arXiv subjects

D. J. Nice

Publications and source records attributed to D. J. Nice.

54 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2011

Arecibo PALFA Survey and Einstein@Home: Binary Pulsar Discovery by Volunteer Computing

We report the discovery of the 20.7 ms binary pulsar J1952+2630, made using the distributed computing project Einstein@Home in Pulsar ALFA survey observations with the Arecibo telescope. Follow-up observations with the Arecibo telescope confirm the binary nature of the system. We obtain a circular orbital solution with an orbital period of 9.4 hr, a projected orbital radius of 2.8 lt-s, and a mass function of f = 0.15 solar masses by analysis of spin period measurements. No evidence of orbital eccentricity is apparent; we set a 2-sigma upper limit e < 1.7e-3. The orbital parameters suggest a massive white dwarf companion with a minimum mass of 0.95 solar masses, assuming a pulsar mass of 1.4 solar masses. Most likely, this pulsar belongs to the rare class of intermediate mass binary pulsars. Future timing observations will aim to determine the parameters of this system further, measure relativistic effects, and elucidate the nature of the companion star.

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arXiv2010

Pulsars with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder

The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) is a 36-element array with a 30-square-degree field of view being built at the proposed SKA site in Western Australia. We are conducting a Design Study for pulsar observations with ASKAP, planning both timing and search observations. We provide an overview of the ASKAP telescope and an update on pulsar-related progress.

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arXiv2010

Measuring the mass of solar system planets using pulsar timing

High-precision pulsar timing relies on a solar-system ephemeris in order to convert times of arrival (TOAs) of pulses measured at an observatory to the solar system barycenter. Any error in the conversion to the barycentric TOAs leads to a systematic variation in the observed timing residuals; specifically, an incorrect planetary mass leads to a predominantly sinusoidal variation having a period and phase associated with the planet's orbital motion about the Sun. By using an array of pulsars (PSRs J0437-4715, J1744-1134, J1857+0943, J1909-3744), the masses of the planetary systems from Mercury to Saturn have been determined. These masses are consistent with the best-known masses determined by spacecraft observations, with the mass of the Jovian system, 9.547921(2)E-4 Msun, being significantly more accurate than the mass determined from the Pioneer and Voyager spacecraft, and consistent with but less accurate than the value from the Galileo spacecraft. While spacecraft are likely to produce the most accurate measurements for individual solar system bodies, the pulsar technique is sensitive to planetary system masses and has the potential to provide the most accurate values of these masses for some planets.

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arXiv2010

Pulsar Discovery by Global Volunteer Computing

Einstein@Home aggregates the computer power of hundreds of thousands of volunteers from 192 countries to "mine" large data sets. It has now found a 40.8 Hz isolated pulsar in radio survey data from the Arecibo Observatory taken in February 2007. Additional timing observations indicate that this pulsar is likely a disrupted recycled pulsar. PSR J2007+2722's pulse profile is remarkably wide with emission over almost the entire spin period; the pulsar likely has closely aligned magnetic and spin axes. The massive computing power provided by volunteers should enable many more such discoveries.

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arXiv2009

Arecibo Pulsar Survey Using ALFA: Probing Radio Pulsar Intermittency and Transients

We present radio transient search algorithms, results, and statistics from the ongoing Arecibo Pulsar ALFA (PALFA) Survey of the Galactic plane. We have discovered seven objects by detecting isolated dispersed pulses and one of the new discoveries has a duty cycle of 0.01%, the smallest known. The impact of selection effects on the detectability and classification of intermittent sources is discussed, and the relative efficiencies of periodicity vs. single pulse searches are compared for various pulsar classes. We find that scintillation, off-axis detection and few rotation periods within an observation may misrepresent normal periodic pulsars as intermittent sources. Finally, we derive constraints on transient pulse rate and flux density from the PALFA survey parameters and results.

