标题： 毫秒脉冲星的长期时间特性与引力波探测 显示英文标题

标题： Long-Term Timing of Millisecond Pulsars and Gravitational Wave Detection

摘要： （摘要）本论文介绍了对20颗毫秒脉冲星（MSPs）的长期计时结果。 已经预测这种计时可能检测到引力波（GWs）——广义相对论的一个主要（但尚未验证）预测。 我们的结果表明，大多数研究的MSPs具有足够的稳定性以实现此类检测实验。 此外，最亮的几个源的计时数据表明，亚100纳秒精度的计时可能是可行的，因此在今后十年内检测到GWs的可能性很大。 最后，我们利用数据对预测的GWs背景强度设定了一个严格的限制。 显示英文摘要

摘要： (Abridged) This thesis presents long-term timing results on 20 millisecond pulsars (MSPs). It has been predicted that such timing may detect gravitational waves (GWs) - a major (but untested) prediction of general relativity. Our results demonstrate that most of the investigated MSPs have sufficient stability to enable such detection experiments. Furthermore, the timing data of the brightest few sources shows that timing at sub-100 ns precision may be achievable and that, therefore, GW detection within the next decade is likely. Finally, we use our data to place a strong limit on the strength of a predicted background of GWs.