Dr. Rick Jenet (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

Pulsar Timing and Gravitational Wave Detection - Dr. Rick Jenet Colloquium

ATNF Marsfield Lecture Theatre

Abstract

Radio pulsars offer a unique opportunity to probe the nano-hertz regime of
the gravitational wave (G-wave) spectrum. Such low frequency G-waves will
provide a wealth of information about galaxy and supermassive black hole
binary formation and evolution. The most likely signal detected using pulsar
timing will be a stochastic G-wave background generated from an ensemble of
supermassive black holes scattered throughout the universe. Techniques are
currently being developed to detect such a background. Aside from the
background, radio pulsars can place limits on the existence of individual
G-wave sources. Using currently available data, limits have been placed on
the mass of a recently proposed supermassive black hole system in the radio
galaxy 3C 66B.