A simple optimisation for the MeerKAT Pulsar Timing Array
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arXiv
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| Auteurs principaux: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866912361373237248 |
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| author | Middleton, Hannah Shannon, Ryan M. Bailes, Matthew Cameron, Andrew D. Corongiu, Alessandro Geyer, Marisa Jones, Max Kramer, Michael Miles, Matthew T. Parthasarathy, Aditya Possenti, Andrea Reardon, Daniel J. |
| author_facet | Middleton, Hannah Shannon, Ryan M. Bailes, Matthew Cameron, Andrew D. Corongiu, Alessandro Geyer, Marisa Jones, Max Kramer, Michael Miles, Matthew T. Parthasarathy, Aditya Possenti, Andrea Reardon, Daniel J. |
| contents | The goal of the MeerKAT radio telescope's pulsar timing array programme (MPTA) is the detection of gravitational waves (GWs) of nanohertz frequencies. Evidence for such a signal was recently announced by the MPTA and several other pulsar timing array (PTA) consortia. Given an array of pulsars and an observation strategy, we consider whether small adjustments to the observing schedule can provide gains in signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) for a stochastic GW background signal produced by a population of massive black hole binaries. Our approach uses a greedy algorithm to reallocate available integration time between pulsars in the array. The overall time dedicated to MPTA observing is kept constant so that there is only minimal disruption to the current observation strategy. We assume a GW signal consistent with those reported. For the sake of demonstrating our method, we also make several simplifying assumptions about the noise properties of the pulsars in the MPTA. Given these assumptions, we find that small adjustments to the observing schedule can provide an increased S/N by $\approx 20\%$ for a $10\,{\rm yr}$ PTA lifespan. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_02524 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | A simple optimisation for the MeerKAT Pulsar Timing Array Middleton, Hannah Shannon, Ryan M. Bailes, Matthew Cameron, Andrew D. Corongiu, Alessandro Geyer, Marisa Jones, Max Kramer, Michael Miles, Matthew T. Parthasarathy, Aditya Possenti, Andrea Reardon, Daniel J. High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology The goal of the MeerKAT radio telescope's pulsar timing array programme (MPTA) is the detection of gravitational waves (GWs) of nanohertz frequencies. Evidence for such a signal was recently announced by the MPTA and several other pulsar timing array (PTA) consortia. Given an array of pulsars and an observation strategy, we consider whether small adjustments to the observing schedule can provide gains in signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) for a stochastic GW background signal produced by a population of massive black hole binaries. Our approach uses a greedy algorithm to reallocate available integration time between pulsars in the array. The overall time dedicated to MPTA observing is kept constant so that there is only minimal disruption to the current observation strategy. We assume a GW signal consistent with those reported. For the sake of demonstrating our method, we also make several simplifying assumptions about the noise properties of the pulsars in the MPTA. Given these assumptions, we find that small adjustments to the observing schedule can provide an increased S/N by $\approx 20\%$ for a $10\,{\rm yr}$ PTA lifespan. |
| title | A simple optimisation for the MeerKAT Pulsar Timing Array |
| topic | High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.02524 |