Curtin University Homepage
  • Library
  • Help
    • Admin

    espace - Curtin’s institutional repository

    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item

    Binary supermassive black hole environments diminish the gravitational wave signal in the pulsar timing band

    Access Status
    Open access via publisher
    Authors
    Ravi, V.
    Wyithe, J.
    Shannon, Ryan
    Hobbs, G.
    Manchester, R.
    Date
    2014
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Ravi, V. and Wyithe, J. and Shannon, R. and Hobbs, G. and Manchester, R. 2014. Binary supermassive black hole environments diminish the gravitational wave signal in the pulsar timing band. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 442 (1): pp. 56-68.
    Source Title
    Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
    DOI
    10.1093/mnras/stu779
    ISSN
    0035-8711
    School
    Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy (Physics)
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34866
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    We assess the effects of supermassive black hole (SMBH) environments on the gravitational wave (GW) signal from binary SMBHs. To date, searches with pulsar timing arrays for GWs from binary SMBHs, in the frequency band ∼1–100 nHz, include the assumptions that all binaries are circular and evolve only through GW emission. However, dynamical studies have shown that the only way that binary SMBH orbits can decay to separations where GW emission dominates the evolution is through interactions with their environments. We augment an existing galaxy and SMBH formation and evolution model with calculations of binary SMBH evolution in stellar environments, accounting for non-zero binary eccentricities. We find that coupling between binaries and their environments causes the expected GW spectral energy distribution to be reduced with respect to the standard assumption of circular, GW-driven binaries, for frequencies up to ∼20 nHz. Larger eccentricities at binary formation further reduce the signal in this regime. We also find that GW bursts from individual eccentric binary SMBHs are unlikely to be detectable with current pulsar timing arrays. The uncertainties in these predictions are large, owing to observational uncertainty in SMBH–galaxy scaling relations and the galaxy stellar mass function, uncertainty in the nature of binary–environment coupling and uncertainty in the numbers of the most massive binary SMBHs. We conclude, however, that low-frequency GWs from binary SMBHs may be more difficult to detect with pulsar timing arrays than currently thought.

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Prospects for gravitational-wave detection and supermassive black hole astrophysics with pulsar timing arrays
      Ravi, V.; Wyithe, J.; Shannon, Ryan; Hobbs, G. (2015)
      Large-area sky surveys show that massive galaxies undergo at least one major merger in a Hubble time. Ongoing pulsar timing array (PTA) experiments are aimed at measuring the gravitational-wave (GW) emission from binary ...
    • Does a "stochastic" background of gravitational waves exist in the pulsar timing band?
      Ravi, V.; Wyithe, J.; Hobbs, G.; Shannon, Ryan; Manchester, R.; Yardley, D.; Keith, M. (2012)
      We investigate the effects of gravitational waves (GWs) from a simulated population of binary supermassive black holes (SMBHs) on pulsar timing array data sets. We construct a distribution describing the binary SMBH ...
    • 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. (2013)
      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) ...
    Advanced search

    Browse

    Communities & CollectionsIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument TypeThis CollectionIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument Type

    My Account

    Admin

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Follow Curtin

    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 

    CRICOS Provider Code: 00301JABN: 99 143 842 569TEQSA: PRV12158

    Copyright | Disclaimer | Privacy statement | Accessibility

    Curtin would like to pay respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of our community by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which the Perth campus is located, the Whadjuk people of the Nyungar Nation; and on our Kalgoorlie campus, the Wongutha people of the North-Eastern Goldfields.