Gravitational waves from binary supermassive black holes missing in pulsar observations

R. M. Shannon; V. Ravi; L. T. Lentati; P. D. Lasky; G. Hobbs; M. Kerr; R. N. Manchester; W. A. Coles; Y. Levin; M. Bailes; N. D.R. Bhat; S. Burke-Spolaor; S. Dai; M. J. Keith; S. Osłowski; D. J. Reardon; W. Van Strateni; L. Toomey; J. B. Wang; L. Wen; J. S.B. Wyithe; X. J. Zhu

doi:10.1126/science.aab1910

Gravitational waves from binary supermassive black holes missing in pulsar observations

R. M. Shannon^*, V. Ravi, L. T. Lentati, P. D. Lasky, G. Hobbs, M. Kerr, R. N. Manchester, W. A. Coles, Y. Levin, M. Bailes, N. D.R. Bhat, S. Burke-Spolaor, S. Dai, M. J. Keith, S. Osłowski, D. J. Reardon, W. Van Strateni, L. Toomey, J. B. Wang, L. WenJ. S.B. Wyithe, X. J. Zhu

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

428 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Gravitational waves are expected to be radiated by supermassive black hole binaries formed during galaxy mergers. A stochastic superposition of gravitational waves from all such binary systems would modulate the arrival times of pulses from radio pulsars. Using observations of millisecond pulsars obtained with the Parkes radio telescope, we constrained the characteristic amplitude of this background, A_cyr, to be <1.0 × 10^-15 with 95% confidence.This limit excludes predicted ranges for A_cyr from current models with 91 to 99.7% probability. We conclude that binary evolution is either stalled or dramatically accelerated by galactic-center environments and that higher-cadence and shorterwavelength observations would be more sensitive to gravitational waves.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1522-1525
Number of pages	4
Journal	Science
Volume	349
Issue number	6255
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aab1910
Publication status	Published - 25 Sept 2015
Externally published	Yes

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Shannon, R. M., Ravi, V., Lentati, L. T., Lasky, P. D., Hobbs, G., Kerr, M., Manchester, R. N., Coles, W. A., Levin, Y., Bailes, M., Bhat, N. D. R., Burke-Spolaor, S., Dai, S., Keith, M. J., Osłowski, S., Reardon, D. J., Van Strateni, W., Toomey, L., Wang, J. B., ... Zhu, X. J. (2015). Gravitational waves from binary supermassive black holes missing in pulsar observations. Science, 349(6255), 1522-1525. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aab1910

@article{36a0777cde1c42b3a60c8b4520e73262,

title = "Gravitational waves from binary supermassive black holes missing in pulsar observations",

abstract = "Gravitational waves are expected to be radiated by supermassive black hole binaries formed during galaxy mergers. A stochastic superposition of gravitational waves from all such binary systems would modulate the arrival times of pulses from radio pulsars. Using observations of millisecond pulsars obtained with the Parkes radio telescope, we constrained the characteristic amplitude of this background, Acyr, to be <1.0 × 10-15 with 95\% confidence.This limit excludes predicted ranges for Acyr from current models with 91 to 99.7\% probability. We conclude that binary evolution is either stalled or dramatically accelerated by galactic-center environments and that higher-cadence and shorterwavelength observations would be more sensitive to gravitational waves.",

author = "Shannon, \{R. M.\} and V. Ravi and Lentati, \{L. T.\} and Lasky, \{P. D.\} and G. Hobbs and M. Kerr and Manchester, \{R. N.\} and Coles, \{W. A.\} and Y. Levin and M. Bailes and Bhat, \{N. D.R.\} and S. Burke-Spolaor and S. Dai and Keith, \{M. J.\} and S. Os{\l}owski and Reardon, \{D. J.\} and \{Van Strateni\}, W. and L. Toomey and Wang, \{J. B.\} and L. Wen and Wyithe, \{J. S.B.\} and Zhu, \{X. J.\}",

year = "2015",

month = sep,

day = "25",

doi = "10.1126/science.aab1910",

language = "English",

volume = "349",

pages = "1522--1525",

journal = "Science",

issn = "0036-8075",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",

number = "6255",

}

Shannon, RM, Ravi, V, Lentati, LT, Lasky, PD, Hobbs, G, Kerr, M, Manchester, RN, Coles, WA, Levin, Y, Bailes, M, Bhat, NDR, Burke-Spolaor, S, Dai, S, Keith, MJ, Osłowski, S, Reardon, DJ, Van Strateni, W, Toomey, L, Wang, JB, Wen, L, Wyithe, JSB & Zhu, XJ 2015, 'Gravitational waves from binary supermassive black holes missing in pulsar observations', Science, vol. 349, no. 6255, pp. 1522-1525. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aab1910

TY - JOUR

T1 - Gravitational waves from binary supermassive black holes missing in pulsar observations

AU - Shannon, R. M.

AU - Ravi, V.

AU - Lentati, L. T.

AU - Lasky, P. D.

AU - Hobbs, G.

AU - Kerr, M.

AU - Manchester, R. N.

AU - Coles, W. A.

AU - Levin, Y.

AU - Bailes, M.

AU - Bhat, N. D.R.

AU - Burke-Spolaor, S.

AU - Dai, S.

AU - Keith, M. J.

AU - Osłowski, S.

AU - Reardon, D. J.

AU - Van Strateni, W.

AU - Toomey, L.

AU - Wang, J. B.

AU - Wen, L.

AU - Wyithe, J. S.B.

AU - Zhu, X. J.

PY - 2015/9/25

Y1 - 2015/9/25

N2 - Gravitational waves are expected to be radiated by supermassive black hole binaries formed during galaxy mergers. A stochastic superposition of gravitational waves from all such binary systems would modulate the arrival times of pulses from radio pulsars. Using observations of millisecond pulsars obtained with the Parkes radio telescope, we constrained the characteristic amplitude of this background, Acyr, to be <1.0 × 10-15 with 95% confidence.This limit excludes predicted ranges for Acyr from current models with 91 to 99.7% probability. We conclude that binary evolution is either stalled or dramatically accelerated by galactic-center environments and that higher-cadence and shorterwavelength observations would be more sensitive to gravitational waves.

AB - Gravitational waves are expected to be radiated by supermassive black hole binaries formed during galaxy mergers. A stochastic superposition of gravitational waves from all such binary systems would modulate the arrival times of pulses from radio pulsars. Using observations of millisecond pulsars obtained with the Parkes radio telescope, we constrained the characteristic amplitude of this background, Acyr, to be <1.0 × 10-15 with 95% confidence.This limit excludes predicted ranges for Acyr from current models with 91 to 99.7% probability. We conclude that binary evolution is either stalled or dramatically accelerated by galactic-center environments and that higher-cadence and shorterwavelength observations would be more sensitive to gravitational waves.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84942333088

U2 - 10.1126/science.aab1910

DO - 10.1126/science.aab1910

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84942333088

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 349

SP - 1522

EP - 1525

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6255

ER -

Gravitational waves from binary supermassive black holes missing in pulsar observations

Abstract

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