arXiv subjects

M. Bailes

Publications and source records attributed to M. Bailes.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Radio timing constraints on the orbital orientation and component masses of PSR J1455$-$3330

PSR J1455$-$3330 is a $\sim$7.98 ms pulsar in a $\sim$76.17 day nearly circular orbit with a white dwarf companion. In this work, we combine the available Lovell, Nan\c{c}ay decimetric Radio Telescope, Green Bank, and MeerKAT pulsar timing data spanning $\sim$ 30 years to measure the kinematic and relativistic effects of PSR J1455$-$3330 to constrain its 3D orbital geometry and component masses. We detect a relativistic Shapiro delay signal. We measure a significant orthometric amplitude $h_3 = 0.307^{+0.022}_{-0.026}$ $\mu$s and an orthometric ratio $\varsigma = 0.551^{+0.057}_{-0.054}$. We measure the change in projected semi-major axis $\dot{x} = -202.1^{+2.5}_{-2.7} \times10^{-16} \, \rm s\,s^{-1}$ with high significance, parallax, $\varpi$ = 1.11(6) mas, parallax derived distance 0.90(5) kpc, and a precise total proper motion magnitude of 12.432(2) mas yr$^{-1}$. A self-consistent analysis of all kinematic and relativistic effects, assuming general relativity, yields two solutions: (1) a pulsar mass $M_{\rm p} = 1.39^{+0.38}_{-0.18}\, \rm M_{\odot}$, a companion mass $M_{\rm c} = 0.293^{+0.056}_{-0.026}$ $\rm M_{\odot}$, an orbital inclination, $i = 63(2)^{\circ}$, and longitude of the ascending node, $\Omega = 212(12)^{\circ}$ or (2) a pulsar mass $M_{\rm p} = 1.53^{+1.10}_{-0.22} \, \rm M_{\odot}$, a companion mass $M_{\rm c} = 0.309^{+0.163}_{-0.026}\, \rm M_{\odot}$, an orbital inclination, $i = 123(4)^{\circ}$, and longitude of the ascending node, $\Omega = 334(12)^{\circ}$. All uncertainties represent the 68.27$\%$ credibility region. These results strongly favour a helium-dominated white dwarf companion.

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arXiv2025

Scintillating insights into PSR~J0737$-$3039A and the interstellar plasma of the Gum Nebula from MeerKAT

The double pulsar system PSR~J0737$-$3039A/B has enabled some of the most precise tests of strong-field gravity to date. Here, we present a scintillation analysis of the system based on an 18-month observation campaign with the MeerKAT radio telescope. We characterise this interference pattern to infer properties of scattering plasma and the orbital geometry of the system. Our preferred model supports a scattering screen located at a distance of $D_s = 360^{+30}_{-40}$ pc. This moderately anisotropic screen of ionized gas (axial ratio $A_R = 2.4 \pm 0.2$) lies near the edge of the Gum Nebula, which is believed to be a supernova remnant (SNR) or an \HII\, region. We estimate the expansion velocity of the nebula to be $V_{\textrm{s}} = 35 \pm 5$ km s$^{-1}$, implying a SNR age of $t \approx 1$ Myr. We also constrain the orbital orientation and inclination sense of the double pulsar to be $\Omega = 40^{\circ} \pm 3^{\circ}$ and $i > 90^{\circ}$, respectively. Assuming standard scattering geometry, our model yields a distance estimate consistent with the parallax-derived value of $D = 770 \pm 70$ pc from very long baseline interferometry. We conclude by discussing how future models of pulsar scintillation can enhance our understanding of the IISM and the properties of pulsars embedded within or lying behind such intervening structures.

