Testing No slip model with pulsar timing arrays: NANOGrav and IPTA

TL;DR

This paper investigates a modified gravity model called no slip using pulsar timing array data from NANOGrav and IPTA, constraining its parameters through gravitational wave spectral analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a method to constrain the no slip modified gravity model using PTA data, providing approximate transfer functions and analyzing parameter degeneracies.

Findings

Degeneracy between model parameters $\xi$ and $c_M$

Only an upper bound on $c_M$ was obtained

Current PTA data cannot precisely constrain the parameters

Abstract

We perform an observational study of modified gravity considering a potential inflationary interpretation of pulsar timing arrays (PTA). We use a motivated model known as no slip in which the gravitational wave propagation is modified. Specifically, by using two different parametrizations for the model, we find the approximate transfer functions for tensor perturbations. In this way, we obtain the spectral energy density of gravitational waves and use NANOGrav and IPTA second data release to constrain parameters of the model. We find that there is degeneracy between the model parameters $\xi$ and $c_M$. For $c_M$, we only get an upper bound on the parameter. Thus, it is difficult to constrain them with percent level accuracy with the current PTA data.