Improving timing sensitivity in the microhertz frequency regime: limits from PSR J1713+0747 on gravitational waves produced by supermassive black hole binaries

Journal
Date Issued
2018
Author(s)
Perera, B. B. P.
•
Stappers, B. W.
•
Babak, S.
•
Keith, M. J.
•
Antoniadis, J.
•
Bassa, C. G.
•
Caballero, R. N.
•
Champion, D. J.
•
Cognard, I.
•
Desvignes, G.
•
Graikou, E.
•
Guillemot, L.
•
Janssen, G. H.
•
Karuppusamy, R.
•
Kramer, M.
•
Lazarus, P.
•
Lentati, L.
•
Liu, K.
•
Lyne, A. G.
•
McKee, J. W.
•
Osłowski, S.
•
•
Sanidas, S. A.
•
Sesana, A.
•
Shaifullah, G.
•
Theureau, G.
•
Verbiest, J. P. W.
•
Taylor, S. R.
DOI
Abstract
We search for continuous gravitational waves (CGWs) produced by individual supermassive black hole binaries in circular orbits using high-cadence timing observations of PSR J1713+0747. We observe this millisecond pulsar using the telescopes in the European Pulsar Timing Array with an average cadence of approximately 1.6 d over the period between 2011 April and 2015 July, including an approximately daily average between 2013 February and 2014 April. The high-cadence observations are used to improve the pulsar timing sensitivity across the gravitational wave frequency range of 0.008-5μHz. We use two algorithms in the analysis, including a spectral fitting method and a Bayesian approach. For an independent comparison, we also use a previously published Bayesian algorithm. We find that the Bayesian approaches provide optimal results and the timing observations of the pulsar place a 95 per cent upper limit on the sky-averaged strain amplitude of CGWs to be ≲3.5 × 10-13 at a reference frequency of 1 μHz. We also find a 95 per cent upper limit on the sky-averaged strain amplitude of low-frequency CGWs to be ≲1.4 × 10-14 at a reference frequency of 20 nHz.

Volume
478
Issue
1
Start page
218
Uri
Url
Issn Identifier
0035-8711
Ads BibCode
2018MNRAS.478..218P
Rights
open.access
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