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arXiv2025

First results from the UTMOST-NS pulsar timing programme

The UTMOST-NS pulsar timing programme operated at the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope from April 2021 to June 2023, observing 173 pulsars with an average cadence of 50 pulsars per day. An overview of the programme is presented, detailing the hardware, software, and observing strategy. Pulsar timing results are discussed, focusing on timing noise and glitches. It is shown that the scaling of residuals due to timing noise with pulsar parameters and observing timespan is consistent with earlier studies, and that the recovered timing noise parameters remain consistent as the observing timespan is increased. Second frequency derivatives are investigated, and it is shown that the uncertainty on $\ddot{\nu}$ is sensitive to the frequency cutoff in the timing noise model, varying by three-fold approximately depending on whether Fourier modes with frequency lower than the reciprocal of the observing timespan are included. We measure 39 non-zero values of $\ddot{\nu}$ when considering both models with and without low-frequency modes. An analytic scaling relating anomalous braking indices to timing noise amplitude is also validated. Glitches in the sample are discussed, including three detected by an ``online'' glitch detection pipeline using a hidden Markov model (HMM). In total 17 glitches are discussed, one of which, in PSR J1902+0615, has not been reported elsewhere. An ``offline'' glitch search pipeline using the HMM framework is used to search for previously undetected glitches. Systematic upper limits are set on the size of undetected glitches. The mean upper limit is $\Delta\nu^{90\%}/\nu = 6.3 \times 10^{-9}$ at 90\% confidence.

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arXiv2025

NGC 1851A: Revealing an ongoing three-body encounter in a dense globular cluster

PSR J0514$-$4002A is a binary millisecond pulsar located in the globular cluster NGC 1851. The pulsar has a spin period of 4.99 ms, an orbital period of 18.8 days, and is in a very eccentric ($e = 0.89$) orbit around a massive companion. In this work, we present the updated timing analysis of this system, obtained with an additional 1 yr of monthly observations using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope and 2.5 yrs of observations using the MeerKAT telescope. This has allowed for a precise measurement of the proper motion of the system, implying a transverse velocity of $30\,\pm\,7\,\mathrm{km}\,\mathrm{s}^{-1}$ relative to the cluster. This is smaller than the cluster's escape velocity and consistent with the pulsar's association to NGC 1851. We have confirmed a large second spin frequency derivative and large associated jerk, which has increased the spin frequency derivative by a factor of 27 since the mid-2000s. The third spin frequency derivative showed that the strength of this jerk has increased by $\sim 65\%$ in the same time period. We take the effect of the changing acceleration into account and this allows for much improved estimates of the orbital period derivative. The large and fast-increasing jerk implies the presence of a third body in the vicinity of the pulsar (no counterpart is detectable within distance limit in HST images). Based on our measured parameters, we constrain the mass, distance and orbital parameters for this third body. The induced tidal contributions to the post-Keplerian parameters are small, and the precise measurement of these parameters allowed us to obtain precise mass measurements for the system: $M_\mathrm{tot} = 2.4734(3)$ M$_{\odot}$, $M_\mathrm{p} = 1.39(3)$ M$_{\odot}$, $M_\mathrm{c} = 1.08(3)$ M$_{\odot}$. This indicates that the pulsar's companion is a massive white dwarf and resolves the earlier ambiguity regarding its nature.

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arXiv2024

The High Time Resolution Universe Pulsar Survey-XIX. A coherent GPU accelerated reprocessing and the discovery of 71 pulsars in the Southern Galactic plane

We have conducted a GPU accelerated reprocessing of $\sim 87\%$ of the archival data from the High Time Resolution Universe South Low Latitude (HTRU-S LowLat) pulsar survey by implementing a pulsar search pipeline that was previously used to reprocess the Parkes Multibeam pulsar survey (PMPS). We coherently searched the full 72-min observations of the survey with an acceleration search range up to $|50|\, \rm m\,s^{-2}$, which is most sensitive to binary pulsars experiencing nearly constant acceleration during 72 minutes of their orbital period. Here we report the discovery of 71 pulsars, including 6 millisecond pulsars (MSPs) of which five are in binary systems, and seven pulsars with very high dispersion measures (DM $>800 \, \rm pc \, cm^{-3}$). These pulsar discoveries largely arose by folding candidates to a much lower spectral signal-to-noise ratio than previous surveys, and exploiting the coherence of folding over the incoherent summing of the Fourier components to discover new pulsars as well as candidate classification techniques. We show that these pulsars could be fainter and on average more distant as compared to both the previously reported 100 HTRU-S LowLat pulsars and background pulsar population in the survey region. We have assessed the effectiveness of our search method and the overall pulsar yield of the survey. We show that through this reprocessing we have achieved the expected survey goals including the predicted number of pulsars in the survey region and discuss the major causes as to why these pulsars were missed in previous processings of the survey.

