Upper limits on the isotropic gravitational radiation background from pulsar timing analysis.
Abstract
A pulsar and the earth may be thought of as end masses of a free-mass gravitational wave antenna in which the relative motion of the masses is monitored by observing the Doppler shift of the pulse arrival times. Using timing residuals from PSR 1133 + 16, 1237 + 25, 1604-00, and 2045-16, an upper limit to the spectrum of the isotropic gravitational radiation background has been derived in the frequency band 4 x 10 to the -9th to 10 to the -7th Hz. This limit is found to be S(E) = 10 to the 21st f-cubed ergs/cu cm Hz, where S(E) is the energy density spectrum and f is the frequency in Hz. This would limit the energy density at frequencies below 10 to the -8th Hz to be 0.00014 times the critical density.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- February 1983
- DOI:
- 10.1086/183954
- Bibcode:
- 1983ApJ...265L..39H
- Keywords:
-
- Background Radiation;
- Cosmology;
- Gravitational Waves;
- Pulsars;
- Time Measurement;
- Doppler Effect;
- Gravitation Theory;
- Gravitational Wave Antennas;
- Isotropy;
- Limits (Mathematics);
- Perturbation Theory;
- Power Spectra;
- Spectral Energy Distribution;
- Stochastic Processes;
- Astrophysics