EDP Sciences : The second data release from the European Pulsar Timing Array - IV. Implications for massive black holes, dark matter, and the early Universe

Antoniadis, J.; Theureau, G.; Truant, R.J.; Postnov, K.; Burgay, M.; Gupta, Y.; Bak Nielsen, A.-S.; Mickaliger, M.B.; Arumugam, S.; Porayko, N.K.; Guillemot, L.; Chanlaridis, S.; Crisostomi, M.; Singha, J.; Kolhe, N.; Keane, E.F.; Barausse, E.; van der Wateren, E.; Grießmeier, J.-M.; Dwivedi, C.; Joshi, B.C.; Desvignes, G.; Samajdar, A.; Bagchi, M.; Cognard, I.; Nobleson, K.; Khizriev, T.; Deb, D.; Wu, Z.; Bortolas, E.; Hu, H.; Venkatraman Krishnan, V.; Sanidas, S.A.; Champion, D.J.; Jessner, A.; Smarra, C.; Lyne, A.G.; Lee, K.J.; Parthasarathy, A.; Roper Pol, A.; Kareem, F.; Falxa, M.; Valtolina, S.; Keith, M.J.; Tiburzi, C.; Quelquejay Leclere, H.; Susarla, S.C.; Arumugam, P.; Ferdman, R.D.; Guo, Y.J.; Franchini, A.; Neronov, A.; Auclair, P.; Spiewak, R.; Izquierdo-Villalba, D.; Caprini, C.; Gair, J.R.; Janssen, G.H.; Dandapat, S.; Gopakumar, I.A.; Babak, S.; Rana, P.; Speri, L.; Chalumeau, A.; Perrodin, D.; Semikoz, D.; Gualandris, A.; Paladi, A.K.; Middleton, H.; Krishnakumar, M.A.; Prabu, T.; Jawor, J.; Goncharov, B.; Wang, L.; Karuppusamy, R.; Liu, K.; Kramer, M.; Shaifullah, G.; McKee, J.W.; Nitu, I.C.; Bonetti, M.; Jang, J.; Kharbanda, D.; Susobhanan, A.; Petiteau, A.; Lackeos, K.; Stappers, B.W.; Bassa, C.G.; Main, R.A.; Graikou, E.; Verbiest, J.P. W.; Berthereau, A.; Hisano, S.; Surnis, M.; Vecchio, A.; Iraci, F.; Desai, S.; Steer, D. A.; Brook, P.R.; Caballero, R.N.; Liu, Y.; Dhanda-Batra, N.; Sesana, A.; Kikunaga, T.; Tarafdar, P.; Perera, B.B. P.; Maan, Y.; Wang, J.; Bathula, A.; Possenti, A.; Fastidio, F.; Takahashi, K.; Chen, S.; Srivastava, A.

