分类： 天文学 >> 天体物理学 提交时间： 2023-02-21
H. Hu
M. Kramer
D. J. Champion
N. Wex
A. Parthasarathy
T. T. Pennucci
N. K. Porayko
W. van Straten
V. Venkatraman Krishnan
M. Burgay
P. C. C. Freire
R. N. Manchester
A. Possenti
I. H. Stairs
M. Bailes
S. Buchner
A. D. Cameron
F. Camilo
M. Serylak
摘要： The Double Pulsar, PSR J0737-3039A/B, has offered a wealth of gravitational experiments in the strong-field regime, all of which GR has passed with flying colours. In particular, among current gravity experiments that test photon propagation, the Double Pulsar probes the strongest spacetime curvature. Observations with MeerKAT and, in future, the SKA can greatly improve the accuracy of current tests and facilitate tests of NLO contributions in both orbital motion and signal propagation. We present our timing analysis of new observations of PSR J0737-3039A, made using the MeerKAT telescope over the last 3 years. The increased timing precision offered by MeerKAT yields a 2 times better measurement of Shapiro delay parameter s and improved mass measurements compared to previous studies. In addition, our results provide an independent confirmation of the NLO signal propagation effects and already surpass the previous measurement from 16-yr data by a factor of 1.65. These effects include the retardation effect due to the movement of B and the deflection of the signal by the gravitational field of B. We also investigate novel effects which are expected. For instance, we search for potential profile variations near superior conjunctions caused by shifts of the line-of-sight due to latitudinal signal deflection and find insignificant evidence with our current data. With simulations, we find that the latitudinal deflection delay is unlikely to be measured with timing because of its correlation with Shapiro delay. Furthermore, although it is currently not possible to detect the expected lensing correction to the Shapiro delay, our simulations suggest that this effect may be measured with the full SKA. Finally, we provide an improved analytical description for the signal propagation in the Double Pulsar system that meets the timing precision expected from future instruments such as the full SKA.
分类： 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
M. C. Bezuidenhout
C. J. Clark
R. P. Breton
B. W. Stappers
E. D. Barr
M. Caleb
W. Chen
F. Jankowski
M. Kramer
K. Rajwade
M. Surnis
摘要： Multi-element interferometers such as MeerKAT, which observe with high time resolution and have a wide field-of-view, provide an ideal opportunity to perform real-time, untargeted transient and pulsar searches. However, because of data storage limitations, it is not always feasible to store the baseband data required to image the field of a discovered transient or pulsar. This limits the ability of surveys to effectively localise their discoveries and may restrict opportunities for follow-up science, especially of one-off events like some Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs). Here we present a novel maximum-likelihood estimation approach to localising transients and pulsars detected in multiple MeerKAT tied-array beams at once, which we call Tied Array Beam Localisation (TABLo), as well as a Python implementation of the method named SeeKAT. We provide real-world examples of SeeKAT's use as well as a Monte Carlo analysis to show that it is capable of localising single pulses detected in beamformed MeerKAT data to (sub-)arcsecond precision.
分类： 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
J. C. Andrianjafy
N. Heeralall-Issur
A. A. Deshpande
K. Golap
P. Woudt
M. Caleb
E. D. Barr
W. Chen
F. Jankowski
M. Kramer
B. W. Stappers
J. Wu
摘要： We present the analysis of radio interferometric 2-s images from a MeerKAT observation of the repeating fast radio burst FRB121102 on September 2019, during which 11 distinct pulses have been previously detected using high time and frequency resolution data cubes. In this work, we detected 6 out of the 11 bursts in the image plane at 1.48 GHz with a minimum peak signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of 5 {\sigma} and a fluence detection limit of 0.512 Jy ms. These constitute the first detections of a fast radio burst (FRB) or a radio transient using 2-s timescale images with MeerKAT data. Analysis of the fitted burst properties revealed a weighted average precision of 1 arcsec in the localization of the bursts. The accurate knowledge of FRB positions is essential for identifying their host galaxy and understanding their mysterious nature which is still unresolved to this day. We also produced 2-s images at 1.09 GHz but yielded no detection which we attributed to the spectral structure of the pulses that are mostly higher in strength in the upper frequencies. We also explore a new approach to difference imaging analysis (DIA) to search for transients and find that our technique has the potential to reduce the number of candidates and could be used to automate the detection of FRBs in the image plane for future MeerKAT observations.
