Pulsar Timing Array

A pulsar timing array uses multiple millisecond pulsars as a distributed network of gravitational wave detectors across the galaxy. Proposed theoretically by Stephen Detweiler in 1979, this method exploits the extraordinary timing precision of pulsars to detect the subtle spacetime distortions caused by gravitational waves. In 2023, the first evidence for a stochastic background of gravitational waves was announced using pulsar timing arrays.