Gravitational-wave limits from pulsar timing constrain supermassive black hole evolution
The formation and growth processes of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are not well constrained. SMBH population models, however, provide specific predictions for the properties of the gravitational-wave background (GWB) from binary SMBHs in merging galaxies throughout the Universe. Using observatio...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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The American Association for the Advancement of Science
2013
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/4158 |
| _version_ | 1848744436696088576 |
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| author | Shannon, R. Ravi, V. Coles, W. Hobbs, G. Keith, M. Manchester, R. Wyithe, J. Bailes, M. Bhat, Ramesh Burke-Spolaor, S. Khoo, J. Levin, Y. Oslowski, S. Sarkissian, J. van Straten, W. Verbiest, J. Wang, J.-B. |
| author_facet | Shannon, R. Ravi, V. Coles, W. Hobbs, G. Keith, M. Manchester, R. Wyithe, J. Bailes, M. Bhat, Ramesh Burke-Spolaor, S. Khoo, J. Levin, Y. Oslowski, S. Sarkissian, J. van Straten, W. Verbiest, J. Wang, J.-B. |
| author_sort | Shannon, R. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The formation and growth processes of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are not well constrained. SMBH population models, however, provide specific predictions for the properties of the gravitational-wave background (GWB) from binary SMBHs in merging galaxies throughout the Universe. Using observations from the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array, we constrain the fractional GWB energy density with 95% confidence to be OmegaGW(H0/73 km s-1 Mpc -1)2 < 1.3 x 10-9 at a frequency of 2.8 nHz, which is approximately a factor of six more stringent than previous limits. We compare our limit to models of the SMBH population and find inconsistencies at confidence levels between 46% and 91%. For example, the standard galaxy formation model implemented in the Millennium simulations is inconsistent with our limit with 50% probability. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T06:01:26Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-4158 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T06:01:26Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | The American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-41582018-03-29T09:05:22Z Gravitational-wave limits from pulsar timing constrain supermassive black hole evolution Shannon, R. Ravi, V. Coles, W. Hobbs, G. Keith, M. Manchester, R. Wyithe, J. Bailes, M. Bhat, Ramesh Burke-Spolaor, S. Khoo, J. Levin, Y. Oslowski, S. Sarkissian, J. van Straten, W. Verbiest, J. Wang, J.-B. The formation and growth processes of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are not well constrained. SMBH population models, however, provide specific predictions for the properties of the gravitational-wave background (GWB) from binary SMBHs in merging galaxies throughout the Universe. Using observations from the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array, we constrain the fractional GWB energy density with 95% confidence to be OmegaGW(H0/73 km s-1 Mpc -1)2 < 1.3 x 10-9 at a frequency of 2.8 nHz, which is approximately a factor of six more stringent than previous limits. We compare our limit to models of the SMBH population and find inconsistencies at confidence levels between 46% and 91%. For example, the standard galaxy formation model implemented in the Millennium simulations is inconsistent with our limit with 50% probability. 2013 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/4158 10.1126/science.1238012 The American Association for the Advancement of Science restricted |
| spellingShingle | Shannon, R. Ravi, V. Coles, W. Hobbs, G. Keith, M. Manchester, R. Wyithe, J. Bailes, M. Bhat, Ramesh Burke-Spolaor, S. Khoo, J. Levin, Y. Oslowski, S. Sarkissian, J. van Straten, W. Verbiest, J. Wang, J.-B. Gravitational-wave limits from pulsar timing constrain supermassive black hole evolution |
| title | Gravitational-wave limits from pulsar timing constrain supermassive black hole evolution |
| title_full | Gravitational-wave limits from pulsar timing constrain supermassive black hole evolution |
| title_fullStr | Gravitational-wave limits from pulsar timing constrain supermassive black hole evolution |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gravitational-wave limits from pulsar timing constrain supermassive black hole evolution |
| title_short | Gravitational-wave limits from pulsar timing constrain supermassive black hole evolution |
| title_sort | gravitational-wave limits from pulsar timing constrain supermassive black hole evolution |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/4158 |