TY - JOUR

T1 - Algorithmic Pulsar Timer for Binaries

AU - Taylor, Jackson

AU - Ransom, Scott

AU - Padmanabh, Prajwal V.

N1 - Funding Information: This work was made possible under the guise of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Research Experience for Undergraduates program funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through NSF grant number 1852401.

PY - 2024/3/22

Y1 - 2024/3/22

N2 - Pulsar timing is a powerful tool that, by accounting for every rotation of a pulsar, precisely measures the spin frequency, spin frequency derivatives, astrometric position, binary parameters when applicable, properties of the interstellar medium, and potentially general relativistic effects. Typically, this process demands fairly stringent scheduling requirements for monitoring observations as well as deep domain knowledge to “phase connect” the timing data. We present an algorithm that automates the pulsar-timing process for binary pulsars, whose timing solutions have an additional level of complexity, although the algorithm works for isolated pulsars as well. Using the statistical F-test and the quadratic dependence of the reduced χ 2 near a minimum, the global rotation count of a pulsar can be determined efficiently and systematically. We have used our algorithm to establish timing solutions for two newly discovered binary pulsars, PSRs J1748−2446aq and J1748−2446at, in the globular cluster Terzan 5, using ∼70 Green Bank Telescope observations from the last 13 yr.

AB - Pulsar timing is a powerful tool that, by accounting for every rotation of a pulsar, precisely measures the spin frequency, spin frequency derivatives, astrometric position, binary parameters when applicable, properties of the interstellar medium, and potentially general relativistic effects. Typically, this process demands fairly stringent scheduling requirements for monitoring observations as well as deep domain knowledge to “phase connect” the timing data. We present an algorithm that automates the pulsar-timing process for binary pulsars, whose timing solutions have an additional level of complexity, although the algorithm works for isolated pulsars as well. Using the statistical F-test and the quadratic dependence of the reduced χ 2 near a minimum, the global rotation count of a pulsar can be determined efficiently and systematically. We have used our algorithm to establish timing solutions for two newly discovered binary pulsars, PSRs J1748−2446aq and J1748−2446at, in the globular cluster Terzan 5, using ∼70 Green Bank Telescope observations from the last 13 yr.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85188521593&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.48550/arXiv.2310.10800

DO - 10.48550/arXiv.2310.10800

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85188521593

VL - 964

JO - Astrophysical Journal

JF - Astrophysical Journal

SN - 0004-637X

IS - 2

M1 - 128

ER -