Robust parameter estimation from pulsar timing data

Understand

Recently, global pulsar timing arrays have released results from searching for a nano-Hertz gravitational wave background signal.

• Although there has not been any definite evidence of the presence of such a signal in residuals of pulsar timing data yet, with more and improved data in future, a statistically significant detection is expected to be made.
• Stochastic algorithms are used to sample a very large parameter space to infer results from data.
• In this paper, we attempt to rule out effects arising from the stochasticity of the sampler in the inference process.