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202347433

Article
Report number	arXiv:2306.16227
Title	The second data release from the European Pulsar Timing Array - IV. Implications for massive black holes, dark matter, and the early Universe
Related title	The second data release from the European Pulsar Timing Array: V. Implications for massive black holes, dark matter and the early Universe
Author(s)	Antoniadis, J. (Crete U. ; IESL, Heraklion ; Bonn, Max Planck Inst., Radioastron.) ; Arumugam, P. (IIT, Roorkee) ; Arumugam, S. (Indian Inst. Tech., Hyderabad) ; Babak, S. (APC, Paris) ; Bagchi, M. (IMSc, Chennai ; HBNI, Mumbai) ; Bak Nielsen, A.-S. (Bonn, Max Planck Inst., Radioastron. ; Bielefeld U.) ; Bassa, C.G. (ASTRON, Dwingeloo) ; Bathula, A. (IISER, Mohali) ; Berthereau, A. (LPC2E, Orleans ; Station Radioastronomy, Nancay) ; Bonetti, M. (Milan Bicocca U. ; INFN, Milan Bicocca ; Brera Observ.) ; Bortolas, E. (Milan Bicocca U. ; INFN, Milan Bicocca ; Brera Observ.) ; Brook, P.R. (Birmingham U.) ; Burgay, M. (Cagliari Observ.) ; Caballero, R.N. (Hellenic Open U., Patras) ; Chalumeau, A. (Milan Bicocca U.) ; Champion, D.J. (Bonn, Max Planck Inst., Radioastron.) ; Chanlaridis, S. (Crete U. ; IESL, Heraklion) ; Chen, S. (Peking U., Beijing, KIAA) ; Cognard, I. (LPC2E, Orleans ; Station Radioastronomy, Nancay) ; Dandapat, S. (Unlisted) ; Deb, D. (IMSc, Chennai) ; Desai, S. (Indian Inst. Tech., Hyderabad) ; Desvignes, G. (Bonn, Max Planck Inst., Radioastron.) ; Dhanda-Batra, N. (Delhi U.) ; Dwivedi, C. (Unlisted, IN) ; Falxa, M. (APC, Paris ; LPC2E, Orleans) ; Ferdman, R.D. (East Anglia U.) ; Franchini, A. (Milan Bicocca U. ; INFN, Milan Bicocca) ; Gair, J.R. (Potsdam, Max Planck Inst.) ; Goncharov, B. (GSSI, Aquila ; Gran Sasso) ; Gopakumar, I.A. (Unlisted) ; Graikou, E. (Bonn, Max Planck Inst., Radioastron.) ; Grießmeier, J.-M. (LPC2E, Orleans ; Station Radioastronomy, Nancay) ; Gualandris, A. (Surrey U.) ; Guillemot, L. (LPC2E, Orleans ; Station Radioastronomy, Nancay) ; Guo, Y.J. (Bonn, Max Planck Inst., Radioastron.) ; Gupta, Y. (IUCAA, Pune) ; Hisano, S. (Kumamoto U.) ; Hu, H. (Bonn, Max Planck Inst., Radioastron.) ; Iraci, F. (Cagliari U. ; Cagliari Observ.) ; Izquierdo-Villalba, D. (Milan Bicocca U. ; INFN, Milan Bicocca) ; Jang, J. (Bonn, Max Planck Inst., Radioastron.) ; Jawor, J. (Bonn, Max Planck Inst., Radioastron.) ; Janssen, G.H. (ASTRON, Dwingeloo ; Nijmegen U., IMAPP) ; Jessner, A. (Bonn, Max Planck Inst., Radioastron.) ; Joshi, B.C. (IUCAA, Pune ; IIT, Roorkee) ; Kareem, F. (IISER, Kolkata, Mohanpur) ; Karuppusamy, R. (Bonn, Max Planck Inst., Radioastron.) ; Keane, E.F. (Trinity Coll., Dublin) ; Keith, M.J. (Jodrell Bank) ; Kharbanda, D. (Indian Inst. Tech., Hyderabad) ; Kikunaga, T. (Kumamoto U.) ; Kolhe, N. (St. Xaviers Coll., Kolkata) ; Kramer, M. (Bonn, Max Planck Inst., Radioastron. ; Jodrell Bank) ; Krishnakumar, M.A. (Bonn, Max Planck Inst., Radioastron. ; Bielefeld U.) ; Lackeos, K. (Bonn, Max Planck Inst., Radioastron.) ; Lee, K.J. (IIT, Roorkee ; HBNI, Mumbai ; Bonn, Max Planck Inst., Radioastron.) ; Liu, K. (Bonn, Max Planck Inst., Radioastron.) ; Liu, Y. (NAOC, Beijing ; Beijing, GUCAS ; Bielefeld U.) ; Lyne, A.G. (Jodrell Bank) ; McKee, J.W. (Hull U.) ; Maan, Y. (IUCAA, Pune) ; Main, R.A. (Bonn, Max Planck Inst., Radioastron.) ; Mickaliger, M.B. (Jodrell Bank) ; Nitu, I.C. (Jodrell Bank) ; Nobleson, K. (Birla Inst. Tech. Sci.) ; Paladi, A.K. (Bangalore, Indian Inst. Sci.) ; Parthasarathy, A. (Bonn, Max Planck Inst., Radioastron.) ; Perera, B.B. P. (Arecibo Observ.) ; Perrodin, D. (Cagliari Observ.) ; Petiteau, A. (IRFU, Saclay ; APC, Paris) ; Porayko, N.K. (Milan Bicocca U. ; Bonn, Max Planck Inst., Radioastron.) ; Possenti, A. (Cagliari Observ.) ; Prabu, T. (Raman Research Inst., Bangalore) ; Quelquejay Leclere, H. (APC, Paris) ; Rana, P. (Unlisted) ; Samajdar, A. (Potsdam U.) ; Sanidas, S.A. (Jodrell Bank) ; Sesana, A. (Milan Bicocca U. ; INFN, Milan Bicocca ; Brera Observ.) ; Shaifullah, G. (Milan Bicocca U. ; INFN, Milan Bicocca ; Cagliari Observ.) ; Singha, J. (IIT, Roorkee) ; Speri, L. (Potsdam, Max Planck Inst.) ; Spiewak, R. (Jodrell Bank) ; Srivastava, A. (Indian Inst. Tech., Hyderabad) ; Stappers, B.W. (Jodrell Bank) ; Surnis, M. (IISER, Bhopal) ; Susarla, S.C. (Natl. U. of Ireland, Galway) ; Susobhanan, A. (Wisconsin U., Milwaukee) ; Takahashi, K. (Kumamoto U.) ; Tarafdar, P. (IMSc, Chennai) ; Theureau, G. (LPC2E, Orleans ; Station Radioastronomy, Nancay ; LUTH, Meudon) ; Tiburzi, C. (Cagliari Observ.) ; van der Wateren, E. (ASTRON, Dwingeloo ; Nijmegen U., IMAPP) ; Vecchio, A. (Birmingham U.) ; Venkatraman Krishnan, V. (Bonn, Max Planck Inst., Radioastron.) ; Verbiest, J.P. W. (Central Florida U. ; Bielefeld U. ; Bonn, Max Planck Inst., Radioastron.) ; Wang, J. (Bielefeld U. ; Ruhr U., Bochum ; Beijing Normal U.) ; Wang, L. (Jodrell Bank) ; Wu, Z. (NAOC, Beijing ; Beijing, GUCAS ; Bielefeld U.) ; Auclair, P. (Louvain U., CP3) ; Barausse, E. (SISSA, Trieste) ; Caprini, C. (Geneva U., Dept. Theor. Phys. ; CERN) ; Crisostomi, M. (SISSA, Trieste) ; Fastidio, F. (Surrey U. ; Milan Bicocca U.) ; Khizriev, T. (Sternberg Astron. Inst.) ; Middleton, H. (Birmingham U.) ; Neronov, A. (APC, Paris ; LPHE, Lausanne) ; Postnov, K. (Sternberg Astron. Inst. ; Kazan State U.) ; Roper Pol, A. (Geneva U., Dept. Theor. Phys.) ; Semikoz, D. (APC, Paris) ; Smarra, C. (SISSA, Trieste) ; Steer, D. A. (APC, Paris) ; Truant, R.J. (Milan Bicocca U.) ; Valtolina, S. (Hannover, Max Planck Inst. Grav.)
Publication	2024-05-01
Imprint	2023-06-28
Number of pages	30
Note	30 pages, 23 figures, replaced to match the version published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, note the change in the numbering order in the series (now paper IV)
In:	Astron. Astrophys. 685 (2024) A94
DOI	10.1051/0004-6361/202347433
Subject category	gr-qc ; General Relativity and Cosmology ; astro-ph.GA ; Astrophysics and Astronomy ; astro-ph.CO ; Astrophysics and Astronomy
Accelerator/Facility, Experiment	EPTA
Abstract	The European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) and Indian Pulsar Timing Array (InPTA) collaborations have measured a low-frequency common signal in the combination of their second and first data releases respectively, with the correlation properties of a gravitational wave background (GWB). Such signal may have its origin in a number of physical processes including a cosmic population of inspiralling supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs); inflation, phase transitions, cosmic strings and tensor mode generation by non-linear evolution of scalar perturbations in the early Universe; oscillations of the Galactic potential in the presence of ultra-light dark matter (ULDM). At the current stage of emerging evidence, it is impossible to discriminate among the different origins. Therefore, in this paper, we consider each process separately, and investigate the implications of the signal under the hypothesis that it is generated by that specific process. We find that the signal is consistent with a cosmic population of inspiralling SMBHBs, and its relatively high amplitude can be used to place constraints on binary merger timescales and the SMBH-host galaxy scaling relations. If this origin is confirmed, this is the first direct evidence that SMBHBs merge in nature, adding an important observational piece to the puzzle of structure formation and galaxy evolution. As for early Universe processes, the measurement would place tight constraints on the cosmic string tension and on the level of turbulence developed by first-order phase transitions. Other processes would require non-standard scenarios, such as a blue-tilted inflationary spectrum or an excess in the primordial spectrum of scalar perturbations at large wavenumbers. Finally, a ULDM origin of the detected signal is disfavoured, which leads to direct constraints on the abundance of ULDM in our Galaxy.
Copyright/License	publication: (License: CC-BY-4.0) preprint: (License: CC BY 4.0)

