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Updated: Jun 1, 2026
12:14
The Generation of Higher-order Laguerre-Gauss Optical Beams for High-precision Interferometry
Published on: August 12, 2013
Nanohertz gravitational wave searches with interferometric pulsar timing experiments
1Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109, USA. Massimo.Tinto@jpl.nasa.gov
Physical Review Letters
|June 15, 2011
Summary
This study introduces an interferometric pulsar timing technique to detect nano-Hertz gravitational waves. This method can significantly improve gravitational wave detection sensitivity by canceling clock noise between two radio telescopes.
Area of Science:
- Astrophysics
- Gravitational Wave Astronomy
- Pulsar Timing Arrays
Background:
- Pulsar timing arrays are a leading method for detecting nano-Hertz gravitational waves.
- Clock noise in radio telescopes can limit the sensitivity of pulsar timing experiments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To estimate the sensitivity to nano-Hertz gravitational waves using an interferometric pulsar timing technique.
- To assess the potential improvement in gravitational wave sensitivity compared to single-telescope observations.
Main Methods:
- Simultaneous tracking of two millisecond pulsars with two neighboring radio telescopes.
- Referencing both telescopes to the same timekeeping subsystem.
- Calculating the difference between the time-of-arrival residual data streams to cancel clock noise.
Main Results:
- The interferometric pulsar timing technique can potentially improve sensitivity to gravitational radiation by almost 2 orders of magnitude in the (10^-9 - 10^-8) Hz band.
- This technique effectively cancels clock noise, enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio for gravitational wave detection.
Conclusions:
- Interferometric pulsar timing offers a significant advancement in detecting low-frequency gravitational waves.
- This technique is feasible with existing infrastructure like the NASA Deep Space Network and future large arraying projects.
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