Improving NANOGrav Gravitational Wave Detection

Tufts University, Medford MA

Investigators

Abstract

We expect that our universe is filled with gravitational waves coming from pairs of supermassive black holes (with millions to billions of times the mass of the sun) orbiting each other at the centers of galaxies. These waves are different from the gravitational waves detected first by LIGO, because they are continuous, rather than coming in bursts, and they have very low frequencies, often taking several years to complete a cycle. These low-frequency gravitational waves are the target of the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational waves (NANOGrav). Professor Olum and his group will work to improve the mathematical and computational procedures used to analyze NANOGrav observations. This work will help NANOGrav make the first detection of low-frequency gravitational waves and determine their sources. Professor Olum will also give public presentations, and lectures in high schools, to bring the excitement of gravitational wave astronomy to the broader public. The purpose of this work is to enhance the ability of the NANOGrav collaboration to detect gravitational waves through new mathematical techniques and improved codes. These enhancements will increase the significance of NANOGrav data analysis, possibly pushing it above the level at which the collaboration can confidently claim a discovery of a stochastic background of gravitational waves. Faster codes will make it possible to check more carefully for possible "false alarms" and easier to explore new ideas that may extract important signals from the pulsar timing observations. These techniques may also contribute to the detection of the first individual source of low-frequency gravitational waves, expected to be a nearby supermassive black hole binary whose signal stands out above the background. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.