Observing the dynamics of super-massive black hole binaries with Pulsar Timing Arrays

Abstract

Pulsar Timing Arrays are a prime tool to study unexplored astrophysical regimes with gravitational waves. Here we show that the detection of gravitational radiation from individually resolvable super-massive black hole binary systems can yield direct information about the masses and spins of the black holes, provided that the gravitational-wave induced timing fluctuations both at the pulsar and at the Earth are detected. This in turn provides a map of the non-linear dynamics of the gravitational field and a new avenue to tackle open problems in astrophysics connected to the formation and evolution of super-massive black holes. We discuss the potential, the challenges and the limitations of these observations.

5 pages, 1 figure

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• Multi-messenger Time-domain Signatures Of Supermassive Black Hole Binaries
• Detection and localization of continuous gravitational waves with pulsar timing arrays: the role of pulsar terms
• Accelerated Bayesian model-selection and parameter-estimation in continuous gravitational-wave searches with pulsar-timing arrays
• Harmonic space analysis of pulsar timing array redshift maps
• The Nanohertz Gravitational Wave Astronomer
• Charting the Nanohertz Gravitational Wave Sky with Pulsar Timing Arrays
• Supermassive Binary Black Hole Evolution can be traced by a small SKA Pulsar Timing Array
• Parameter-Estimation Biases for Eccentric Supermassive Binary Black Holes in Pulsar Timing Arrays: Biases Caused by Ignored Pulsar Terms
• Gravitational Waves, Extreme Astrophysics, and Fundamental Physics with Precision Pulsar Timing