The NANOGrav 15-Year Data Set: Detector Characterization and Noise Budget

Gabriella Agazie; Akash Anumarlapudi; Anne M Archibald; Zaven Arzoumanian; Paul T Baker; Bence Bécsy; Laura Blecha; Adam Brazier; Paul R Brook; Sarah Burke-Spolaor; Maria Charisi; Shami Chatterjee; Tyler Cohen; James M Cordes; Neil J Cornish; Fronefield Crawford; H. Thankful Cromartie; Kathryn Crowter; Megan E Decesar; Paul B Demorest; Timothy Dolch; Brendan Drachler; Elizabeth C Ferrara; William Fiore; Emmanuel Fonseca; Gabriel E Freedman; Nate Garver-Daniels; Peter A Gentile; Joseph Glaser; Deborah C Good; Lydia Guertin; Kayhan Gültekin; Jeffrey S Hazboun; Ross J Jennings; Aaron D Johnson; Megan L Jones; Andrew R Kaiser; David L Kaplan; Luke Zoltan Kelley; Matthew Kerr; Joey S Key; Nima Laal; Michael T Lam; William G Lamb; T. Joseph W Lazio; Natalia Lewandowska; Tingting Liu; Duncan R Lorimer; Jing Luo; Ryan S Lynch; Chung-Pei Ma; Dustin R Madison; Alexander Mcewen; James W Mckee; Maura A Mclaughlin; Natasha Mcmann; Bradley W Meyers; Chiara M. F Mingarelli; Andrea Mitridate; Cherry Ng; David J Nice; Stella Koch Ocker; Ken D Olum; Timothy T Pennucci; Benetge B. P Perera; Nihan S Pol; Henri A Radovan; Scott M Ransom; Paul S Ray; Joseph D Romano; Shashwat C Sardesai; Ann Schmiedekamp; Carl Schmiedekamp; Kai Schmitz; Brent J Shapiro-Albert; Xavier Siemens; Joseph Simon; Magdalena S Siwek; Ingrid H Stairs; Daniel R Stinebring; Kevin Stovall; Abhimanyu Susobhanan; Joseph K Swiggum; Stephen R Taylor; Jacob E Turner; Caner Unal; Michele Vallisneri; Sarah J Vigeland; Haley M Wahl; Caitlin A Witt; Olivia Young

doi:10.3847/2041-8213/acda88

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The NANOGrav 15-Year Data Set: Detector Characterization and Noise Budget

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The NANOGrav 15-Year Data Set: Detector Characterization and Noise Budget

Gabriella Agazie, Akash Anumarlapudi, Anne M Archibald, Zaven Arzoumanian, Paul T Baker, Bence Bécsy, Laura Blecha, Adam Brazier, Paul R Brook, Sarah Burke-Spolaor, …

arXiv.org

28/06/2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acda88

Abstract

Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) are galactic-scale gravitational wave detectors. Each individual arm, composed of a millisecond pulsar, a radio telescope, and a kiloparsecs-long path, differs in its properties but, in aggregate, can be used to extract low-frequency gravitational wave (GW) signals. We present a noise and sensitivity analysis to accompany the NANOGrav 15-year data release and associated papers, along with an in-depth introduction to PTA noise models. As a first step in our analysis, we characterize each individual pulsar data set with three types of white noise parameters and two red noise parameters. These parameters, along with the timing model and, particularly, a piecewise-constant model for the time-variable dispersion measure, determine the sensitivity curve over the low-frequency GW band we are searching. We tabulate information for all of the pulsars in this data release and present some representative sensitivity curves. We then combine the individual pulsar sensitivities using a signal-to-noise-ratio statistic to calculate the global sensitivity of the PTA to a stochastic background of GWs, obtaining a minimum noise characteristic strain of $7\times 10^{-15}$ at 5 nHz. A power law-integrated analysis shows rough agreement with the amplitudes recovered in NANOGrav's 15-year GW background analysis. While our phenomenological noise model does not model all known physical effects explicitly, it provides an accurate characterization of the noise in the data while preserving sensitivity to multiple classes of GW signals.