$\footnotesize{Properties of the common correlated signal detected in \texttt{DR2new}. Left panel: free spectrum of the RMS induced by the excess correlated signal in each frequency resolution bin (with width defined by the inverse of the data span, $\Delta{f}=T^{-1}$). The straight line is the best power-law fit to the data. Right panel: joint posterior distribution in the $A-\gamma$ plane. \it{Note that we normalise $A$ to a pivotal frequency $f_0=10{\rm yr}^{-1}$.}}$ $\footnotesize{Properties of the common correlated signal detected in \texttt{DR2new}. Left panel: free spectrum of the RMS induced by the excess correlated signal in each frequency resolution bin (with width defined by the inverse of the data span, $\Delta{f}=T^{-1}$). The straight line is the best power-law fit to the data. Right panel: joint posterior distribution in the $A-\gamma$ plane. \it{Note that we normalise $A$ to a pivotal frequency $f_0=10{\rm yr}^{-1}$.}}$ $\footnotesize{GWB amplitude distributions predicted by the RSG15 models. The thin-dashed yellow line is for the full set of models in RSG15, whereas the thick-dashed orange line is for the subset considered here. The solid blue line is the distribution predicted by the 108 down-selected sample used in the analysis. The vertical line marks the median value of $A$ at $f_0=1{\rm yr}^{-1}$ reported in PaperIII when fixing $\gamma=13/3$ in the search. Note that the lower $x$-axis scale is for A at $f_0=1{\rm yr}^{-1}$, whereas the upper $x$-axis is for A at $f_0=10{\rm yr}^{-1}$ (the normalization used in this paper). Since $\alpha=-2/3$ for circular GW-driven binaries, there is a shift of 0.666 dex between the two.}$ Show more plots

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