最优统计量(OS)是脉冲星计时阵列(PTA)数据中空间相关信号振幅和显著性的频率学派估计量,被广泛用于搜寻引力波背景(GWB)。然而,OS 无法完美区分不同的空间相关性。在本文中,我们引入了多分量最优统计量(MCOS):这是 OS 的一种推广,允许同时对数据拟合多个相关性。我们使用模拟数据表明,该方法能更准确地恢复注入的空间相关信号,特别是降低了以错误空间相关性误检出信号的风险。我们还证明,该方法可用于恢复多个相关信号。
英文摘要:
The optimal statistic (OS) is a frequentist estimator for the amplitude and significance of a spatially-correlated signal in pulsar timing array (PTA) data, and it is widely used to search for the gravitational wave background (GWB). However, the OS cannot perfectly distinguish between different spatial correlations. In this paper, we introduce the multiple component optimal statistic (MCOS): a generalization of the OS that allows for multiple correlations to be simultaneously fit to the data. We use simulated data to show that this method more accurately recovers injected spatially correlated signals, and in particular reduces the risk of a false detection of a signal with the wrong spatial correlation. We also demonstrate that this method can be used to recover multiple correlated signals.
We present a principal component analysis method which tracks and compensates for short-timescale variability in pulsar profiles, with a goal of improving pulsar timing precision. We couple this with a fast likelihood technique for determining pulse time of arrival, marginalizing over the principal component amplitudes. This allows accurate estimation of timing errors in the presence of pulsar variability. We apply the algorithm to the slow pulsar PSR J2139+0040 using an archived set of untargeted raster-scan observations at arbitrary epochs across four years, obtaining an improved timing solu…
A pulsar timing array (PTA) refers to a program of regular, high-precision timing observations of a widely distributed array of millisecond pulsars. Here we review the status of the three primary PTA projects and the joint International Pulsar Timing Array project. We discuss current results related to ultra-low-frequency gravitational wave searches and highlight opportunities for the near future.
There are two types of timing irregularities seen in pulsars: glitches and timing noise. Both of these phenomena can help us probe the interior of such exotic objects. This article presents a brief overview of the observational and theoretical aspects of pulsar timing irregularities and the main results from the investigations of these phenomena in India. The relevance of such Indian programs for monitoring of young pulsars with the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) is presented, highlighting possible contributions of the Indian neutron star community to the upcoming SKA endeavour.
Pulsar timing is a technique that uses the highly stable spin periods of neutron stars to investigate a wide range of topics in physics and astrophysics. Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) use sets of extremely well-timed pulsars as a Galaxy-scale detector with arms extending between Earth and each pulsar in the array. These challenging experiments look for correlated deviations in the pulsars' timing that are caused by low-frequency gravitational waves (GWs) traversing our Galaxy. PTAs are particularly sensitive to GWs at nanohertz frequencies, which makes them complementary to other space- and grou…
Modeling of frequency-dependent effects, contributed by the turbulence in the free electron density of interstellar plasma, is required to enable the detection of the expected imprints from the stochastic gravitational-wave (GW) background in pulsar timing data. In this work, we present an investigation of temporal variations of interstellar medium for a set of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) with the upgraded GMRT aided by large fractional bandwidth at lower observing frequencies. Contrary to the conventional narrow-band analysis using a frequency invariant template profile, we applied $PulsePortr…
Pulsar Timing Array (PTA) experiments exploit the clock-like behaviour of an array of millisecond pulsars, with the goal of detecting low-frequency gravitational waves. PTA experiments have been in operation over the last decade, led by groups in Europe, Australia, and North America. These experiments use the most sensitive radio telescopes in the world, extremely precise pulsar timing models and sophisticated detection algorithms to increase the sensitivity of PTAs. No detection of gravitational waves has been made to date with this technique, but PTA upper limits already contributed to rule …
