SKAO Binary Pulsar Timing Opens Microhertz Gravitational-Wave Window
The SKAO can access the microhertz gravitational-wave band by timing binary millisecond pulsars, targeting supermassive black hole binaries during their final inspiral. This complements nanohertz PTAs and millihertz space interferometers while testing fundamental physics at previously inaccessible scales. Evidence rests on a single arXiv methods paper; actual performance depends on the number of precisely timed binaries and control of intrinsic noise.
The principal limitation is the small number of suitable binary pulsars currently known; the projected sensitivity assumes only four to six systems with sub-microsecond timing precision. A larger sample discovered by SKAO itself during the first years of operation would increase both detection probability and sky coverage. Cross-correlation with future LISA detections of the same binaries at higher frequencies would enable multi-band waveform tests of general relativity at extreme mass ratios. Full operations are scheduled for the early 2030s, making the first microhertz constraints feasible within a decade.
SKAO: First statistically significant microhertz continuous-wave candidate reported within 48 months of full SKA-Mid operations if at least one SMBHB with chirp mass above 10^9 solar masses lies within 500 Mpc.
Sources (2)
- [1]Primary Source(https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.27418)
- [2]Supporting Source(https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.16213)