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Detecting the stochastic gravitational wave background using pulsar timing

Fredrick A. Jenet·George B. Hobbs·K. J. Lee·Richard N. Manchester
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Abstract

The direct detection of gravitational waves is a major goal of current astrophysics. We provide details of a new method for detecting a stochastic background of gravitational waves using pulsar timing data. Our results show that regular timing observations of 40 pulsars each with a timing accuracy of 100 nano-seconds will be able to make a direct detection of the predicted stochastic background from coalescing black holes within five years. With an improved pre-whitening algorithm, or if the background is at the upper end of the predicted range, a significant detection should be possible with only 20 pulsars.

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Fredrick A. Jenet, George B. Hobbs, K. J. Lee, Richard N. Manchester. 2005-04-21. Detecting the stochastic gravitational wave background using pulsar timing. https://doi.org/10.1086/431220

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