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arXiv2008

Multi-telescope timing of PSR J1518+4904

PSR J1518+4904 is one of only 9 known double neutron star systems. These systems are highly valuable for measuring the masses of neutron stars, measuring the effects of gravity, and testing gravitational theories. We determine an improved timing solution for a mildly relativistic double neutron star system, combining data from multiple telescopes. We set better constraints on relativistic parameters and the separate masses of the system, and discuss the evolution of PSR J1518+4904 in the context of other double neutron star systems. PSR J1518+4904 has been regularly observed for more than 10 years by the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) network using the Westerbork, Jodrell Bank, Effelsberg and Nancay radio telescopes. The data were analysed using the updated timing software Tempo2. We have improved the timing solution for this double neutron star system. The periastron advance has been refined and a significant detection of proper motion is presented. It is not likely that more post-Keplerian parameters, with which the individual neutron star masses and the inclination angle of the system can be determined separately, can be measured in the near future. Using a combination of the high-quality data sets present in the EPTA collaboration, extended with the original GBT data, we have constrained the masses in the system to m_p<1.17 msun and m_c>1.55 msun (95.4% confidence), and the inclination angle of the orbit to be less than 47 degrees (99%). From this we derive that the pulsar in this system possibly has one of the lowest neutron star masses measured to date. From evolutionary considerations it seems likely that the companion star, despite its high mass, was formed in an electron-capture supernova.

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arXiv2008

PSR J1856+0245: Arecibo Discovery of a Young, Energetic Pulsar Coincident with the TeV Gamma-ray Source HESS J1857+026

We present the discovery of the Vela-like radio pulsar J1856+0245 in the Arecibo PALFA survey. PSR J1856+0245 has a spin period of 81ms, a characteristic age of 21kyr, and a spin-down luminosity Edot = 4.6 x 10^36 ergs/s. It is positionally coincident with the TeV gamma-ray source HESS J1857+026, which has no other known counterparts. Young, energetic pulsars create wind nebulae, and more than a dozen pulsar wind nebulae have been associated with very-high-energy (100GeV-100TeV) gamma-ray sources discovered with the HESS telescope. The gamma-ray emission seen from HESS J1857+026 is potentially produced by a pulsar wind nebula powered by PSR J1856+0245; faint X-ray emission detected by ASCA at the pulsar's position supports this hypothesis. The inferred gamma-ray efficiency is epsilon_gamma = L_gamma/Edot = 3.1% (1-10TeV, for a distance of 9kpc), comparable to that observed in similar associations.

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arXiv2008

An Eccentric Binary Millisecond Pulsar in the Galactic Plane

Binary pulsar systems are superb probes of stellar and binary evolution and the physics of extreme environments. In a survey with the Arecibo telescope, we have found PSR J1903+0327, a radio pulsar with a rotational period of 2.15 ms in a highly eccentric (e = 0.44) 95-day orbit around a solar mass companion. Infrared observations identify a possible main-sequence companion star. Conventional binary stellar evolution models predict neither large orbital eccentricities nor main-sequence companions around millisecond pulsars. Alternative formation scenarios involve recycling a neutron star in a globular cluster then ejecting it into the Galactic disk or membership in a hierarchical triple system. A relativistic analysis of timing observations of the pulsar finds its mass to be 1.74+/-0.04 Msun, an unusually high value.

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arXiv2007

Observed luminosity difference between isolated and binary MSPs

We perform a brief census of velocities of isolated versus binary millisecond pulsars. We find the velocities of the two populations are indistinguishable. However, the scale height of the binary population is twice that of the isolated population and the luminosity functions of the two populations are different. We suggest that the scale height difference may be an artifact of the luminosity difference. We examine the magnetic fields of the two populations as a possible source of the luminosity difference.

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arXiv2006

Arecibo and the ALFA Pulsar Survey

The recently started Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFA) pulsar survey aims to find ~1000 new pulsars. Due to its high time and frequency resolution the survey is especially sensitive to millisecond pulsars, which have the potential to test gravitational theories, detect gravitational waves and probe the neutron-star equation of state. Here we report the results of our preliminary analysis: in the first months we have discovered 21 new pulsars. One of these, PSR J1906+0746, is a young 144-ms pulsar in a highly relativistic 3.98-hr low-eccentricity orbit. The 2.61 +- 0.02 solar-mass system is expected to coalesce in ~300 Myr and contributes significantly to the computed cosmic inspiral rate of compact binary systems.