Vanderbilt University(范德堡大学);OzGrav: The ARC Center of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery(ARC引力波发现卓越中心);Swinburne University of Technology(斯威本科技大学);LPC2E, OSUC, Univ Orleans, CNRS(奥尔良大学CNRS LPC2E实验室);Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)(马克斯·普朗克引力物理学研究所(爱因斯坦研究所));Leibniz Universität Hannover(汉诺威莱布尼茨大学);Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester(曼彻斯特大学天体物理学与天文学系乔德雷尔银行天体物理中心)
We present the first 2.5 years of data from the MeerKAT Pulsar Timing Array (MPTA), part of MeerTime, a MeerKAT Large Survey Project. The MPTA aims to precisely measure pulse arrival times from an ensemble of 88 pulsars visible from the Southern Hemisphere, with the goal of contributing to the search, detection and study of nanohertz-frequency gravitational waves as part of the International Pulsar Timing Array. This project makes use of the MeerKAT telescope, and operates with a typical observing cadence of two weeks using the L-band receiver that records data from 856-1712 MHz. We provide a …
We report pulsar timing observations carried out in L-band with NTSC's 40-meter Haoping Radio Telescope (HRT), which was constructed in 2014. The observations were carried out using the pulsar machine we developed. Timing observations toward millisecond pulsar J0437-4715 obtains a timing residual (r.m.s) of 397ns in the time span of 284 days. And our observations successfully detected Crab pulsar's glitch that happened on July 23rd, 2019.
Ongoing research on Pulsar Timing Array (PTA) to detect gravitational radiation is reviewed. Here, we discuss the use of millisecond pulsars as a gravitational wave detector, the sources of gravitational radiation detectable by PTAs and the current status of PTA experiments pointing out the future possibilities.
Pulsar timing is a process of iteratively fitting pulse arrival times to constrain the spindown, astrometric, and possibly binary parameters of a pulsar, by enforcing integer numbers of pulsar rotations between the arrival times. Phase connection is the process of unambiguously determining those rotation numbers between the times of arrival (TOAs) while determining a pulsar timing solution. Pulsar timing currently requires a manual process of step-by-step phase connection performed by individuals. In an effort to quantify and streamline this process, we created the Algorithmic Pulsar Timer, AP…
Why Gravitational Wave Science Needs Pulsar Timing Arrays And Why Pulsar Timing Arrays Need Both Arecibo and the GBT: A Response to the NSF-AST Portfolio Review from the NANOGrav Collaboration
Pulsars are special objects whose positions can be determined independently from timing, radio interferometric, and Gaia astrometry at sub-milliarcsecond (mas) precision; thus, they provide a unique way to monitor the link between dynamical and kinematic reference frames. We aimed to assess the orientation consistency between the dynamical reference frame represented by the planetary ephemeris and the kinematic reference frames constructed by Gaia and VLBI through pulsar positions. We identified 49 pulsars in Gaia Data Release 3 and 62 pulsars with very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) posi…
We construct realistic sensitivity curves for pulsar timing array searches for gravitational waves, incorporating both red and white noise contributions to individual pulsar noise spectra, as well as the effect of fitting to a pulsar timing model. We demonstrate the method on both simulated pulsars and a realistic array consisting of a subset of NANOGrav pulsars used in recent analyses. A comparison between the results presented here and exact sensitivity curves shows agreement to tens of percent. The resulting sensitivity curves can be used to assess the detectability of predicted gravitation…
High-precision pulsar timing is central to a wide range of astrophysics and fundamental physics applications. When timing an ensemble of millisecond pulsars in different sky positions, known as a pulsar timing array (PTA), one can search for ultra-low-frequency gravitational waves (GWs) through the spatial correlations that spacetime deformations by passing GWs are predicted to induce on the pulses' times-of-arrival (TOAs). A pulsar-timing model, requires the use of a solar-system ephemeris (SSE) to properly predict the position of the solar-system barycentre, the (quasi-)inertial frame where …