Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) are designed to detect gravitational waves (GWs) at nHz frequencies. The expected dominant signal is given by the superposition of all waves emitted by the cosmological population of supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries. Such superposition creates an incoherent stochastic background, on top of which particularly bright or nearby sources might be individually resolved. In this contribution I describe the properties of the expected GWsignal, highlighting its dependence on the overall binary population, the relation between SMBHs and their hosts, and their coupling with the stellar and gaseous environment. I describe the status of current PTA efforts, and prospect of future detection and SMBH binary astrophysics.
CITATION STYLE
Sesana, A. (2015). Pulsar timing arrays and the challenge of massive black hole binary astrophysics. In Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings (Vol. 40, pp. 147–165). Kluwer Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10488-1_13
Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.