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arXiv2005

The young, highly relativistic binary pulsar J1906+0746

We report the discovery of PSR J1906+0746, a young 144-ms pulsar in a highly relativistic 3.98-hr orbit with an eccentricity of 0.085 and expected gravitational wave coalescence time of 300 Myr. The new pulsar was found during precursor survey observations with the Arecibo 1.4-GHz feed array system and retrospectively detected in the Parkes Multibeam plane pulsar survey data. From radio follow-up observations with Arecibo, Jodrell Bank, Green Bank, and Parkes, we have measured the spin-down and binary parameters of the pulsar and its basic spectral and polarization properties. We also present evidence for pulse profile evolution, which is likely due to geodetic precession, a relativistic effect caused by the misalignment of the pulsar spin and total angular momentum vectors. Our measurements show that PSR J1906+0746 is a young object with a characteristic age of 112 kyr. From the measured rate of orbital periastron advance 7.57+/-0.03 deg/yr, we infer a total system mass of 2.61+/-0.02 Msun. While these parameters suggest that the PSR J1906+0746 binary system might be a younger version of the double pulsar system, intensive searches for radio pulses from the companion have so far been unsuccessful. It is therefore not known whether the companion is another neutron star or a massive white dwarf. Regardless of the nature of the companion, a simple calculation suggests that the Galactic birth rate of binaries similar to PSR J1906+0746 is 60/Myr. This implies that PSR J1906+0746 will make a significant contribution to the computed cosmic inspiral rate of compact binary systems.

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arXiv2005

Arecibo Pulsar Survey Using ALFA. I. Survey Strategy and First Discoveries

We report results from the initial stage of a long-term pulsar survey of the Galactic plane using the Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFA), a seven-beam receiver operating at 1.4 GHz with 0.3 GHz bandwidth. The search targets Galactic latitudes |b| < 5 deg in the longitude ranges 32 deg < l < 77 deg and 168 deg < l < 77 deg. Data discussed here were collected over a 100 MHz passband centered on 1.42 GHz using a spectrometer that recorded 256 channels every 64 microsec. In a preliminary, standard period-DM analysis, we have detected 29 previously known pulsars and discovered 11 new ones. One of these, with a period of 69 ms and a low characteristic age of 82 kyr, is a plausible candidate for association with the unidentified EGRET source 3EG J1928+1733. Another is a non-recycled pulsar in a relativistic binary with orbital period of 3.98 hr. We also search the data for isolated dispersed pulses, a technique that yielded discovery of an extremely sporadic radio emitter with a spin period of 1.2 s. Simulations we have carried out indicate that about 1000 new pulsars will be found in the ALFA survey. In addition to providing a large sample for use in population analyses and for probing the magnetoionic interstellar medium, the survey maximizes the chances of finding rapidly spinning millisecond pulsars and pulsars in compact binary systems. Our search algorithms will exploit the multiple data streams from ALFA to discriminate between radio frequency interference and celestial signals, including pulsars and possibly new classes of transient radio sources.

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arXiv2000

A Baseband Recorder for Radio Pulsar Observations

Digital signal recorders are becoming widely used in several subfields of centimetre-wavelength radio astronomy. We review the benefits and design considerations of such systems and describe the Princeton Mark IV instrument, an implementation designed for coherent-dedispersion pulsar observations. Features of this instrument include corrections for the distortions caused by coarse quantization of the incoming signal, as well algorithms which effectively excise both narrowband and broadband radio-frequency interference. Observations at 430 MHz using the Mark IV system in parallel with a system using a 250 kHz filter bank and incoherent dedispersion demonstrated timing precision improvement by a factor of 3 or better for typical millisecond pulsars.

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arXiv1999

Recent Arecibo Timing of the Relativistic Binary PSR B1534+12

We present a new timing solution for PSR B1534+12, based on coherently-dedispersed observations at Jodrell Bank and, recently, Arecibo. The new data have resulted in improved measurements of the post-Keplerian timing parameters, including the orbital period derivative. At present, the poorly-known distance to the pulsar limits the precision of the measurement of the intrinsic orbital period derivative, and hence the strength of the test of general relativity that results from this binary system. By assuming that general relativity is the correct theory of gravity, we may invert the test and find an improved value of the pulsar distance.

