Detecting the stochastic gravitational wave background from massive gravity with pulsar timing arrays

Liang, Qiuyue; Trodden, Mark

doi:10.1103/physrevd.104.084052

Detecting the stochastic gravitational wave background from massive gravity with pulsar timing arrays

Journal Article · Wed Oct 13 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Physical Review. D.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.104.084052· OSTI ID:1979925

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University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States); OSTI
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States)

We explore the potential of pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) such as NANOGrav, EPTA, and PPTA to detect the stochastic gravitational wave background in theories of massive gravity. In general relativity, the function describing the dependence of the correlation between the arrival times of signals from two pulsars on the angle between them is known as the Hellings-Downs curve. We compute the analogous overlap reduction function for massive gravity, including the additional polarization states and the correction due to the mass of the graviton, and compare the result with the Hellings-Downs curve. The primary result is a complete analytical form for the analog Hellings-Downs curve, providing a starting point for future numerical studies aimed at a detailed comparison between PTA data and the predictions of massive gravity. We study both the massless limit and the stationary limit as checks on our calculation, and discuss how our formalism also allows us to study the impact of massive spin-2 dark matter candidates on data from PTAs.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0013528

OSTI ID:: 1979925

Journal Information:: Physical Review. D., Journal Name: Physical Review. D. Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 104; ISSN 2470-0010

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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