Optimal strategies for gravitational wave stochastic background searches in pulsar timing data

Journal Article · Wed Apr 15 04:00:00 EDT 2009 · Physical Review. D, Particles Fields

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVD.79.084030· OSTI ID:21308325

Anholm, Melissa; Creighton, Jolien D. E.; Price, Larry R; Siemens, Xavier ^[1]; Ballmer, Stefan ^[2]

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1. Center for Gravitation and Cosmology, Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, P.O. Box 413, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201 (United States)
2. LIGO Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, MS 18-34, Pasadena, California 91125 (United States)

A low frequency stochastic background of gravitational waves may be detected by pulsar timing experiments in the next 5 to 10 yr. Using methods developed to analyze interferometric gravitational wave data, in this paper we lay out the optimal techniques to detect a background of gravitational waves using a pulsar timing array. We show that for pulsar distances and gravitational wave frequencies typical of pulsar timing experiments, neglecting the effect of the metric perturbation at the pulsar does not result in a significant deviation from optimality. We discuss methods for setting upper limits using the optimal statistic, show how to construct skymaps using the pulsar timing array, and consider several issues associated with realistic analysis of pulsar timing data.

• OSTI ID: 21308325
• Journal Information: Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Journal Name: Physical Review. D, Particles Fields Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 79; ISSN PRVDAQ; ISSN 0556-2821
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
DISTURBANCES
GRAVITATIONAL WAVES
INTERFEROMETRY
METRICS
PERTURBATION THEORY
PULSARS
STOCHASTIC PROCESSES