Pulsar timing array (PTA) uses long-term monitoring of ultra-stable millisecond pulsars to search for gravitational wave (GW) signal in the nano-Hz band. The recently detected common red noise could potentially be a stochastic GW signal.  Such a signal could be generated by a population of supper-massive black hole binaries or by violent processes in the early Universe. We will assume that this signal was produced by a network of cosmic strings and infer their properties using observational data. 

Within this project, a student is expected to get the basic knowledge about strings and the mechanism responsible for producing stochastic GW signal. The parameters of the string network will be mapped to the spectral properties of a stochastic signal which will be inferred using European Pulsar Timing Array data. Student will get familiar with PTA data and the main data analysis methods. Good working knowledge of python programming is essential.

The internship will be co-supervised by Prof. D. Steer.
(The candidate is already pre-selected.)