy sensitive to gravitational waves with periods on the order of five years (frequencies of many nanohertz). Plausible source of gravitational waves in this frequency band include massive black hole binaries in the throes of mergers and oscillating cosmic strings. The stochastic gravitational wave background, the sum of gravitational waves emitted throughout the universe, is the most likely signal to be detected by a pulsar timing array.While the detection of gravitational waves will be a milestone in pulsar astronomy, a constraining limit on the strength of the gravitational wave background can be used to constrain cosmological models and early Universe physics. Here we present a new algorithm that can be used to constrain the strength of the GWB with a pulsar timing array. We then apply this technique to Parkes Pulsar Timing Array observations and place a new limit on the strength of the GWB. We conclude by discussing the astrophysical implications of this limit and the prospects for detecting gravitational waves with pulsars.


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