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 Straten; L. Toomey; J.B. Wang; Linqing Wen; J.S.B. Wyithe; Xingjiang 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 Straten, L. Toomey, J.B. Wang, Linqing WenJ.S.B. Wyithe, Xingjiang Zhu

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412 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, Acyr, to be -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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1522-1525
Journal	Science
Volume	349
Issue number	6255
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aab1910
Publication status	Published - 2015

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http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015Sci...349.1522S

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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 Straten, W., Toomey, L., Wang, J. B., ... Zhu, X. (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{6537d9f0b2aa4b94a1b65c8f30b199e0,

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

year = "2015",

doi = "10.1126/science.aab1910",

language = "English",

volume = "349",

pages = "1522--1525",

journal = "Science",

issn = "0036-8075",

publisher = "AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT 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 Straten, W, Toomey, L, Wang, JB, Wen, L, Wyithe, JSB & Zhu, X 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 Straten, W.

AU - Toomey, L.

AU - Wang, J.B.

AU - Wen, Linqing

AU - Wyithe, J.S.B.

AU - Zhu, Xingjiang

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

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 -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 -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.

U2 - 10.1126/science.aab1910

DO - 10.1126/science.aab1910

M3 - Article

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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