The NANOGrav 15 yr Data Set: Search for Signals from New Physics

Adeela Afzal; Gabriella Agazie; Akash Anumarlapudi; Anne Archibald; Zaven Arzoumanian; Paul Baker; Bence Bécsy; Jose Juan Blanco-Pillado; Laura Blecha; Kimberly Boddy; Adam Brazier; Paul Brook; Sarah Burke-Spolaor; Rand Burnette; Robin Case; Maria Charisi; Shami Chatterjee; Katerina Chatziioannou; Belinda Cheeseboro; Siyuan Chen; Tyler Cohen; James Cordes; Neil Cornish; Fronefield Crawford; H Cromartie; Kathryn Crowter; Curt Cutler; Megan DeCesar; Dallas DeGan; Paul Demorest; Heling Deng; Timothy Dolch; Brendan Drachler; Richard von Eckardstein; Elizabeth Ferrara; William Fiore; Emmanuel Fonseca; Gabriel Freedman; Nate Garver-Daniels; Peter Gentile; Kyle Gersbach; Joseph Glaser; Deborah Good; Lydia Guertin; Kayhan Gültekin; Jeffrey Hazboun; Sophie Hourihane; Kristina Islo; Ross Jennings; Aaron Johnson; Megan Jones; Andrew Kaiser; David Kaplan; Luke Kelley; Matthew Kerr; Joey Key; Nima Laal; Michael Lam; William Lamb; T Lazio; Vincent Lee; Natalia Lewandowska; Rafael R Lino dos Santos; Tyson Littenberg; Tingting Liu; Duncan Lorimer; Jing Luo; Ryan Lynch; Ma Chung-Pei; Dustin Madison; Alexander McEwen; James McKee; Maura McLaughlin; Natasha McMann; Bradley Meyers; Patrick Meyers; Chiara Mingarelli; Andrea Mitridate; Jonathan Nay; Priyamvada Natarajan; Cherry Ng; David Nice; Stella Koch Ocker; Ken Olum; Timothy Pennucci; Benetge Perera; Polina Petrov; Nihan Pol; Henri Radovan; Scott Ransom; Paul Ray; Joseph Romano; Shashwat Sardesai; Ann Schmiedekamp; Carl Schmiedekamp; Kai Schmitz; Tobias Schröder; Levi Schult; Brent Shapiro-Albert; Xavier Siemens; Joseph Simon; Magdalena Siwek; Ingrid Stairs; Daniel Stinebring; Kevin Stovall; Peter Stratmann; Jerry Sun; Abhimanyu Susobhanan; Joseph Swiggum; Jacob Taylor; Stephen Taylor; Tanner Trickle; Jacob Turner; Caner Unal; Michele Vallisneri; Sonali Verma; Sarah Vigeland; Haley Wahl; Qiaohong Wang; Caitlin Witt; David Wright; Olivia Young; Kathryn Zurek

doi:10.3847/2041-8213/acdc91

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The NANOGrav 15 yr Data Set: Search for Signals from New Physics

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

The NANOGrav 15 yr Data Set: Search for Signals from New Physics

Adeela Afzal, Gabriella Agazie, Akash Anumarlapudi, Anne Archibald, Zaven Arzoumanian, Paul Baker, Bence Bécsy, Jose Juan Blanco-Pillado, Laura Blecha, Kimberly Boddy, …

Astrophysical journal. Letters, Vol.951(1), p.L11

01/07/2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acdc91

Abstract

Astronomical models

Atomic clocks

Balances (scales)

Black holes

Constraint modelling

Cosmological models

Cosmology

Dark matter

Data search

Datasets

Domain walls

Field theory

Gluons

Gravitational waves

Milky Way

Modelling

Muons

Parameter identification

Phase transitions

Physics

Pulsars

Strings

The 15 yr pulsar timing data set collected by the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) shows positive evidence for the presence of a low-frequency gravitational-wave (GW) background. In this paper, we investigate potential cosmological interpretations of this signal, specifically cosmic inflation, scalar-induced GWs, first-order phase transitions, cosmic strings, and domain walls. We find that, with the exception of stable cosmic strings of field theory origin, all these models can reproduce the observed signal. When compared to the standard interpretation in terms of inspiraling supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs), many cosmological models seem to provide a better fit resulting in Bayes factors in the range from 10 to 100. However, these results strongly depend on modeling assumptions about the cosmic SMBHB population and, at this stage, should not be regarded as evidence for new physics. Furthermore, we identify excluded parameter regions where the predicted GW signal from cosmological sources significantly exceeds the NANOGrav signal. These parameter constraints are independent of the origin of the NANOGrav signal and illustrate how pulsar timing data provide a new way to constrain the parameter space of these models. Finally, we search for deterministic signals produced by models of ultralight dark matter (ULDM) and dark matter substructures in the Milky Way. We find no evidence for either of these signals and thus report updated constraints on these models. In the case of ULDM, these constraints outperform torsion balance and atomic clock constraints for ULDM coupled to electrons, muons, or gluons.

