The European Pulsar Timing Array: current efforts and a LEAP toward the future

Understand

The European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) is a multi-institutional, multi-telescope collaboration, with the goal of using high-precision pulsar timing to directly detect gravitational waves.

• In this article we discuss the EPTA member telescopes, current achieved timing precision, and near-future goals.
• We report a preliminary upper limit to the amplitude of a gravitational wave background.
• We also discuss the Large European Array for Pulsars, in which the five major European telescopes involved in pulsar timing will be combined to provide a coherent array that will give similar sensitivity to the Arecibo radio telescope, and larger sky coverage.