Science with the Next-Generation VLA and Pulsar Timing Arrays

Abstract: Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) can be used to detect and study gravitational waves in the nanohertz band (i.e., wavelengths of order light-years). This requires high-precision, decades-long data sets from sensitive, instrumentally stable telescopes. NANOGrav and its collaborators in the International Pulsar Timing Array consortium are on the verge of the first detection of the stochastic background produced by supermassive binary black holes, which form via the mergers of massive galaxies. By providing Northern hemisphere sky coverage with exquisite sensitivity and higher frequency coverage compared to the SKA, a Next-Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) will be a fundamental component in the next phase of nanohertz GW astrophysics, enabling detailed characterization of the stochastic background and the detection of individual sources contributing to the background, as well as detections of (or stringent constraints on) cosmic strings and other exotica. Here we summarize the scientific goals of PTAs and the technical requirements for the ngVLA to play a significant role in the characterization of the nanohertz gravitational wave universe.