The NANOGrav 15 yr Data Set: Search for Gravitational-wave Memory

Authors

• Gabriella Agazie, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• Akash Anumarlapudi, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• Anne M. Archibald, Newcastle University
• Zaven Arzoumanian, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• Jeremy G. Baier, Oregon State University
• Paul T. Baker, Widener University
• Bence Bécsy, Oregon State University
• Laura Blecha, University of Florida
• Adam Brazier, Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science
• Paul R. Brook, University of Birmingham
• Sarah Burke-Spolaor, West Virginia University
• Rand Burnette, Oregon State University
• J. Andrew Casey-Clyde, University of Connecticut
• Maria Charisi, Vanderbilt University
• Shami Chatterjee, Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science
• Tyler Cohen, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
• James M. Cordes, Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science
• Neil J. Cornish, Montana State University
• Fronefield Crawford, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster
• H. Thankful Cromartie, National Academy of Sciences
• Kathryn Crowter, The University of British Columbia

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Astrophysical Journal

Department

Physics

ISSN

15384357

Volume

987

Issue

1

DOI

10.3847/1538-4357/add874

First Page

1

Last Page

10

Publication Date

6-23-2025

Abstract

We present the results of a search for nonlinear gravitational-wave (GW) memory in the NANOGrav 15 yr data set. We find no significant evidence for memory signals in the data set, with a maximum Bayes factor of 3.1 in favor of a model including memory. We therefore place upper limits on the strain of potential GW memory events as a function of sky location and observing epoch. We find upper limits that are not always more constraining than previous NANOGrav results. We show that it is likely due to the increase in common red noise between the 12.5 and 15 yr NANOGrav data sets.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Agazie, Gabriella; Anumarlapudi, Akash; Archibald, Anne M.; Arzoumanian, Zaven; Baier, Jeremy G.; Baker, Paul T.; Bécsy, Bence; Blecha, Laura; Brazier, Adam; Brook, Paul R.; Burke-Spolaor, Sarah; Burnette, Rand; Casey-Clyde, J. Andrew; Charisi, Maria; Chatterjee, Shami; Cohen, Tyler; Cordes, James M.; Cornish, Neil J.; Crawford, Fronefield; Cromartie, H. Thankful; and Crowter, Kathryn, "The NANOGrav 15 yr Data Set: Search for Gravitational-wave Memory" (2025). Pacific Faculty Work. 111.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/all-faculty/111