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Title: The NANOGrav 15-Year Data Set: Detector Characterization and Noise Budget
Creators - without role: Gabriella Agazie - University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Akash Anumarlapudi - University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Anne M Archibald - Newcastle University
Zaven Arzoumanian - Goddard Space Flight Center
Paul T Baker - Widener University
Bence Bécsy - Oregon State University
Laura Blecha - University of Florida
Adam Brazier - Cornell University
Paul R Brook - University of Birmingham
Sarah Burke-Spolaor - West Virginia University
Maria Charisi - Vanderbilt University
Shami Chatterjee - Cornell University
Tyler Cohen - New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
James M Cordes - Cornell University
Neil J Cornish - Montana State University
Fronefield Crawford - Franklin & Marshall College
H. Thankful Cromartie - Cornell University
Kathryn Crowter - University of British Columbia
Megan E Decesar - United States Naval Research Laboratory
Paul B Demorest - National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Timothy Dolch - Hillsdale College
Brendan Drachler - Rochester Institute of Technology
Elizabeth C Ferrara - Goddard Space Flight Center
William Fiore - West Virginia University
Emmanuel Fonseca - West Virginia University
Gabriel E Freedman - University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Nate Garver-Daniels - West Virginia University
Peter A Gentile - West Virginia University
Joseph Glaser - West Virginia University
Deborah C Good - University of Connecticut
Lydia Guertin - Haverford College
Kayhan Gültekin - University of Michigan
Jeffrey S Hazboun - Oregon State University
Ross J Jennings - West Virginia University
Aaron D Johnson - California Institute of Technology
Megan L Jones - University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Andrew R Kaiser - West Virginia University
David L Kaplan - University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Luke Zoltan Kelley - University of California, Berkeley
Matthew Kerr - United States Naval Research Laboratory
Joey S Key - University of Washington Bothell
Nima Laal - Oregon State University
Michael T Lam - Rochester Institute of Technology
William G Lamb - Vanderbilt University
T. Joseph W Lazio - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Natalia Lewandowska - State University of New York at Oswego
Tingting Liu - West Virginia University
Duncan R Lorimer - West Virginia University
Jing Luo - University of Toronto
Ryan S Lynch - Green Bank Observatory, P.O. Box 2, Green Bank, WV 24944, USA
Chung-Pei Ma - University of California, Berkeley
Dustin R Madison - University of the Pacific
Alexander Mcewen - University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
James W Mckee - University of Hull
Maura A Mclaughlin - West Virginia University
Natasha Mcmann - Vanderbilt University
Bradley W Meyers - University of British Columbia
Chiara M. F Mingarelli - University of Connecticut
Andrea Mitridate - Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
Cherry Ng - Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics
David J Nice - Lafayette College
Stella Koch Ocker - Cornell University
Ken D Olum - Tufts University
Timothy T Pennucci - Eötvös Loránd University
Benetge B. P Perera - University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo
Nihan S Pol - Vanderbilt University
Henri A Radovan - University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez
Scott M Ransom - National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Paul S Ray - United States Naval Research Laboratory
Joseph D Romano - Texas Tech University
Shashwat C Sardesai - University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Ann Schmiedekamp - Abington Memorial Hospital
Carl Schmiedekamp - Abington Memorial Hospital
Kai Schmitz - University of Münster
Brent J Shapiro-Albert - West Virginia University
Xavier Siemens - Oregon State University
Joseph Simon - University of Colorado Boulder
Magdalena S Siwek - Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian
Ingrid H Stairs - University of British Columbia
Daniel R Stinebring - Oberlin College
Kevin Stovall - National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Abhimanyu Susobhanan - University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Joseph K Swiggum - Lafayette College
Stephen R Taylor - Vanderbilt University
Jacob E Turner - West Virginia University
Caner Unal - Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Michele Vallisneri - California Institute of Technology
Sarah J Vigeland - University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Haley M Wahl - West Virginia University
Caitlin A Witt - Adler Planetarium
Olivia Young - Rochester Institute of Technology
Publication Details: arXiv.org
Identifiers: 991019443989007081
Academic Unit: Physics
Language: English
Resource Type: Preprint