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Title: The NANOGrav 15 yr Data Set: Search for Signals from New Physics
Creators - without role: Adeela Afzal - Quaid-i-Azam University
Gabriella Agazie - University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Akash Anumarlapudi - University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Anne Archibald - Newcastle University
Zaven Arzoumanian - Goddard Space Flight Center
Paul Baker - Widener University
Bence Bécsy - Oregon State University
Jose Juan Blanco-Pillado - Ikerbasque
Laura Blecha - University of Florida
Kimberly Boddy - The University of Texas at Austin
Adam Brazier - Cornell University
Paul Brook - University of Birmingham
Sarah Burke-Spolaor - West Virginia University
Rand Burnette - Oregon State University
Robin Case - Oregon State University
Maria Charisi - Vanderbilt University
Shami Chatterjee - Cornell University
Katerina Chatziioannou - California Institute of Technology
Belinda Cheeseboro - West Virginia University
Siyuan Chen - Kavli Institute for Theoretical Sciences
Tyler Cohen - New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
James Cordes - Cornell University
Neil Cornish - Montana State University
Fronefield Crawford - Franklin & Marshall College
H Cromartie
Kathryn Crowter - University of British Columbia
Curt Cutler - California Institute of Technology
Megan DeCesar - United States Naval Research Laboratory
Dallas DeGan - Oregon State University
Paul Demorest - National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Heling Deng - Oregon State University
Timothy Dolch - Hillsdale College
Brendan Drachler - Rochester Institute of Technology
Richard von Eckardstein - University of Münster
Elizabeth Ferrara - Goddard Space Flight Center
William Fiore - West Virginia University
Emmanuel Fonseca - West Virginia University
Gabriel Freedman - University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Nate Garver-Daniels - West Virginia University
Peter Gentile - West Virginia University
Kyle Gersbach - Vanderbilt University
Joseph Glaser - West Virginia University
Deborah Good - University of Connecticut
Lydia Guertin - Haverford College
Kayhan Gültekin - University of Michigan
Jeffrey Hazboun - Oregon State University
Sophie Hourihane - California Institute of Technology
Kristina Islo - University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Ross Jennings - West Virginia University
Aaron Johnson - University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Megan Jones - University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Andrew Kaiser - West Virginia University
David Kaplan - University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Luke Kelley - University of California, Berkeley
Matthew Kerr - United States Naval Research Laboratory
Joey Key - University of Washington Bothell
Nima Laal - Oregon State University
Michael Lam - Rochester Institute of Technology
William Lamb - Vanderbilt University
T Lazio
Vincent Lee
Natalia Lewandowska - State University of New York at Oswego
Rafael R Lino dos Santos - University of Münster
Tyson Littenberg - Marshall Space Flight Center
Tingting Liu - West Virginia University
Duncan Lorimer - West Virginia University
Jing Luo - University of Toronto
Ryan Lynch - Green Bank Observatory, P.O. Box 2, Green Bank, WV 24944, USA
Ma Chung-Pei
Dustin Madison - University of the Pacific
Alexander McEwen - University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
James McKee - University of Hull
Maura McLaughlin - West Virginia University
Natasha McMann - Vanderbilt University
Bradley Meyers - International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research
Patrick Meyers - California Institute of Technology
Chiara Mingarelli
Andrea Mitridate - Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
Jonathan Nay - The University of Texas at Austin
Priyamvada Natarajan - Yale University
Cherry Ng - Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics
David Nice - Lafayette College
Stella Koch Ocker - Cornell University
Ken Olum - Tufts University
Timothy Pennucci - Eötvös Loránd University
Benetge Perera
Polina Petrov - Vanderbilt University
Nihan Pol - Vanderbilt University
Henri Radovan - University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez
Scott Ransom - National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Paul Ray - United States Naval Research Laboratory
Joseph Romano - Texas Tech University
Shashwat Sardesai - University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Ann Schmiedekamp - Abington Memorial Hospital
Carl Schmiedekamp - Abington Memorial Hospital
Kai Schmitz - University of Münster
Tobias Schröder - University of Münster
Levi Schult - Vanderbilt University
Brent Shapiro-Albert - West Virginia University
Xavier Siemens - University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Joseph Simon
Magdalena Siwek
Ingrid Stairs
Daniel Stinebring
Kevin Stovall
Peter Stratmann
Jerry Sun
Abhimanyu Susobhanan
Joseph Swiggum
Jacob Taylor
Stephen Taylor
Tanner Trickle
Jacob Turner
Caner Unal
Michele Vallisneri
Sonali Verma
Sarah Vigeland
Haley Wahl
Qiaohong Wang
Caitlin Witt
David Wright
Olivia Young
Kathryn Zurek
Publication Details: Astrophysical journal. Letters, Vol.951(1), p.L11
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Identifiers: 991019443888807081
Academic Unit: Physics
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article