Improving timing sensitivity in the microhertz frequency regime: limits from PSR J1713+0747 on gravitational waves produced by supermassive black hole binaries. Issue 1 (2nd May 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Perera, B B P; Stappers, B W; Babak, S; Keith, M J; Antoniadis, J; Bassa, C G; Caballero, R N; Champion, D J; Cognard, I; Desvignes, G; Graikou, E; Guillemot, L; Janssen, G H; Karuppusamy, R; Kramer, M; Lazarus, P; Lentati, L; Liu, K; Lyne, A G; McKee, J W; Osłowski, S; Perrodin, D; Sanidas, S A; Sesana, A; Shaifullah, G; Theureau, G; Verbiest, J P W; Taylor, S R
• Is Part Of: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Volume 478:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 218
• Page End: 227
• Publication Date: 2018-05-02
• Subjects: gravitational waves -- binaries: general -- stars: black holes -- stars: neutron -- pulsars: individual: PSR J1713+0747 -- quasars: supermassive black holes; Astronomy -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 520.5
• DOI: 10.1093/mnras/sty1116
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0035-8711

Abstract

Abstract: We search for continuous gravitational waves (CGWs) produced by individual supermassive black hole binaries in circular orbits using high-cadence timing observations of PSR J1713+0747. We observe this millisecond pulsar using the telescopes in the European Pulsar Timing Array with an average cadence of approximately 1.6 d over the period between 2011 April and 2015 July, including an approximately daily average between 2013 February and 2014 April. The high-cadence observations are used to improve the pulsar timing sensitivity across the gravitational wave frequency range of 0.008−5$\mu$ Hz. We use two algorithms in the analysis, including a spectral fitting method and a Bayesian approach. For an independent comparison, we also use a previously published Bayesian algorithm. We find that the Bayesian approaches provide optimal results and the timing observations of the pulsar place a 95 per cent upper limit on the sky-averaged strain amplitude of CGWs to be ≲3.5 × 10 −13 at a reference frequency of 1 $\mu$ Hz. We also find a 95 per cent upper limit on the sky-averaged strain amplitude of low-frequency CGWs to be ≲1.4 × 10 −14 at a reference frequency of 20 nHz.