分类： 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
A. Corongiu
V. Venkatraman Krishnan
P. C. C. Freire
M. Kramer
A. Possenti
M. Geyer
A. Ridolfi
F. Abbate
M. Bailes
E. D. Barr
V. Balakrishnan
S. Buchner
D. J. Champion
W. Chen
B. V. Hugo
A. Karastergiou
A. G. Lyne
R. N. Manchester
P. V. Padmanabh
A. Parthasarathy
摘要： PSRJ1910-5959A (J1910A) is a binary millisecond pulsar in a 0.837 day circular orbit around a helium white dwarf (HeWD) companion. This pulsar is located 6.3 arcmin away from the centre of the globular cluster NGC6752. Given the large offset, the association of the pulsar to NGC6752 has been debated. We have made use of two decades of archival Parkes 64-m "Murriyang" telescope data and recently carried out observations with the MeerKAT telescope. We obtained Pulse times of arrival using standard data reduction techniques and analysed using Bayesian pulsar timing techniques. We analysed the pulsar's total intensity and polarisation profile, to study the interstellar scattering along the line of sight, and the pulsar's geometry by applying the rotating vector model. We obtain precise measurements of several post-Keplerian parameters: the range $r=0.202(6)T_\odot$ and shape s=0.999823(4) of the Shapiro delay, from which we infer the orbital inclination to be $88.9^{+0.15}_{-0.14}\deg$ and the masses of both the pulsar and the companion to be $1.55(7)M_{\odot}$ and $0.202(6)M_{\odot}$ respectively; a secular change in the orbital period $\dot{P}_{\rm b}=-53^{+7.4}_{-6.0}\times 10^{-15}$\,s\,s$^{-1}$ that proves the association to NGGC6752 and a secular change in the projected semi-major axis of the pulsar $\dot{x}= -40.7^{+7.3}_{-8.2}\times10^{-16}$\,s\,s$^{-1}$ that is likely caused by the spin-orbit interaction from a misaligned HeWD spin, at odds with the likely isolated binary evolution of the system. We also discuss some theoretical models for the structure and evolution of WDs in NS-WD binaries by using J1910A's companion as a test bed. J1910A is a rare system for which several parameters of both the pulsar and the HeWD companion can be accurately measured. As such, it is a test bed to discriminate between alternative models for HeWD structure and cooling.
分类： 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
M. Purver
C. G. Bassa
I. Cognard
G. H. Janssen
R. Karuppusamy
M. Kramer
K. J. Lee
K. Liu
J. W. McKee
D. Perrodin
S. Sanidas
R. Smits
B. W. Stappers
摘要： We describe how to implement the spectral kurtosis method of interference removal (zapping) on a digitized signal of averaged power values. Spectral kurtosis is a hypothesis test, analogous to the t-test, with a null hypothesis that the amplitudes from which power is formed belong to a `good' distribution -- typically Gaussian with zero mean -- where power values are zapped if the hypothesis is rejected at a specified confidence level. We derive signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) as a function of amount of zapping for folded radio pulsar observations consisting of a sum of signals from multiple telescopes in independent radio-frequency interference (RFI) environments, comparing four methods to compensate for lost data with coherent (tied-array) and incoherent summation. For coherently summed amplitudes, scaling amplitudes from non-zapped telescopes achieves a higher SNR than replacing zapped amplitudes with artificial noise. For incoherently summed power values, the highest SNR is given by scaling power from non-zapped telescopes to maintain a constant mean. We use spectral kurtosis to clean a tied-array radio pulsar observation by the Large European Array for Pulsars (LEAP): the signal from one telescope is zapped with time and frequency resolutions of 6.25 $\mu$s and 0.16 MHz, removing interference along with 0.27 per cent of `good' data, giving an uncertainty of 0.25 $\mu$s in pulse time of arrival (TOA) for PSR J1022+1001. We use a single-telescope observation to demonstrate recovery of the pulse profile shape, with 0.6 per cent of data zapped and a reduction from 1.22 to 0.70 $\mu$s in TOA uncertainty.
