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Colloquium
Speaker
Maura McLaughlin (West Virginia University, USA )
Date & Time
Mon, 30 January 2023, 15:30 to 17:00
Venue
Online and Madhava Lecture Hall
Resources
Abstract

Millisecond pulsars are rapidly rotating neutron stars with phenomenal rotational stability. Pulsar timing arrays world-wide monitor over 100 of these cosmic clocks in order to detect perturbations due to gravitational waves at nanohertz frequencies. These gravitational waves will most likely result from an ensemble of supermassive black hole binaries. Their detection and subsequent study will offer unique insights into galaxy growth and evolution over cosmic time. I will present the most recent results from the North American NANOGrav and International Pulsar Timing Array collaboration datasets, including a common “red” spectral signature in the data that could be the first hints of gravitational waves. I will then describe the gains in sensitivity that are expected from additional data, discoveries of millisecond pulsars, more sensitive instrumentation, and international collaboration.