Goals

To detect low-frequency gravitational waves, which are thought to originate from supermassive black hole binaries and potentially other cosmic phenomena.

Low-frequency gravitational waves are mainly thought to originate from supermassive black hole binaries, which are pairs of supermassive black holes in close orbit around each other. These waves have much longer wavelengths and lower frequencies compared to those detected by LIGO.

NanoGrav, an observatory for such waves, uses a network of millisecond pulsars, which are highly magnetized, rotating neutron stars that emit beams of electromagnetic radiation out of their magnetic poles. As these pulsars spin, their beams sweep across Earth, and we observe regular radio pulses.

By precisely measuring the arrival times of these pulses with a precision of a few hundred nanoseconds, we can detect slight variations caused by gravitational waves. These variations appear as timing irregularities, or noise, in the otherwise highly regular pulses from the pulsars.

The data collected from multiple pulsars, which are available on the NanoGrav website, are analyzed to identify correlated timing irregularities that indicate the presence of low-frequency gravitational waves. We participate in the development and refinement of analysis techniques, as well as the interpretation of the results.