Related papers: Constraints on Black Hole/Host Galaxy Co-evolution…
We investigate how pulsar timing array (PTA) measurements of the nanoHertz gravitational-wave background (GWB) can constrain models for the growth history of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and how active galactic nucleus (AGN) and stellar…
Supermassive black hole binaries are the strongest gravitational wave sources in the universe. The systems most likely to be observed with pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) will have particularly high masses ($\gtrsim 10^9 M_\odot$), long periods…
The present-day mass function of supermassive black holes is the most important observable quantity for the prediction and theoretical interpretation of the gravitational wave background (GWB) measured by pulsar timing arrays (PTAs). Due to…
The mergers of galaxies and supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are key drivers of galaxy evolution, contributing to the growth of both galaxies and their central black holes. Current and upcoming gravitational wave (GW) detectors -- Pulsar…
The evolution of the supermassive Black Hole (BH) population across cosmic times remains a central unresolved issue in modern astrophysics, due to the many noticeable uncertainties in the involved physical processes that span a huge range…
We construct evolutionary tracks for massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) embedded in a surrounding distribution of stars. The dynamics of the binary is evolved by taking into account the erosion of the central stellar cusp bound to the…
We estimate the merger timescale of spectroscopically-selected, subparsec supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB) candidates by comparing their expected contribution to the gravitational wave background (GWB) with the sensitivity of current…
We propose a novel methodology to select host galaxy candidates of future pulsar timing array (PTA) detections of resolved gravitational waves (GWs) from massive black hole binaries (MBHBs). The method exploits the physical dependence of…
In this letter we carry out the first systematic investigation of the expected gravitational wave (GW) background generated by supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries in the nHz frequency band accessible to pulsar timing arrays (PTAs). We…
Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are nowadays believed to reside in most local galaxies, and the available data show an empirical correlation between bulge luminosity - or stellar velocity dispersion - and black hole mass, suggesting a…
Pulsar timing observations are used to place constraints on the rate of coalescence of supermassive black-hole (SMBH) binaries as a function of mass and redshift. In contrast to the indirect constraints obtained from other techniques,…
The observation of massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) with Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTAs) is one of the goals of gravitational wave astronomy in the coming years. Massive (>10^8 solar masses) and low-redshift (< 1.5) sources are expected to…
The dynamical evolution of supermassive black-hole binary systems is tethered on large scales to the merger rate of massive galaxies, and on small scales to the stellar and gaseous environments of galactic cores. The population of these…
Pulsar Timing Arrays are playing a crucial role in the ongoing gravitational wave astronomy revolution. The current evidence for a stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB) at nHz frequencies offers an opportunity to discover…
Pulsar timing arrays are sensitive to gravitational waves from supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries at orbital separations of << 1pc. There is currently an observational paucity of such systems, although they are central figures in…
Pulsar Timing Array (PTA) experiments have entered a new era with evidence for a nanoHertz gravitational wave background (GWB). This review describes the physics of detection, detailing the noise models and cross-correlation techniques…
Gravitational waves (GWs) at ultra-low frequencies (${\lesssim 100\,\mathrm{nHz}}$) are key to understanding the assembly and evolution of astrophysical black hole (BH) binaries with masses $\sim 10^{6}-10^{9}\,M_\odot$ at low redshifts.…
Pulsar timing is a promising technique for detecting low frequency sources of gravitational waves. Historically the focus has been on the detection of diffuse stochastic backgrounds, such as those formed from the superposition of weak…
Recent pulsar timing array results, including the NANOGrav 15-year data set, show evidence for a stochastic gravitational-wave background (GWB) in the nanohertz band. We present a Bayesian framework to compare three possible origins: (i) a…
We test the impact of an evolving supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass scaling relation (Mbh-Mbulge) on the predictions for the gravitational wave background (GWB). The observed GWB amplitude is 2-3 times higher than predicted by…