The NANOGrav 15 yr Data Set: Search for Transverse Polarization Modes in the Gravitational-wave Background
Authors: Agazie Gabriella , Anumarlapudi Akash , Archibald Anne M. , Arzoumanian Zaven , Baier Jeremy , Baker Paul T. , Bécsy Bence , Blecha Laura , Brazier Adam , Brook Paul R. , Burke-Spolaor Sarah , Burnette Rand , Case Robin , Casey-Clyde J. Andrew , Charisi Maria , Chatterjee Shami , Cohen Tyler , Cordes James M. , Cornish Neil J. , Crawford Fronefield , Cromartie H. Thankful , Crowter Kathryn , DeCesar Megan E. , DeGan Dallas , Demorest Paul B. , Dolch Timothy , Drachler Brendan , Ferrara Elizabeth C. , Fiore William , Fonseca Emmanuel , Freedman Gabriel E. , Garver-Daniels Nate , Gentile Peter A. , Glaser Joseph , Good Deborah C. , Gültekin Kayhan , Hazboun Jeffrey S. , Jennings Ross J. , Johnson Aaron D. , Jones Megan L. , Kaiser Andrew R. , Kaplan David L. , Kelley Luke Zoltan , Kerr Matthew , Key Joey S. , Laal Nima , Lam Michael T. , Lamb William G. , Lazio T. Joseph W. , Lewandowska Natalia , Liu Tingting , Lorimer Duncan R. , Luo Jing , Lynch Ryan S. , Ma Chung-Pei , Madison Dustin R. , McEwen Alexander , McKee James W. , McLaughlin Maura A. , McMann Natasha , Meyers Bradley W. , Mingarelli Chiara M. F. , Mitridate Andrea , Natarajan Priyamvada , Ng Cherry , Nice David J. , Ocker Stella Koch , Olum Ken D. , Pennucci Timothy T. , Perera Benetge B. P. , Pol Nihan S. , Radovan Henri A. , Ransom Scott M. , Ray Paul S. , Romano Joseph D. , Saffer Alexander , Sardesai Shashwat C. , Schmiedekamp Ann , Schmiedekamp Carl , Schmitz Kai , Shapiro-Albert Brent J. , Siemens Xavier , Simon Joseph , Siwek Magdalena S. , Stairs Ingrid H. , Stinebring Daniel R. , Stovall Kevin , Sun Jerry P. , Susobhanan Abhimanyu , Swiggum Joseph K. , Taylor Jacob A. , Taylor Stephen R. , Turner Jacob E. , Unal Caner , Vallisneri Michele , Vigeland Sarah J. , Wahl Haley M. , Witt Caitlin A. , Young Olivia ,   The NANOGrav Collaboration
Published: March 2024

Recently we found compelling evidence for a gravitational-wave background with Hellings and Downs (HD) correlations in our 15 yr data set. These correlations describe gravitational waves as predicted by general relativity, which has two transverse polarization modes. However, more general metric theories of gravity can have additional polarization modes, which produce different interpulsar correlations. In this work, we search the NANOGrav 15 yr data set for evidence of a gravitational-wave background with quadrupolar HD and scalar-transverse (ST) correlations. We find that HD correlations are the best fit to the data and no significant evidence in favor of ST correlations. While Bayes factors show strong evidence for a correlated signal, the data does not strongly prefer either correlation signature, with Bayes factors ∼2 when comparing HD to ST correlations, and ∼1 for HD plus ST correlations to HD correlations alone. However, when modeled alongside HD correlations, the amplitude and spectral index posteriors for ST correlations are uninformative, with the HD process accounting for the vast majority of the total signal. Using the optimal statistic, a frequentist technique that focuses on the pulsar-pair cross-correlations, we find median signal-to-noise ratios of 5.0 for HD and 4.6 for ST correlations when fit for separately, and median signal-to-noise ratios of 3.5 for HD and 3.0 for ST correlations when fit for simultaneously. While the signal-to-noise ratios for each of the correlations are comparable, the estimated amplitude and spectral index for HD are a significantly better fit to the total signal, in agreement with our Bayesian analysis.