分类： 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
A. Batrakov
H. Hu
N. Wex
P. C. C. Freire
V. Venkatraman Krishnan
M. Kramer
Y. J. Guo
L. Guillemot
J. W. McKee
I. Cognard
G. Theureau
摘要： Context. Scalar-tensor gravity (STG) theories are well-motivated alternatives to general relativity (GR). One class of STG theories, the Damour-Esposito-Farese (DEF) gravity, has a massless scalar field with two arbitrary coupling parameters. We are interested in this theory because, despite its simplicity, it predicts a wealth of different phenomena, such as dipolar gravitational wave emission and spontaneous scalarization of neutron stars (NSs). These phenomena of DEF gravity can be tested by timing binary radio pulsars. Aims. We aim to develop a new binary pulsar timing model DDSTG to enable more precise tests of STG theories based on a minimal set of binary parameters. The expressions for post-Keplerian (PK) parameters in DEF gravity are self-consistently incorporated into the model. The new technique takes into account all possible correlations between PK parameters naturally. Methods. Grids of physical parameters of NSs are calculated in the framework of DEF gravity for a set of 11 equations of state. The automatic Differentiation (AutoDiff) technique is employed, which aids in the calculation of gravitational form factors of NSs with higher precision than in previous works. The pulsar timing program TEMPO is selected as a framework for the realization of the DDSTG model. The implemented model is applicable to any type of pulsar companions. Results. We apply the DDSTG model to the most recently published observational data for PSR J2222-0137. The obtained limits on DEF gravity parameters for this system confirm and improve previous results. New limits are also the most reliable because DEF gravity is directly fitted to the data. We argue that future observations of PSR J2222-0137 can significantly improve the limits and that PSR-BH systems have the potential to place the tightest limits in certain areas of the DEF gravity parameter space.
分类： 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
H. Hu
M. Kramer
D. J. Champion
N. Wex
A. Parthasarathy
T. T. Pennucci
N. K. Porayko
W. van Straten
V. Venkatraman Krishnan
M. Burgay
P. C. C. Freire
R. N. Manchester
A. Possenti
I. H. Stairs
M. Bailes
S. Buchner
A. D. Cameron
F. Camilo
M. Serylak
摘要： The Double Pulsar, PSR J0737-3039A/B, has offered a wealth of gravitational experiments in the strong-field regime, all of which GR has passed with flying colours. In particular, among current gravity experiments that test photon propagation, the Double Pulsar probes the strongest spacetime curvature. Observations with MeerKAT and, in future, the SKA can greatly improve the accuracy of current tests and facilitate tests of NLO contributions in both orbital motion and signal propagation. We present our timing analysis of new observations of PSR J0737-3039A, made using the MeerKAT telescope over the last 3 years. The increased timing precision offered by MeerKAT yields a 2 times better measurement of Shapiro delay parameter s and improved mass measurements compared to previous studies. In addition, our results provide an independent confirmation of the NLO signal propagation effects and already surpass the previous measurement from 16-yr data by a factor of 1.65. These effects include the retardation effect due to the movement of B and the deflection of the signal by the gravitational field of B. We also investigate novel effects which are expected. For instance, we search for potential profile variations near superior conjunctions caused by shifts of the line-of-sight due to latitudinal signal deflection and find insignificant evidence with our current data. With simulations, we find that the latitudinal deflection delay is unlikely to be measured with timing because of its correlation with Shapiro delay. Furthermore, although it is currently not possible to detect the expected lensing correction to the Shapiro delay, our simulations suggest that this effect may be measured with the full SKA. Finally, we provide an improved analytical description for the signal propagation in the Double Pulsar system that meets the timing precision expected from future instruments such as the full SKA.
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