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arXiv1999

Profile instabilities of the millisecond pulsar PSR J1022+1001

We present evidence that the integrated profiles of some millisecond pulsars exhibit severe changes that are inconsistent with the moding phenomenon as known from slowly rotating pulsars. We study these profile instabilities in particular for PSR J1022+1001 and show that they occur smoothly, exhibiting longer time constants than those associated with moding. In addition, the profile changes of this pulsar seem to be associated with a relatively narrow-band variation of the pulse shape. Only parts of the integrated profile participate in this process which suggests that the origin of this phenomenon is intrinsic to the pulsar magnetosphere and unrelated to the interstellar medium. A polarization study rules out profile changes due to geometrical effects produced by any sort of precession. However, changes are observed in the circularly polarized radiation component. In total we identify four recycled pulsars which also exhibit instabilities in the total power or polarization profiles due to an unknown phenomenon (PSRs J1022+1001, J1730-2304, B1821-24, J2145-0750). The consequences for high precision pulsar timing are discussed in view of the standard assumption that the integrated profiles of millisecond pulsars are stable. As a result we present a new method to determine pulse times-of-arrival that involves an adjustment of relative component amplitudes of the template profile. Applying this method to PSR J1022+1001, we obtain an improved timing solution with a proper motion measurement of -17 \pm 2 mas/yr in ecliptic longitude. Assuming a distance to the pulsar as inferred from the dispersion measure this corresponds to an one-dimensional space velocity of 50 km/s.

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arXiv1998

Radio Pulses along the Galactic Plane

We have surveyed 68 deg^2 along the Galactic Plane for single, dispersed radio pulses. Each of 3027 independent pointings was observed for 68 s using the Arecibo telescope at 430 MHz. Spectra were collected at intervals of 0.5 ms and examined for pulses with duration 0.5 to 8 ms. Such single pulse analysis is the most sensitive method of detecting highly scattered or highly dispersed signals from pulsars with large pulse-to-pulse intensity variations. A total of 36 individual pulses from five previously known pulsars were detected, along with a single pulse not associated with a previously known source. Follow-up observations discovered a pulsar, PSR J1918+08, from which the pulse originated. This pulsar has period 2.130 s and dispersion measure 30 pc cm^-3, and has been seen to emit single pulses with strength up to 8 times the average.

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arXiv1997

Measurement of Relativistic Orbital Decay in the PSR B1534+12 Binary System

We have made timing observations of binary pulsar PSR B1534+12 with radio telescopes at Arecibo, Green Bank, and Jodrell Bank. By combining our new observations with data collected up to seven years earlier, we obtain a significantly improved solution for the astrometric, spin, and orbital parameters of the system. For the first time in any binary pulsar system, no fewer than five relativistic or "post-Keplerian" orbital parameters are measurable with useful accuracies in a theory-independent way. We find the orbital period of the system to be decreasing at a rate close to that expected from gravitational radiation damping, according to general relativity, although the precision of this test is limited to about 15% by the otherwise poorly known distance to the pulsar. The remaining post-Keplerian parameters are all consistent with one another and all but one of them have fractional accuracies better than 1%. By assuming that general relativity is the correct theory of gravity, at least to the accuracy demanded by this experiment, we find the masses of the pulsar and companion star each to be 1.339+-0.003 Msun and the system's distance to be d = 1.1+-0.2 kpc, marginally larger than the d ~ 0.7 kpc estimated from the dispersion measure. The increased distance reduces estimates of the projected rate of coalescence of double neutron-star systems in the universe, a quantity of considerable interest for experiments with terrestrial gravitational wave detectors such as LIGO.

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arXiv1996

PSR J1518+4904: A Mildly Relativistic Binary Pulsar System

PSR J1518+4904 is a recently discovered 40.9~ms pulsar in an 8.6 day, moderately eccentric orbit. We have measured pulse arrival times for this pulsar over 1.4~yr at several radio frequencies, from which we have derived high precision rotational, astrometric, and orbital parameters. The upper limit for the period derivative of the pulsar, dP/dt<4x10^-20, gives a characteristic age of at least 1.6x10^10 yr, among the highest known. We find the orbit to be precessing at a rate of 0.0111+-0.0002 yr^-1, which yields a total system mass (pulsar plus companion) of 2.62+-0.07 M_solar according to general relativity. Further analysis of the orbital parameters yields a firm upper limit of 1.75 M_solar on the pulsar mass and constrains the companion mass to the range 0.9 to 2.7 M_solar. These masses, together with the sizable orbital eccentricity and other evidence, strongly suggest that the companion is a second neutron star.

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