The double neutron star PSR J1946+2052 I. Masses and tests of general relativity

Abstract

We conducted high-precision timing of PSR J1946+2052 to determine the masses of the two neutron stars in the system, test general relativity (GR) and assessed the system's potential for future measurement of the moment of inertia of the pulsar. We analysed seven years of timing data from the Arecibo 305-m radio telescope, the Green Bank Telescope (GBT), and the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST). The data processing accounted for dispersion measure variations and relativistic spin precession-induced profile evolution. We employed both DDFWHE and DDGR binary models to measure the spin parameters, kinematic parameters and orbital parameters. The timing campaign has resulted in the precise measurement of five post-Keplerian parameters, which yield very precise masses for the system and three tests of general relativity. One of these is the second most precise test of the radiative properties of gravity to date: the intrinsic orbital decay, $\dot{P}_{\rm b,int}=-1.8288(16)\times10^{-12}\rm\,s\,s^{-1}$, represents $1.00005(91)$ of the GR prediction, indicating that the theory has passed this stringent test. The other two tests, of the Shapiro delay parameters, have precisions of 6\% and 5\% respectively; this is caused by the moderate orbital inclination of the system, $\sim 74^{\circ}$; the measurements of the Shapiro delay parameters also agree with the GR predictions. Additionally, we analysed the higher-order contributions of $\dot{\omega}$, including the Lense-Thirring contribution. Both the second post-Newtonian and the Lense-Thirring contributions are larger than the current uncertainty of $\dot{\omega}$ ($\delta\dot{\omega}=4\times10^{-4}\,\rm deg\,yr^{-1}$), leading to the higher-order correction for the total mass.