The MeerKAT Pulsar Timing Array: the 4.5-yr data release and the noise and stochastic signals of the millisecond pulsar population

ABSTRACT Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) are ensembles of regularly observed millisecond pulsars timed to high precision. Each pulsar in an array could be affected by a suite of noise processes, most of which are astrophysically motivated. Analysing them carefully can be used to understand these physical processes. However, the primary purpose of these experiments is to detect signals that are common to all pulsars, in particular signals associated with a stochastic gravitational wave background. To detect this, it is paramount to appropriately characterize other signals that may otherwise impact array sensitivity or cause a spurious detection. Here, we describe the second data release and first detailed noise analysis of the pulsars in the MeerKAT Pulsar Timing Array, comprising high-cadence and high-precision observations of 83 millisecond pulsars over 4.5 yr. We use this analysis to search for a common signal in the data, finding a process with an amplitude of $\log _{10}{A_{\mathrm{ CURN}}} = -14.25^{+0.21}_{-0.36}$ and spectral index $\gamma _\mathrm{CURN} = 3.60^{+1.31}_{-0.89}$. Fixing the spectral index at the value predicted for a background produced by the inspiral of binary supermassive black holes, we measure the amplitude to be $\log _{10}{A_{\mathrm{ CURN}}} = -14.28^{+0.21}_{-0.21}$ at a significance expressed as a Bayes factor of $\ln (\mathcal {B}) = 4.46$. Under both assumptions, the amplitude that we recover is larger than those reported by other PTA experiments. We use the results of this analysis to forecast our sensitivity to a gravitational wave background possessing the spectral properties of the common signal we have measured.

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Publication Details

Journal
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Published
2024-12-03
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stae2572
Citations
33
Primary Topic
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
10.94

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article

The MeerKAT Pulsar Timing Array: the 4.5-yr data release and the noise and stochastic signals of the millisecond pulsar population

Jaikhomba Singha, Sarah Buchner, M. Krämer, D. J. Champion et al.
33 citations
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
10.94
article

The MeerKAT Pulsar Timing Array: the 4.5-yr data release and the noise and stochastic signals of the millisecond pulsar population

Jaikhomba Singha, Sarah Buchner, M. Krämer, D. J. Champion, Kathrin Grunthal, Rowina S Nathan, R. M. Shannon, F. Camilo, Daniel J. Reardon, A. Parthasarathy, Atharva Kulkarni, G. Shaifullah, N. K. Porayko, Mohsen Shamohammadi, Marisa Geyer, Federico Abbate, V. Venkatraman Krishnan, A D Cameron, M. J. Keith, M. Bailes, G. Theureau, Matthew T. Miles, Pratyasha Gitika, Beatrice E Moreschi
article en
33 citations

Abstract

ABSTRACT Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) are ensembles of regularly observed millisecond pulsars timed to high precision. Each pulsar in an array could be affected by a suite of noise processes, most of which are astrophysically motivated. Analysing them carefully can be used to understand these physical processes. However, the primary purpose of these experiments is to detect signals that are common to all pulsars, in particular signals associated with a stochastic gravitational wave background. To detect this, it is paramount to appropriately characterize other signals that may otherwise impact array sensitivity or cause a spurious detection. Here, we describe the second data release and first detailed noise analysis of the pulsars in the MeerKAT Pulsar Timing Array, comprising high-cadence and high-precision observations of 83 millisecond pulsars over 4.5 yr. We use this analysis to search for a common signal in the data, finding a process with an amplitude of $\log _{10}{A_{\mathrm{ CURN}}} = -14.25^{+0.21}_{-0.36}$ and spectral index $\gamma _\mathrm{CURN} = 3.60^{+1.31}_{-0.89}$. Fixing the spectral index at the value predicted for a background produced by the inspiral of binary supermassive black holes, we measure the amplitude to be $\log _{10}{A_{\mathrm{ CURN}}} = -14.28^{+0.21}_{-0.21}$ at a significance expressed as a Bayes factor of $\ln (\mathcal {B}) = 4.46$. Under both assumptions, the amplitude that we recover is larger than those reported by other PTA experiments. We use the results of this analysis to forecast our sensitivity to a gravitational wave background possessing the spectral properties of the common signal we have measured.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyVol. 536(2)
Université d'Orléans (FR), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), University of Cape Town (ZA), Université Paris Cité (FR), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (FR), University of Manchester (GB), Laboratoire Univers et Théories (FR), South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (ZA), ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (AU), Astronomical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK), Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari (IT), Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (DE), Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l’Environnement et de l’Espace (FR), Monash University (AU), Swinburne University of Technology (AU), University of Milano-Bicocca (IT), University of Amsterdam (NL), Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (NL)
California Department of Fish and Game, Michelson Prize and Grants, International Max Planck Research School for Environmental, Cellular and Molecular Microbiology, National Research Foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Swinburne University of Technology, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, International Max Planck Research School for Advanced Methods in Process and Systems Engineering, Center for Africana Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Observatoire de Paris, Université de Recherche Paris Sciences et Lettres, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Australian Research Council, Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules, H2020 European Research Council
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
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