The International Pulsar Timing Array project combines observations of pulsars from both Northern and Southern hemisphere observatories with the main aim of detecting ultra-low frequency (∼ 10 −9 − 10 −8 Hz) gravitational waves. Here we introduce the project, review the methods used to search for gravitational waves emitted from coalescing supermassive binary black-hole systems in the centres of merging galaxies and discuss the status of the project.

We present high-precision timing data over time spans of up to 11 years for 45 millisecond pulsars observed as part of the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) project, aimed at detecting and characterizing low-frequency gravitational waves. The pulsars were observed with the Arecibo Observatory and/or the Green Bank Telescope at frequencies ranging from 327 MHz to 2.3 GHz. Most pulsars were observed with approximately monthly cadence, and six high-timing-precision pulsars were observed weekly. All were observed at widely separated frequencies at each observing epoch in order to fit for time-variable dispersion delays. We describe our methods for data processing, time-of-arrival (TOA) calculation, and the implementation of a new, automated method for removing outlier TOAs. We fit a timing model for each pulsar that includes spin, astrometric, and (for binary pulsars) orbital parameters; time-variable dispersion delays; and parameters that 1 quantify pulse-profile evolution with frequency. The timing solutions provide three new parallax measurements, two new Shapiro delay measurements, and two new measurements of significant orbital-period variations. We fit models that characterize sources of noise for each pulsar. We find that 11 pulsars show significant red noise, with generally smaller spectral indices than typically measured for non-recycled pulsars, possibly suggesting a different origin. A companion paper uses these data to constrain the strength of the gravitational-wave background.

Interstellar scintillation (ISS), observed as time variation in the intensity of a compact radio source, is caused by small-scale structure in the electron density of the interstellar plasma. Dynamic spectra of ISS show modulation in radio frequency and time. Here we relate the (two-dimensional) power spectrum of the dynamic spectrum-the secondary spectrum-to the scattered image of the source. Recent work has identified remarkable parabolic arcs in secondary spectra. Each point in a secondary spectrum corresponds to interference between points in the scattered image with a certain Doppler shift and a certain delay. The parabolic arc corresponds to the quadratic relation between differential Doppler shift and delay through their common dependence on scattering angle. We show that arcs will occur in all media that scatter significant power at angles larger than the rms angle. Thus, effects such as source diameter, steep spectra, and dissipation scales, which truncate high angle scattering, also truncate arcs. Arcs are equally visible in simulations of nondispersive scattering. They are enhanced by anisotropic scattering when the spatial structure is elongated perpendicular to the velocity. In weak scattering the secondary spectrum is directly mapped from the scattered image, and this mapping can be inverted. We discuss additional observed phenomena including multiple arcs and reverse arclets oriented oppositely to the main arc. These phenomena persist for many refractive scattering times, suggesting that they are due to large-scale density structures, rather than low-frequency components of Kolmogorov turbulence.

We searched for an isotropic stochastic gravitational wave background in the second data release of the International Pulsar Timing Array, a global collaboration synthesizing decadal-length pulsar-timing campaigns in North America, Europe, and Australia. In our reference search for a power law strain spectrum of the form hc = A(f/1 yr−1)α, we found strong evidence for a spectrally-similar low-frequency stochastic process of amplitude $A = 3.8^{+6.3}_{-2.5}\times 10^{-15}$ and spectral index α = −0.5 ± 0.5, where the uncertainties represqent 95% credible regions, using information from the auto- and cross-correlation terms between the pulsars in the array. For a spectral index of α = −2/3, as expected from a population of inspiralling supermassive black hole binaries, the recovered amplitude is $A = 2.8^{+1.2}_{-0.8}\times 10^{-15}$. Nonetheless, no significant evidence of the Hellings-Downs correlations that would indicate a gravitational-wave origin was found. We also analyzed the constituent data from the individual pulsar timing arrays in a consistent way, and clearly demonstrate that the combined international data set is more sensitive. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this combined data set produces comparable constraints to recent single-array data sets which have more data than the constituent parts of the combination. Future international data releases will deliver increased sensitivity to gravitational wave radiation, and significantly increase the detection probability.

We have made high-resolution, high-sensitivity dynamic spectra of a sample of strong pulsars at 430 MHz with the Arecibo radiotelescope. For 4 pulsars we find faint but sharply delineated features in the secondary spectra. These are examples of the previously observed "crisscross" or "multiple drift slope" phenomenon presumed to be due to multiple imaging of the pulsar by the interstellar medium. The unprecedented resolution and dynamic range of our observations allow a deeper level of analysis. Distances to the dominant scattering screen along the line of sight are determined and are shown to agree well with those inferred from other scintillation phenomena. Multiple imaging of the pulsar by the ISM is required. A compact central image surrounded by a faint scattering halo, roughly circularly symmetric, is consistent with the data. Scattering from filaments may also be consistent. The angular extent of the scattering material parallel to the direction of the pulsar velocity is ∼ 5 mas, corresponding to a linear extent of ∼ 2 AU. Further observations of these features should allow better discrimination between models and an identification of the scattering structures.