The detection of a gravitational-wave background at nanohertz frequencies can tell us if and how supermassive black holes merge, and inform our knowledge of galaxy merger rates and supermassive black hole masses. All we have to do is time pulsars.
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Acknowledgements
I thank J. Lazio, D. Foreman-Mackey and X. Siemens for useful discussions. I also thank S. Taylor and S. Burke-Spolaor for permission to edit and reproduce some of their figures. The Flatiron Institute is funded by the Simons Foundation.
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Mingarelli, C.M.F. Probing supermassive black hole binaries with pulsar timing. Nat Astron 3, 8–10 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-018-0666-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-018-0666-y
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