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arXiv2024

MeerKAT observations of pair-plasma induced birefringence in the double pulsar eclipses

PSR J0737$-$3039A/B is unique among double neutron star systems. Its near-perfect edge-on orbit causes the fast spinning pulsar A to be eclipsed by the magnetic field of the slow spinning pulsar B. Using high-sensitivity MeerKAT radio observations combined with updated constraints on the system geometry, we studied the impact of these eclipses on the incident polarization properties of pulsar A. Averaging light curves together after correcting for the rotation of pulsar B revealed enormous amounts of circular polarization and rapid changes in the linear polarization position angle, which occur at phases where emission from pulsar A is partially transmitted through the magnetosphere of pulsar B. These behaviours confirm that the eclipse mechanism is the result of synchrotron absorption in a relativistic pair-plasma confined to the closed-field region of pulsar B's truncated dipolar magnetic field. We demonstrate that changes in circular polarization handedness throughout the eclipses are directly tied to the average line of sight magnetic field direction of pulsar B, from which we unambiguously determine the complete magnetic and viewing geometry of the pulsar.

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arXiv2024

Triple trouble with PSR J1618-3921: Mass measurements and orbital dynamics of an eccentric millisecond pulsar

PSR J1618-3921 is one of five known millisecond pulsars (MSPs) in eccentric orbits (eMPSs) located in the Galactic plane, whose formation is poorly understood. Earlier studies of these objects revealed significant discrepancies between observation and predictions from standard binary evolution scenarios of pulsar-Helium white dwarf binaries. We conducted observations with the L-band receiver of the MeerKAT radio telescope and the UWL receiver of the Parkes Murriyang radio telescope between 2019 and 2021. These data were added to archival observations. We perform an analysis of this joint 23-year-dataset. We use the recent observations to give a brief account of the emission properties of J1618-3921, including a Rotating Vector model fit of the linear polarisation position angle of the pulsar. The long timing baseline allowed for a highly significant measurement of the rate of advance of periastron of $\dot{\omega}$. We can only report a low significance detection of the orthometric Shapiro delay parameters $h_3$ and $\varsigma$, leading to mass estimates of the total and individual binary masses. We detect an unexpected change in the orbital period of, which is an order of magnitude larger and carries an opposite sign to what is expected from Galactic acceleration and the Shklovskii effect. We also detect a significant second derivative of the spin frequency. Furthermore, we report an unexpected, abrupt change of the mean pulse profile in June 2021 with unknown origin. We propose that the anomalous $\dot{P_b}$ and $\ddot{f}$ indicate an additional varying acceleration due to a nearby mass, i.e., the J1618-3921 binary system is likely part of a hierarchical triple. This finding suggests that at least some eMSPs might have formed in triple star systems. Although the uncertainties are large, the binary companion mass is consistent with the $P_b$ - $M_{WD}$ relation.

