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  • Letter

Probing the speed of scalar-induced gravitational waves with pulsar timing arrays

Zu-Cheng Chen1,2,†, Jun Li3,4,‡, Lang Liu5,6,*, and Zhu Yi6,§

  • 1Department of Physics and Synergetic Innovation Center for Quantum Effects and Applications, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China
  • 2Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China
  • 3School of Mathematics and Physics, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266061, China
  • 4CAS Key Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
  • 5Department of Astronomy, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
  • 6Advanced Institute of Natural Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai 519087, China

  • *Corresponding author: liulang@bnu.edu.cn
  • †zuchengchen@gmail.com
  • ‡lijun@qust.edu.cn
  • §yz@bnu.edu.cn

Phys. Rev. D 109, L101302 – Published 10 May, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.109.L101302

Abstract

Recently, several regional pulsar timing array collaborations, including CPTA, EPTA, PPTA, and NANOGrav, have individually reported compelling evidence for a stochastic signal at nanohertz frequencies. This signal originates potentially from scalar-induced gravitational waves associated with significant primordial curvature perturbations on small scales. In this Letter, we employ data from the EPTA DR2, PPTA DR3, and NANOGrav 15-year dataset to explore the speed of scalar-induced gravitational waves using a comprehensive Bayesian analysis. Our results suggest that, to be consistent with pulsar timing array observations, the speed of scalar-induced gravitational waves should be cg≳0.61 at a 95% credible interval for a log-normal power spectrum of curvature perturbations. Additionally, this constraint aligns with the prediction of general relativity that cg=1 within a 90% credible interval. Our findings underscore the capacity of pulsar timing arrays as a powerful tool for probing the speed of scalar-induced gravitational waves.

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