Pulsar Timing Perturbations from Galactic Gravitational Wave Bursts with Memory

TL;DR

This paper derives the response of pulsar timing arrays to gravitational wave bursts with memory from sources at any distance, including potential Galactic sources like supernovae and binary mergers, expanding the understanding beyond distant sources.

Contribution

It provides a general framework for PTA response to nearby GW sources, specifically addressing GW bursts with memory from Galactic events, which was not previously detailed.

Findings

Derived PTA response for sources at any distance.

Evaluated signatures for Galactic BWM sources.

Enhanced understanding of PTA sensitivity to nearby GW events.

Abstract

Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) are used to search for long-wavelength gravitational waves (GWs) by monitoring a set of spin-stable millisecond pulsars. Most theoretical analyses assume that the relevant GW sources are much more distant from Earth than the pulsars comprising the array. Unlike ground- or solar system-based GW detectors, PTAs might well contain embedded GW sources. We derive the PTA response from sources at any distance, with a specific focus on GW bursts with memory (BWMs). We consider supernovae and compact binary mergers as potential Galactic BWM sources and evaluate the signature for an array with pulsars in globular clusters or in the Galactic center. Understanding the response of PTAs to nearby sources of BWM is a step towards investigating other more complex Galactic sources.