Quasar proper motions and low-frequency gravitational waves
CR Gwinn, TM Eubanks, T Pyne…�- The Astrophysical�…, 1997 - iopscience.iop.org
CR Gwinn, TM Eubanks, T Pyne, M Birkinshaw, DN Matsakis
The Astrophysical Journal, 1997•iopscience.iop.orgWe report observational upper limits on the mass-energy of the cosmological gravitational
wave background, from limits on proper motions of quasars. Gravitational waves with
periods longer than the time span of observations produce a simple pattern of apparent
proper motions over the sky, composed primarily of second-order transverse vector
spherical harmonics. A fit of such harmonics to measured motions yields a 95% confidence
limit on the mass-energy of gravitational waves with frequencies ν< 2� 10-9 Hz, of less than�…
wave background, from limits on proper motions of quasars. Gravitational waves with
periods longer than the time span of observations produce a simple pattern of apparent
proper motions over the sky, composed primarily of second-order transverse vector
spherical harmonics. A fit of such harmonics to measured motions yields a 95% confidence
limit on the mass-energy of gravitational waves with frequencies ν< 2� 10-9 Hz, of less than�…
Abstract
We report observational upper limits on the mass-energy of the cosmological gravitational wave background, from limits on proper motions of quasars. Gravitational waves with periods longer than the time span of observations produce a simple pattern of apparent proper motions over the sky, composed primarily of second-order transverse vector spherical harmonics. A fit of such harmonics to measured motions yields a 95% confidence limit on the mass-energy of gravitational waves with frequencies ν< 2� 10-9 Hz, of less than 0.11 h-2 times the closure density of the universe.
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