The properties of the first continuous gravitational waves: Optimizing pulsar timing observations for supermassive black hole binary detection

arXiv:2608.25715 · astro-ph.HE, astro-ph.CO, gr-qc · Submitted 2026-08-26 · Read on arXiv

astro-ph.HE, astro-ph.CO, gr-qc

Submitted: 2026-08-26

Updated: 2026-08-26

Code: https://github.com/nanograv/enterprise

Terminology

• Population Synthesis — 5× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• pulsar timing arrays — 5× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Clustering — 2× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Multi-messenger Astronomy — 2× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
• Accretion Disk Dynamics — 1× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
• Consistency — 1× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
• Core — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Phase Transitions — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Topological Defects — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes

Sources

• The NANOGrav 15 yr Data Set: Targeted Searches for Supermassive Black Hole Binaries
• Pulsar Timing Array Observations of Massive Black Hole Binaries
• Observational Signatures of Supermassive Black Hole Binaries
• Active galactic nuclei do not exhibit strictly sinusoidal brightness variations
• Massive Perturbers and Transient Pickup Discs in Disc-Crossing Encounters in OJ 287-like Supermassive Black Hole Binaries
• Characterizing Continuous Gravitational Waves from Supermassive Black Hole Binaries in Realistic Pulsar Timing Array Data
• A Search for Supermassive Black Hole Binary Candidates in 46-Year Radio Light Curves of 83 Blazars
• Targeted search for an individual SMBHB in NANOGrav 15-year and EPTA DR2 data sets
• A Multimessenger Search for the Supermassive Black Hole Binary in 3C 66B with the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array

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