Pulsars as Weber gravitational wave detectors

TL;DR

This paper proposes using pulsars as natural Weber gravitational wave detectors, leveraging their precise rotation measurements to detect and analyze gravitational waves, especially from sources like black hole mergers.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method of detecting gravitational waves through pulsar observations, acting as remote detectors that complement earth-based detectors and aid in source localization.

Findings

Pulsars' rotation and pulse profile are affected by passing gravitational waves.

Resonance effects can enhance detectability of gravitational waves.

Pulsar signals can provide additional information on gravitational wave sources.

Abstract

A gravitational wave passing through a pulsar will lead to a variation in the moment of inertia of the pulsar affecting its rotation. This will affect the extremely accurately measured spin rate of the pulsar as well as its pulse profile (due to induced wobbling depending on the source direction). The effect will be most pronounced at resonance and should be detectable by accurate observations of the pulsar signal. The pulsar, in this sense, acts as a remotely stationed Weber detector of gravitational waves whose signal can be monitored on earth. With possible gravitational wave sources spread around in the universe, pulsars in their neighborhoods can provide us a family of \textit{remote} detectors all of which can be monitored on earth. Even if GW are detected directly by earth based conventional detectors, such pulsar detectors can provide additional information for accurate determination of the source location. This can be of crucial importance for sources which do not emit any other form of radiation such as black hole mergers. For the gravitational wave events already detected by LIGO (and Virgo), our proposal suggests that one should look for specific pulsars which would have been disturbed by these events, and will transmit this disturbance via their pulse signals in any foreseeable future. If these future pulsar events can be predicted with accuracy then a focused effort can be made to detect any possible changes in the signals of those specific pulsars.