BibTex format
@article{Moursy:2026:1538-4357/ae9759,
author = {Moursy, TT and Pol, NS and Agazie, G and Agarwal, N and Anumarlapudi, A and Archibald, AM and Arzoumanian, Z and Ashok, A and Baier, JG and Baker, PT and Bécsy, B and Blecha, L and Brazier, A and Brook, PR and Burke-Spolaor, S and Burnette, R and Case, R and Casey-Clyde, JA and Charisi, M and Chatterjee, S and Cohen, T and Cordes, JM and Cornish, NJ and Crawford, F and Cromartie, HT and Crowter, K and DeCesar, ME and Demorest, PB and Deng, H and Dey, L and Dolch, T and Doskoch, GM and Ferrara, EC and Fiore, W and Fonseca, E and Freedman, GE and Gardiner, EC and Garver-Daniels, N and Gentile, PA and Gersbach, KA and Glaser, J and Good, DC and Gültekin, K and Gundersen, A and Harris, CJ and Hazboun, JS and Jennings, RJ and Johnson, AD and Jones, ML and Kaplan, DL and Sreekumar, AK and Kelley, LZ and Kerr, M and Key, JS and Laal, N and Lam, MT and Lamb, WG and Larsen, B and Lazio, TJW and Lewandowska, N and Liu, T and Lorimer, DR and Luo, J and Lynch, RS and Ma, CP and Madison, DR and Mar},
doi = {1538-4357/ae9759},
journal = {Astrophysical Journal},
title = {Pulsar Timing Array Sensitivity to Anisotropy: Empirical Sensitivity Curves, Scaling Relations, and the Multi-resolution Pixel Basis},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae9759},
volume = {1008},
year = {2026}
}
RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)
TY - JOUR
AB - We quantify pulsar timing array (PTA) sensitivity to anisotropy in the gravitational-wave (GW) background using the cross-correlation-based Fisher information matrix in the pixel and spherical harmonic bases. We use a set of simulations to empirically determine scaling relations of a PTA’s sensitivity to anisotropy with the number of pulsars N<inf>psr</inf> in the array, the error δt on the times of arrival, the frequency f<inf>GW</inf> of the GWs, and the angular scale ΔΩ of the anisotropy. The sensitivity scales approximately as (Formula presented) Npsr0.8, δt<sup>−0.08</sup>, and ΔΩ<sup>1.6</sup> − ΔΩ<sup>2.1</sup> (depending on the ranges of and m under consideration). In addition, we use realistic simulations to project the NANOGrav PTA sensitivity to a 30 yr baseline and quantify the growth in sensitivity at several time slices. Except at the lowest frequencies, we find negligible effect on sensitivity through increasing the observation duration only. Finally, we introduce a multi-resolution pixel basis motivated by the large dependence of the sensitivity on sky location, and demonstrate the operation of the basis through a set of injections and recoveries.
AU - Moursy,TT
AU - Pol,NS
AU - Agazie,G
AU - Agarwal,N
AU - Anumarlapudi,A
AU - Archibald,AM
AU - Arzoumanian,Z
AU - Ashok,A
AU - Baier,JG
AU - Baker,PT
AU - Bécsy,B
AU - Blecha,L
AU - Brazier,A
AU - Brook,PR
AU - Burke-Spolaor,S
AU - Burnette,R
AU - Case,R
AU - Casey-Clyde,JA
AU - Charisi,M
AU - Chatterjee,S
AU - Cohen,T
AU - Cordes,JM
AU - Cornish,NJ
AU - Crawford,F
AU - Cromartie,HT
AU - Crowter,K
AU - DeCesar,ME
AU - Demorest,PB
AU - Deng,H
AU - Dey,L
AU - Dolch,T
AU - Doskoch,GM
AU - Ferrara,EC
AU - Fiore,W
AU - Fonseca,E
AU - Freedman,GE
AU - Gardiner,EC
AU - Garver-Daniels,N
AU - Gentile,PA
AU - Gersbach,KA
AU - Glaser,J
AU - Good,DC
AU - Gültekin,K
AU - Gundersen,A
AU - Harris,CJ
AU - Hazboun,JS
AU - Jennings,RJ
AU - Johnson,AD
AU - Jones,ML
AU - Kaplan,DL
AU - Sreekumar,AK
AU - Kelley,LZ
AU - Kerr,M
AU - Key,JS
AU - Laal,N
AU - Lam,MT
AU - Lamb,WG
AU - Larsen,B
AU - Lazio,TJW
AU - Lewandowska,N
AU - Liu,T
AU - Lorimer,DR
AU - Luo,J
AU - Lynch,RS
AU - Ma,CP
AU - Madison,DR
AU - Martsen,A
AU - Matt,C
AU - McEwen,A
AU - McKee,JW
AU - McLaughlin,MA
AU - McMann,N
AU - Meyers,BW
AU - Meyers,PM
AU - Miles,MT
AU - Mingarelli,CMF
AU - Mitridate,A
AU - Ng,C
AU - Nice,DJ
AU - Nichols,SA
AU - Ocker,SK
AU - Oliver,DJ
AU - Olum,KD
AU - Pennucci,TT
AU - Perera,BBP
AU - Petrov,P
AU - Radovan,HA
AU - Ransom,SM
AU - Ray,PS
AU - Romano,JD
AU - Runnoe,JC
AU - Saffer,A
AU - Sardesai,SC
AU - Schmiedekamp,A
AU - Schmiedekamp,C
AU - Schmitz,K
AU - Schult,L
AU - Shapiro-Albert,BJ
AU - Siemens,X
AU - Simon,J
DO - 1538-4357/ae9759
PY - 2026///
SN - 0004-637X
TI - Pulsar Timing Array Sensitivity to Anisotropy: Empirical Sensitivity Curves, Scaling Relations, and the Multi-resolution Pixel Basis
T2 - Astrophysical Journal
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae9759
VL - 1008
ER -