Testing gravity with cosmic variance-limited pulsar timing array correlations

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Bernardo, Reginald Christian, Ng, Kin-Wang
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Bernardo, Reginald Christian
Ng, Kin-Wang
author_facet Bernardo, Reginald Christian
Ng, Kin-Wang
contents The nanohertz stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB) is an excellent early universe laboratory for testing the fundamental properties of gravity. In this letter, we elucidate on the full potential of pulsar timing array (PTA) by utilizing cosmic variance-limited, or rather experimental noise-free, correlation measurements to understand the SGWB and by extension gravity. We show that measurements of the angular power spectrum play a pivotal role in the PTA precision era for scientific inferencing. In particular, we illustrate that cosmic variance-limited measurements of the first few power spectrum multipoles enable us to clearly set apart general relativity from alternative theories of gravity. This ultimately conveys that PTAs can be most ambitious for testing gravity in the nanohertz GW regime by zeroing in on the power spectrum.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2306_13593
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Testing gravity with cosmic variance-limited pulsar timing array correlations
Bernardo, Reginald Christian
Ng, Kin-Wang
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
The nanohertz stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB) is an excellent early universe laboratory for testing the fundamental properties of gravity. In this letter, we elucidate on the full potential of pulsar timing array (PTA) by utilizing cosmic variance-limited, or rather experimental noise-free, correlation measurements to understand the SGWB and by extension gravity. We show that measurements of the angular power spectrum play a pivotal role in the PTA precision era for scientific inferencing. In particular, we illustrate that cosmic variance-limited measurements of the first few power spectrum multipoles enable us to clearly set apart general relativity from alternative theories of gravity. This ultimately conveys that PTAs can be most ambitious for testing gravity in the nanohertz GW regime by zeroing in on the power spectrum.
title Testing gravity with cosmic variance-limited pulsar timing array correlations
topic General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.13593