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arXiv2024

Eighteen new fast radio bursts in the High Time Resolution Universe survey

Current observational evidence reveals that fast radio bursts (FRBs) exhibit bandwidths ranging from a few dozen MHz to several GHz. Traditional FRB searches primarily employ matched filter methods on time series collapsed across the entire observational bandwidth. However, with modern ultra-wideband receivers featuring GHz-scale observational bandwidths, this approach may overlook a significant number of events. We investigate the efficacy of sub-banded searches for FRBs, a technique seeking bursts within limited portions of the bandwidth. These searches aim to enhance the significance of FRB detections by mitigating the impact of noise outside the targeted frequency range, thereby improving signal-to-noise ratios. We conducted a series of Monte Carlo simulations, for the $400$-MHz bandwidth Parkes 21-cm multi-beam (PMB) receiver system and the Parkes Ultra-Wideband Low (UWL) receiver, simulating bursts down to frequency widths of about $100$\,MHz. Additionally, we performed a complete reprocessing of the high-latitude segment of the High Time Resolution Universe South survey (HTRU-S) of the Parkes-Murriyang telescope using sub-banded search techniques. Simulations reveal that a sub-banded search can enhance the burst search efficiency by $67_{-42}^{+133}$ % for the PMB system and $1433_{-126}^{+143}$ % for the UWL receiver. Furthermore, the reprocessing of HTRU led to the confident detection of eighteen new bursts, nearly tripling the count of FRBs found in this survey. These results underscore the importance of employing sub-banded search methodologies to effectively address the often modest spectral occupancy of these signals.

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arXiv2024

Study of consecutive eclipses of pulsar J0024$-$7204O

The eclipses seen in the radio emission of some pulsars can be invaluable to study the properties of the material from the companion stripped away by the pulsar. We present a study of six consecutive eclipses of PSR J0024-7204O in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae as seen by the MeerKAT radio telescope in the UHF (544-1088 MHz) band. A high scintillation state boosted the signal during one of the orbits and allowed a detailed study of the eclipse properties. We measure significant dispersion measure (DM) variations and detect strong scattering that seems to be the dominating mechanism of the eclipses at these frequencies. A complete drop in the linear polarization together with a small increase in the rotation measure suggests the presence of a magnetic field of $\sim 2$ mG. The study of multiple eclipses allowed us to measure difference in the lengths of the eclipses and DM differences of $\sim 0.01$ pc cm$^{-3}$ in consecutive orbits. One orbit in particular shows a delay in recovery of the linear polarization and a visible delay in the arrival of the pulses caused by a stronger scattering event. We suggest that these are caused by a higher variance of density fluctuations during the event.

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arXiv2024

Timing of millisecond pulsars in NGC\,6752 -- III. On the presence of non-luminous matter in the cluster's core

Millisecond pulsars are subject to accelerations in globular clusters (GCs) that manifest themselves in both the first and second spin period time derivatives, and can be used to explore the mass distribution of the potentials they inhabit. Here we report on over 20 yr of pulsar timing observations of five millisecond radio pulsars in the core of the core-collapse GC NGC 6752 with the Parkes (Murriyang) and MeerKAT radio telescopes, which have allowed us to measure the proper motions, positions, and first and second time derivatives of the pulsars. The pulsar timing parameters indicate that all the pulsars in the core experience accelerations and jerks that can be explained only if an amount of nonluminous mass of at least 2.56x10^3 M_SUN is present in the core of NGC 6752. On the other hand, our studies highly disfavor the presence of an intermediate-mass black hole at the center of the cluster, with a mass equal to or greater than ~3000M_SUN.

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arXiv2024

Discovery and timing of ten new millisecond pulsars in the globular cluster Terzan 5

