Stochastic gravitational wave background constraints from Gaia DR3 astrometry

Abstract

Astrometric surveys can be used to constrain the stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB) at very low frequencies. We use proper motion data provided by Gaia DR3 to fit a generic dipole+quadrupole field. We analyse several quasar-based datasets and discuss their purity and idoneity to set constraints on gravitational waves. For the cleanest dataset, we derive an upper bound on the (frequency-integrated) energy density of the SGWB $h_{70}^2{\Omega }_{\mathrm{GW}}\lesssim 0.087$ for $4.2\times 10^{-18}\mathrm{Hz}\lesssim f\lesssim 1.1\times 10^{-8}\mathrm{Hz}$. We also reanalyse previous VLBI-based data to set the constraint $h_{70}^2{\Omega }_{\mathrm{GW}}\lesssim 0.024$ for $5.8\times 10^{-18}\mathrm{Hz}\lesssim f\lesssim 1.4\times 10^{-9}\mathrm{Hz}$ under the same formalism, standing as the best astrometric constraint on GWs. Based on our results, we discuss the potential of future Gaia data releases to impose tighter constraints.

14 pages, 8 figures. Changes match published version

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• Gravitational-wave background in bouncing models from semi-classical, quantum and string gravity
• Astrometry meets Pulsar Timing Arrays: Synergies for Gravitational Wave Detection
• Dark Photon Dark Matter and Low-Frequency Gravitational Wave Detection with Gaia-like Astrometry
• Memory of a Random Walk: Astrometric deflections from gravitational wave memory accumulation over cosmological scales
• On the anisotropies of the cosmological gravitational-wave background from pulsar timing array observations
• First astrometric constraints on parity-violation in the gravitational wave background
• Algebraic symmetries of the observables on the sky: Variable emitters and observers
• Identifying the Quadrupolar Nature of Gravitational Wave Background through Space-based Missions
• Time-dependent deflection reconstruction: new technique to search for gravitational waves with the cosmic microwave background