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Realistic assessment of a single gravitational wave source localization taking into account precise pulsar distances with pulsar timing arrays

Ryo Kato1,* and Keitaro Takahashi2,3,†

  • *Contact author: ryo.kato@nao.ac.jp
  • †Contact author: keitaro@kumamoto-u.ac.jp
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Phys. Rev. D 113, 022001 – Published 2 January, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/4fyl-fzt8

Abstract

Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) are anticipated to detect continuous gravitational waves (GWs) from individual supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) in the near future. To identify the host galaxy of a GW source, PTAs require significantly improved angular resolution beyond the typical range of 100–1000 square degrees achieved by recent continuous GW searches. In this study, we investigate how precise pulsar distance measurements can enhance the localization of a single GW source. Accurate distance information, comparable to or better than the GW wavelength (typically 1 pc) can refine GW source localization. In the near future, with the advent of Square Kilometre Array (SKA), such high-precision distance measurements will be feasible for a few nearby pulsars. We focus on the relatively nearby pulsars J0437-4715 (156 pc) and J0030+0451 (331 pc), incorporating their actual distance uncertainties based on current very long baseline interferometry measurements and the anticipated precision of the SKA-era. By simulating 87 pulsars with the GW signal and Gaussian white noise in the timing residuals, we assess the impact of the pulsar distance information on GW source localization. Our results show that without precise distance information, localization remains insufficient to identify host galaxies under 10 ns noise. However, incorporating SKA-era distance precision for nearby pulsars J0437-4715 and J0030+0451 can reduce localization uncertainties to the required level of 10−3  deg2 under 10 ns noise. Localization accuracy strongly depends on the geometric configuration of pulsars with well-measured distances and improves notably near and between such pulsars. The improvement of the localization will greatly aid in identifying the host galaxy of a GW source and constructing an SMBHB catalog. It will further enable follow-up electromagnetic observations to investigate the SMBHB in greater detail.

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Phys. Rev. D 113, 022001– Published 2 January, 2026
  • Received 6 June 2025
  • Accepted 20 November 2025
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