We report the discovery of ten new pulsars in the globular cluster Terzan 5 as part of the Transients and Pulsars with MeerKAT (TRAPUM) Large Survey Project. We observed Terzan 5 at L-band (856--1712 MHz) with the MeerKAT radio telescope for four hours on two epochs, and performed acceleration searches of 45 out of 288 tied-array beams covering the core of the cluster. We obtained phase-connected timing solutions for nine discoveries, covering nearly two decades of archival observations from the Green Bank Telescope for all but one. Highlights include PSR J1748$-$2446ao which is an eccentric ($e = 0.32$) wide-orbit (orbital period $P_{\rm b} = 57.55$ d) system. We were able to measure the rate of advance of periastron ($\dot{\omega}$) for this system allowing us to determine a total mass of $3.17 \pm \, 0.02\, \rm M_{\odot}$. With a minimum companion mass ($M_{\rm c}$) of $\sim 0.8\, \rm M_{\odot}$, PSR J1748$-$2446ao is a candidate double neutron star (DNS) system. If confirmed to be a DNS, it would be the fastest spinning pulsar ($P = 2.27$ ms) and the longest orbital period measured for any known DNS system. PSR J1748$-$2446ap has the second highest eccentricity for any recycled pulsar ($e \sim 0.905$) and for this system we can measure the total mass ($1.997 \pm 0.006\, \rm M_{\odot}$) and also estimate the individual pulsar and companion masses. PSR J1748$-$2446ar is an eclipsing redback (minimum $M_{\rm c} \sim 0.34\, \rm M_{\odot}$) system whose properties confirm it to be the counterpart to a previously published source identified in radio and X-ray imaging. With these discoveries, the total number of confirmed pulsars in Terzan 5 is 49, the highest for any globular cluster so far. These discoveries further enhance the rich set of pulsars known in Terzan 5 and provide scope for a deeper understanding of binary stellar evolution, cluster dynamics and ensemble population studies.

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arXiv2024

Discoveries and Timing of Pulsars in M62

Using MeerKAT, we have discovered three new millisecond pulsars (MSPs) in the bulge globular cluster M62: M62H, M62I, and M62J. All three are in binary systems, which means all ten known pulsars in the cluster are in binaries. M62H has a planetary-mass companion with a median mass $M_{\rm c,med} \sim 3$ M$_{\rm J}$ and a mean density of $\rho \sim 11$ g cm$^{-3}$. M62I has an orbital period of 0.51 days and a $M_{\rm c,med} \sim 0.15$ M$_{\odot}$. Neither of these low-mass systems exhibit eclipses. M62J has only been detected in the two UHF band (816 MHz) observations with a flux density $S_{816} = 0.08$ mJy. The non-detection in the L-band (1284 MHz) indicates it has a relatively steep spectrum ($\beta < -3.1$). We also present 23-yr-long timing solutions obtained using data from the Parkes "Murriyang", Effelsberg and MeerKAT telescopes for the six previously known pulsars. For all these pulsars, we measured the second spin-period derivatives and the rate of change of orbital period caused by the gravitational field of the cluster, and their proper motions. From these measurements, we conclude that the pulsars' maximum accelerations are consistent with the maximum cluster acceleration assuming a core-collapsed mass distribution. Studies of the eclipses of the redback M62B and the black widow M62E at four and two different frequency bands, respectively, reveal a frequency dependence with longer and asymmetric eclipses at lower frequencies. The presence of only binary MSPs in this cluster challenges models which suggest that the MSP population of core-collapsed clusters should be dominated by isolated MSPs.

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arXiv2024

An insight into chromatic behaviour of jitter in pulsars and its modelling: A case study of PSR J0437$-$4715

Pulse-to-pulse profile shape variations introduce correlations in pulsar times of arrival (TOAs) across radio frequency measured at the same observational epoch. This leads to a broadband noise in excess of radiometer noise, which is termed pulse jitter noise. The presence of jitter noise limits the achievable timing precision and decreases the sensitivity of pulsar-timing data sets to signals of interest such as nanohertz-frequency gravitational waves. Current white noise models used in pulsar timing analyses attempt to account for this, assuming complete correlation of uncertainties through the arrival times collected in a unique observation and no frequency dependence of jitter (which corresponds to a rank-one covariance matrix). However, previous studies show that the brightest millisecond pulsar at decimetre wavelengths, PSR J0437$-$4715, shows decorrelation and frequency dependence of jitter noise. Here we present a detailed study of the decorrelation of jitter noise in PSR J0437$-$4715 and implement a new technique to model it. We show that the rate of decorrelation due to jitter can be expressed as a power-law in frequency. We analyse the covariance matrix associated with the jitter noise process and find that a higher-rank-approximation is essential to account for the decorrelation and to account for frequency dependence of jitter noise. We show that the use of this novel method significantly improves the estimation of other chromatic noise parameters such as dispersion measure variations. However, we find no significant improvement in errors and estimation of other timing model parameters suggesting that current methods are not biased for other parameters, for this pulsar due to this misspecification. We show that pulse energy variations show a similar decorrelation to the jitter noise, indicating a common origin for both observables.

