Probing the assembly history and dynamical evolution of massive black hole binaries with pulsar timing arrays

Abstract

We consider the inverse problem in pulsar timing array (PTA) analysis, investigating what astrophysical information about the underlying massive black hole binary (MBHB) population can be recovered from the detection of a stochastic gravitational wave background (GWB). We employ a physically motivated model that connects the GWB spectrum to a series of parameters describing the underlying redshift evolution of the MBHB mass function and to the typical eccentricity they acquire while interacting with the dense environment of post merger galactic nuclei. This allows the folding in of information about the spectral shape of the GWB into the analysis. The priors on the model parameters are assumed to be uninformative and consistent with the current lack of secure observations of sub-parsec MBHBs. We explore the implications of current upper limits as well as of future detections with a variety of PTA configurations. We confirm our previous finding that current upper limits can only place an upper bound on the overall MBHB merger rate. Depending on the properties of the array, future detections can also constrain several MBHB population models at different degrees of fidelity. In particular, a simultaneous detection of a steepening of the spectrum at high frequency and a bending at low frequency will place strong constraints on both the MBHB mass function and on the typical eccentricity of inspiralling MBHBs, providing insights on MBHB astrophysics unlikely to be achievable by any other means.

14 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, published in MNRAS

References in corpus (46)

• Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger
• Simulating the joint evolution of quasars, galaxies and their large-scale distribution
• Coevolution (Or Not) of Supermassive Black Holes and Host Galaxies
• The many lives of active galactic nuclei: cooling flows, black holes and the luminosities and colours of galaxies
• GW151226: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a 22-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence
• A Unified, Merger-Driven Model for the Origin of Starbursts, Quasars, the Cosmic X-Ray Background, Supermassive Black Holes and Galaxy Spheroids
• Tests of general relativity with GW150914
• An Observational Determination of the Bolometric Quasar Luminosity Function
• The Assembly and Merging History of Supermassive Black Holes in Hierarchical Models of Galaxy Formation
• Robust parameter estimation for compact binaries with ground-based gravitational-wave observations using the LALInference software library
• The Five-Hundred-Meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) Project
• European Pulsar Timing Array Limits On An Isotropic Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background
• The stochastic gravitational-wave background from massive black hole binary systems: implications for observations with Pulsar Timing Arrays
• Gravitational waves from binary supermassive black holes missing in pulsar observations
• High-precision timing of 42 millisecond pulsars with the European Pulsar Timing Array
• The International Pulsar Timing Array: First Data Release
• The Major and Minor Galaxy Merger Rates at z < 1.5
• Super-massive Black Hole Demography: the Match between the Local and Accreted Mass Functions
• The NANOGrav Nine-year Data Set: Limits on the Isotropic Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background
• Gravitational waves from resolvable massive black hole binary systems and observations with Pulsar Timing Arrays
• Bayesian coherent analysis of in-spiral gravitational wave signals with a detector network
• The Deep2 Galaxy Redshift Survey: Evolution of Close Galaxy Pairs and Major-Merger Rates Up to z ~ 1.2
• Expected properties of the first gravitational wave signal detected with pulsar timing arrays
• Massive Black Hole Binary Mergers in Dynamical Galactic Environments
• European Pulsar Timing Array Limits on Continuous Gravitational Waves from Individual Supermassive Black Hole Binaries
• Systematic investigation of the expected gravitational wave signal from supermassive black hole binaries in the pulsar timing band
• The NANOGrav Nine-year Data Set: Observations, Arrival Time Measurements, and Analysis of 37 Millisecond Pulsars
• The VIMOS VLT Deep Survey :Evolution of the major merger rate since z~1 from spectroscopicaly confirmed galaxy pairs
• From star clusters to dwarf galaxies: The properties of dynamically hot stellar systems
• Gas driven massive black hole binaries: signatures in the nHz gravitational wave background
• Massive black hole binaries: dynamical evolution and observational signatures
• Hyper-efficient model-independent Bayesian method for the analysis of pulsar timing data
• Galaxy Pairs in COSMOS -- Merger Rate Evolution Since z=1
• Optimal strategies for continuous gravitational wave detection in pulsar timing arrays
• Insights on the astrophysics of supermassive black hole binaries from pulsar timing observations
• The Effect of Orbital Eccentricity on Gravitational Wave Background Radiation from Supermassive Black Hole Binaries
• Binary super-massive black hole environments diminish the gravitational-wave signal in the pulsar timing band
• Gravitational waves and stalled satellites from massive galaxy mergers at z <= 1
• MeerKAT Key Project Science, Specifications, and Proposals
• Constraints On The Dynamical Environments Of Supermassive Black-hole Binaries Using Pulsar-timing Arrays
• Efficient computation of the gravitational wave spectrum emitted by eccentric massive black hole binaries in stellar environments
• Estimating the sensitivity of pulsar timing arrays
• Constraints on Black Hole/Host Galaxy Co-evolution and Binary Stalling Using Pulsar Timing Arrays
• Resolving multiple supermassive black hole binaries with pulsar timing arrays II: genetic algorithm implementation
• Astrophysical constraints on massive black hole binary evolution from Pulsar Timing Arrays
• Evolution Of Massive Black Hole Binaries In Rotating Stellar Nuclei: Implications For Gravitational Wave Detection

Cited by in corpus (23)

• The NANOGrav 12.5-year Data Set: Search For An Isotropic Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background
• Black holes, gravitational waves and fundamental physics: a roadmap
• The Gravitational Wave Background from Massive Black Hole Binaries in Illustris: spectral features and time to detection with pulsar timing arrays
• The NANOGrav 11-Year Data Set: Limits on Gravitational Waves from Individual Supermassive Black Hole Binaries
• Electromagnetic Counterparts to Massive Black Hole Mergers
• Constraining astrophysical observables of Galaxy and Supermassive Black Hole Binary Mergers using Pulsar Timing Arrays
• Massive black hole binary systems and the NANOGrav 12.5 year results
• Implications for the Supermassive Black Hole Binaries from the NANOGrav 15-year Data Set
• Efficient computation of the gravitational wave spectrum emitted by eccentric massive black hole binaries in stellar environments
• Millisecond Pulsars, their Evolution and Applications
• Prospects for Future Binary Black Hole GW Studies in Light of PTA Measurements
• The Nanohertz Gravitational Wave Astronomer
• No tension between assembly models of supermassive black hole binaries and pulsar observations
• Pulsar timing array signals induced by black hole binaries in relativistic eccentric orbits
• Astro2020 science white paper: The gravitational wave view of massive black holes
• An estimate of the stochastic gravitational wave background from the MassiveBlackII simulation
• Radio pulsars: testing gravity and detecting gravitational waves
• Pulsar Timing Array Constraints on the Merger Timescale of Subparsec Supermassive Black Hole Binary Candidates
• Dark Matter Spike surrounding Supermassive Black Holes Binary and the Nanohertz Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background
• Circumbinary discs from tidal disruption events
• Statistics of the supermassive black hole gravitational wave background anisotropy
• Noise Budget and Interstellar Medium Mitigation Advances in the NANOGrav Pulsar Timing Array
• Probing supermassive black hole scalarization with Pulsar Timing Arrays