_version_ 1866912773031591936
author Shannon, Ryan M.
Bhat, N. D. Ramesh
Chalumeau, Aurelien
Chen, Siyuan
Cromartie, H. Thankful
Gopukumar, A.
Grunthal, Kathrin
Hazboun, Jeffrey S.
Iraci, Francesco
Joshi, Bhal Chandra
Kato, Ryo
Keith, Michael J.
Lee, Kejia
Liu, Kuo
Middleton, Hannah
Miles, Matthew T.
Mingarelli, Chiara M. F.
Parthasarathy, Aditya
Reardon, Daniel J.
Shaifullah, Golam M.
Takahashi, Keitaro
Tiburzi, Caterina
Truant, Riccardo J.
Xue, Xiao
Zic, Andrew
Group, The SKAO Pulsar Science Working
author_facet Shannon, Ryan M.
Bhat, N. D. Ramesh
Chalumeau, Aurelien
Chen, Siyuan
Cromartie, H. Thankful
Gopukumar, A.
Grunthal, Kathrin
Hazboun, Jeffrey S.
Iraci, Francesco
Joshi, Bhal Chandra
Kato, Ryo
Keith, Michael J.
Lee, Kejia
Liu, Kuo
Middleton, Hannah
Miles, Matthew T.
Mingarelli, Chiara M. F.
Parthasarathy, Aditya
Reardon, Daniel J.
Shaifullah, Golam M.
Takahashi, Keitaro
Tiburzi, Caterina
Truant, Riccardo J.
Xue, Xiao
Zic, Andrew
Group, The SKAO Pulsar Science Working
contents Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) are ensembles of millisecond pulsars observed for years to decades. The primary goal of PTAs is to study gravitational-wave astronomy at nanohertz frequencies, with secondary goals of undertaking other fundamental tests of physics and astronomy. Recently, compelling evidence has emerged in established PTA experiments for the presence of a gravitational-wave background. To accelerate a confident detection of such a signal and then study gravitational-wave emitting sources, it is necessary to observe a larger number of millisecond pulsars to greater timing precision. The SKAO telescopes, which will be a factor of three to four greater in sensitivity compared to any other southern hemisphere facility, are poised to make such an impact. In this chapter, we motivate an SKAO pulsar timing array (SKAO PTA) experiment. We discuss the classes of gravitational waves present in PTA observations and how an SKAO PTA can detect and study them. We then describe the sources that can produce these signals. We discuss the astrophysical noise sources that must be mitigated to undertake the most sensitive searches. We then describe a realistic PTA experiment implemented with the SKA and place it in context alongside other PTA experiments likely ongoing in the 2030s. We describe the techniques necessary to search for gravitational waves in the SKAO PTA and motivate how very long baseline interferometry can improve the sensitivity of an SKAO PTA. The SKAO PTA will provide a view of the Universe complementary to those of the other large facilities of the 2030s.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_16163
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The SKAO Pulsar Timing Array
Shannon, Ryan M.
Bhat, N. D. Ramesh
Chalumeau, Aurelien
Chen, Siyuan
Cromartie, H. Thankful
Gopukumar, A.
Grunthal, Kathrin
Hazboun, Jeffrey S.
Iraci, Francesco
Joshi, Bhal Chandra
Kato, Ryo
Keith, Michael J.
Lee, Kejia
Liu, Kuo
Middleton, Hannah
Miles, Matthew T.
Mingarelli, Chiara M. F.
Parthasarathy, Aditya
Reardon, Daniel J.
Shaifullah, Golam M.
Takahashi, Keitaro
Tiburzi, Caterina
Truant, Riccardo J.
Xue, Xiao
Zic, Andrew
Group, The SKAO Pulsar Science Working
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) are ensembles of millisecond pulsars observed for years to decades. The primary goal of PTAs is to study gravitational-wave astronomy at nanohertz frequencies, with secondary goals of undertaking other fundamental tests of physics and astronomy. Recently, compelling evidence has emerged in established PTA experiments for the presence of a gravitational-wave background. To accelerate a confident detection of such a signal and then study gravitational-wave emitting sources, it is necessary to observe a larger number of millisecond pulsars to greater timing precision. The SKAO telescopes, which will be a factor of three to four greater in sensitivity compared to any other southern hemisphere facility, are poised to make such an impact. In this chapter, we motivate an SKAO pulsar timing array (SKAO PTA) experiment. We discuss the classes of gravitational waves present in PTA observations and how an SKAO PTA can detect and study them. We then describe the sources that can produce these signals. We discuss the astrophysical noise sources that must be mitigated to undertake the most sensitive searches. We then describe a realistic PTA experiment implemented with the SKA and place it in context alongside other PTA experiments likely ongoing in the 2030s. We describe the techniques necessary to search for gravitational waves in the SKAO PTA and motivate how very long baseline interferometry can improve the sensitivity of an SKAO PTA. The SKAO PTA will provide a view of the Universe complementary to those of the other large facilities of the 2030s.
title The SKAO Pulsar Timing Array
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.16163