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arXiv2023

Detection of the relativistic Shapiro delay in a highly inclined millisecond pulsar binary PSR J1012$-$4235

PSR J1012$-$4235 is a 3.1ms pulsar in a wide binary (37.9 days) with a white dwarf companion. We detect, for the first time, a strong relativistic Shapiro delay signature in PSR J1012$-$4235. Our detection is the result of a timing analysis of data spanning 13 years and collected with the Green Bank, Parkes, and MeerKAT Radio Telescopes and the Fermi $\gamma$-ray space telescope. We measured the orthometric parameters for Shapiro delay and obtained a 22$\sigma$ detection of the $h_{\rm 3}$ parameter of 1.222(54) $\mu$s and a 200$\sigma$ detection of $\varsigma$ of 0.9646(49). With the assumption of general relativity, these measurements constrain the pulsar mass ($M_{\rm p}=1.44^{+0.13}_{-0.12}$M$_{\odot}$), the mass of the white dwarf companion ($M_{\rm c} = 0.270^{+0.016}_{-0.015}$M$_{\odot}$ ), and the orbital inclination ($i=88.06^{+0.28}_{-0.25} \deg$). Including the early $\gamma$-ray data in our timing analysis facilitated a precise measurement of the proper motion of the system of 6.58(5) mas yr$^{-1}$. We also show that the system has unusually small kinematic corrections to the measurement of the orbital period derivative, and therefore has the potential to yield stringent constraints on the variation of the gravitational constant in the future.

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arXiv2023

A MeerKAT view of the double pulsar eclipses -- Geodetic precession of pulsar B and system geometry

The double pulsar system, PSR J0737$-$3039A/B, consists of two neutron stars bound together in a highly relativistic orbit that is viewed nearly edge-on from the Earth. This alignment results in brief radio eclipses of the fast-rotating pulsar A when it passes behind the toroidal magnetosphere of the slow-rotating pulsar B. The morphology of these eclipses is strongly dependent on the geometric orientation and rotation phase of pulsar B, and their time-evolution can be used to constrain the geodetic precession rate of the pulsar. We demonstrate a Bayesian inference framework for modelling eclipse light-curves obtained with MeerKAT between 2019-2023. Using a hierarchical inference approach, we obtained a precession rate of $\Omega_{\rm SO}^{\rm B} = {5.16^{\circ}}^{+0.32^{\circ}}_{-0.34^{\circ}}$ yr$^{-1}$ for pulsar B, consistent with predictions from General Relativity to a relative uncertainty of 6.5%. This updated measurement provides a 6.1% test of relativistic spin-orbit coupling in the strong-field regime. We show that a simultaneous fit to all of our observed eclipses can in principle return a $\sim$1.5% test of spin-orbit coupling. However, systematic effects introduced by the current geometric orientation of pulsar B along with inconsistencies between the observed and predicted eclipse light curves result in difficult to quantify uncertainties. Assuming the validity of General Relativity, we definitively show that the spin-axis of pulsar B is misaligned from the total angular momentum vector by $40.6^{\circ} \pm 0.1^{\circ}$ and that the orbit of the system is inclined by approximately $90.5^{\circ}$ from the direction of our line of sight. Our measured geometry for pulsar B suggests the largely empty emission cone contains an elongated horseshoe shaped beam centered on the magnetic axis, and that it may not be re-detected as a radio pulsar until early-2035.

