Wednesday, July 25, 2012

1207.5645 (C. M. F. Mingarelli et al.)

Observing the dynamics of super-massive black hole binaries with Pulsar Timing Arrays    [PDF]

C. M. F. Mingarelli, K. Grover, S. Sidery, R. J. E. Smith, A. Vecchio
Pulsar Timing Arrays are a prime tool to study unexplored astrophysical regimes with gravitational waves. Here we show that the detection of gravitational radiation from individually resolvable super-massive black hole binary systems can yield direct information about the masses and spins of the black holes, provided that the gravitational-wave induced timing fluctuations both at the pulsar and at the Earth are detected. This in turn provides a map of the non-linear dynamics of the gravitational field and a new avenue to tackle open problems in astrophysics connected to the formation and evolution of super-massive black holes. We discuss the potential, the challenges and the limitations of these observations.
View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1207.5645

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