Gravitational waves from supermassive black hole binaries in light of the NANOGrav 15-year data

TY - JOUR

T1 - Gravitational waves from supermassive black hole binaries in light of the NANOGrav 15-year data

AU - Ellis, John

AU - Fairbairn, Malcolm

AU - Hütsi, Gert

AU - Raidal, Juhan

AU - Urrutia, Juan

AU - Vaskonen, Ville

AU - Veermäe, Hardi

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 American Physical Society.

PY - 2024/1/10

Y1 - 2024/1/10

N2 - The NANOGrav and other pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) have recently announced evidence for nHz gravitational waves (GWs) that may originate from supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries. The spectral index of the GW signal differs from that predicted for binary evolution by GW emission alone, and we show that environmental effects such as dynamical friction with gas, stars, and dark matter improve the consistency of the SMBH binary model with the PTA data. We comment on the possible implications of environmental effects for PTA observations of fluctuations in the GW frequency spectrum and measurements of GWs at higher frequencies.

AB - The NANOGrav and other pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) have recently announced evidence for nHz gravitational waves (GWs) that may originate from supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries. The spectral index of the GW signal differs from that predicted for binary evolution by GW emission alone, and we show that environmental effects such as dynamical friction with gas, stars, and dark matter improve the consistency of the SMBH binary model with the PTA data. We comment on the possible implications of environmental effects for PTA observations of fluctuations in the GW frequency spectrum and measurements of GWs at higher frequencies.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85183759081

U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevD.109.L021302

DO - 10.1103/PhysRevD.109.L021302

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85183759081

SN - 2470-0010

VL - 109

JO - Physical Review D

JF - Physical Review D

IS - 2

M1 - L021302

ER -