We report a new pulsar population synthesis based on Monte Carlo techniques,
aiming to estimate the contribution of galactic radio pulsars to the continuous
gravitational wave emission. Assuming that the rotation periods of pulsars at
birth have a Gaussian distribution, we find that the average initial period is
290 ms. The number of objects with periods equal to or less than 0.4 s, and
therefore capable of being detected by an interferometric gravitational antenna
like VIRGO, is of the order of 5100-7800. With integration times lasting
between 2 and 3 yr, our simulations suggest that about two detections should be
possible, if the mean equatorial ellipticity of the pulsars is ϵ
=10−6. A mean ellipticity an order of magnitude higher increases the
expected number of detections to 12-18, whereas for ϵ<10−6, no
detections are expectedComment: accepted for publication in A&A, 9 pages, 8 figure