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arXiv2023

The High Time Resolution Universe Pulsar Survey -- XVIII. The reprocessing of the HTRU-S Low Lat survey around the Galactic centre using a Fast Folding Algorithm pipeline for accelerated pulsars

The HTRU-S Low Latitude survey data within 1$^{\circ}$of the Galactic Centre (GC) were searched for pulsars using the Fast Folding Algorithm (FFA). Unlike traditional Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) pipelines, the FFA optimally folds the data for all possible periods over a given range, which is particularly advantageous for pulsars with low-duty cycle. For the first time, a search over acceleration was included in the FFA to improve its sensitivity to binary pulsars. The steps in dispersion measure (DM) and acceleration were optimised, resulting in a reduction of the number of trials by 86 per cent. This was achieved over a search period range from 0.6-s to 432-s, i.e. 10 per cent of the observation time (4320s), with a maximum DM of 4000 pc cm$^{-3}$ and an acceleration range of $\pm 128$m s$^{-2}$. The search resulted in the re-detections of four known pulsars, including a pulsar which was missed in previous FFT processing of this survey. This result indicates that the FFA pipeline is more sensitive than the FFT pipeline used in the previous processing of the survey within our parameter range. Additionally, we discovered a 1.89-s pulsar, PSR J1746-2829, with a large DM, located~0.5 from the GC. Follow-up observations revealed that this pulsar has a relatively flat spectrum($\alpha=-0.9\pm0.1$) and has a period derivative of $\sim1.3\times10^{-12}$ s s$^{-1}$, implying a surface magnetic field of $\sim5.2\times10^{13}$ G and a characteristic age of $\sim23000$ yr. While the period, spectral index, and surface magnetic field strength are similar to many radio magnetars, other characteristics such as high linear polarization are absent.

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arXiv2023

Flux density monitoring of 89 millisecond pulsars with MeerKAT

We present a flux density study of 89 millisecond pulsars (MSPs) regularly monitored as part of the MeerKAT Pulsar Timing Array (MPTA) using the L-Band receiver with an approximately two week cadence between 2019-2022. For each pulsar, we have determined the mean flux densities at each epoch in eight $\sim$97 MHz sub-bands ranging from 944 to 1625 MHz. From these we have derived their modulation indices, their average and peak-to-median flux densities in each sub-band, as well as their mean spectral indices across the entire frequency range. We find that the vast majority of the MSPs have spectra that are well described by a simple power law, with a mean spectral index of -1.86(6). Using the temporal variation of the flux densities we measured the structure functions and determined the refractive scintillation timescale for seven. The structure functions provide strong evidence that the intrinsic radio luminosities of MSPs are stable. As a population, the average modulation index at 20 cm wavelengths peaks near unity at dispersion measures (DMs) of $\sim$20 pc cm$^{-3}$ and by a DM of 100 pc cm$^{-3}$ are closer to 0.2, due to refractive scintillation. We find that timing arrays can improve their observing efficiency by reacting to scintillation maxima, and that 20 cm FRB surveys should prioritise highly scintillating mid-latitude regions of the Galactic sky where they will find $\sim$30% more events and bursts at greater distances.

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arXiv2023

Comparing recent PTA results on the nanohertz stochastic gravitational wave background

The Australian, Chinese, European, Indian, and North American pulsar timing array (PTA) collaborations recently reported, at varying levels, evidence for the presence of a nanohertz gravitational wave background (GWB). Given that each PTA made different choices in modeling their data, we perform a comparison of the GWB and individual pulsar noise parameters across the results reported from the PTAs that constitute the International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA). We show that despite making different modeling choices, there is no significant difference in the GWB parameters that are measured by the different PTAs, agreeing within $1\sigma$. The pulsar noise parameters are also consistent between different PTAs for the majority of the pulsars included in these analyses. We bridge the differences in modeling choices by adopting a standardized noise model for all pulsars and PTAs, finding that under this model there is a reduction in the tension in the pulsar noise parameters. As part of this reanalysis, we "extended" each PTA's data set by adding extra pulsars that were not timed by that PTA. Under these extensions, we find better constraints on the GWB amplitude and a higher signal-to-noise ratio for the Hellings and Downs correlations. These extensions serve as a prelude to the benefits offered by a full combination of data across all pulsars in the IPTA, i.e., the IPTA's Data Release 3, which will involve not just adding in additional pulsars, but also including data from all three PTAs where any given pulsar is timed by more than as single PTA.

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