Towards solution of the pulsar problem

The 24-year-old pulsar problem is reconsidered. New results are obtained by replacing the assumption of steady-state discharges near the polar caps by oscillatory discharges, and by creating the neutral-excess pair plasma via inverse-Compton collisions rather than via curvature radiation. As a result, the electrons and positrons which compose the pulsar wind have different bulk velocities and an oscillating space density, and (strong) coherent curvature radiation is implied (without invoking the excitation of instabilities, and contrary to existing proofs of its impossibility). The magnetospheres of young pulsars are likely to have considerable higher-order multipole components, in particular octupole. Radiation transfer through the pulsar magnetosphere results in fan beams whose polarization is dictated by the bottom of the radiation zone, hence, looks like curvature radiation from dipole-like polar caps.Wind generation depends mainly on the quantityB² which takes similar values for the ms pulsars; the latter compensate for (somewhat) weaker fields by wider polar caps and smaller curvature radii.     

Two decades of pulsar timing of Vela

Pulsar timing at the Mt Pleasant observatory has focused on Vela, which can be tracked for 18 hours of the day. These nearly continuous timing records extend over 24 years allowing a greater insight into details of timing noise, micro glitches and other more exotic effects. In particular we report the glitch parameters of the 2004 event, along with the reconfirmation that the spin up for the Vela pulsar occurs instantaneously to the accuracy of the data. This places a lower limit of about 30 seconds for the acceleration of the pulsar to the new rotational frequency. We also confirm of the low braking index for Vela, and the continued fall in the DM for this pulsar.     

Effect of weak gravitational microlensing on pulsar timing

The effect of weak gravitational microlensing on the pulsar timing is considered. The residuals of the times of arrival due to this effect for the pulsar B1937+21 will be ～10 ns if the time span of observations is about 20 years. It has also been shown that the residuals due to this effect will be several microseconds in the same 20 years in future SKA (Square Kilometer Array) observations of pulsars located behind the bulge.     

Imprints of relic gravitational waves on pulsar timing

Relic gravitational waves(RGWs), a background originating during inflation, would leave imprints on pulsar timing residuals. This makes RGWs an important source for detection of RGWs using the method of pulsar timing. In this paper, we discuss the effects of RGWs on single pulsar timing, and quantitatively analyze the timing residuals caused by RGWs with different model parameters. In principle, if the RGWs are strong enough today, they can be detected by timing a single millisecond pulsar with high precision after the intrinsic red noises in pulsar timing residuals are understood, even though simultaneously observing multiple millisecond pulsars is a more powerful technique for extracting gravitational wave signals. We correct the normalization of RGWs using observations of the cosmic microwave background(CMB), which leads to the amplitudes of RGWs being reduced by two orders of magnitude or so compared to our previous works. We obtained new constraints on RGWs using recent observations from the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array, employing the tensor-to-scalar ratio r = 0.2 due to the tensor-type polarization observations of CMB by BICEP2 as a reference value, even though its reliability has been brought into question. Moreover, the constraints on RGWs from CMB and Big Bang nucleosynthesis will also be discussed for comparison.     

The role of FAST in pulsar timing arrays

The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope(FAST) will become one of the world-leading telescopes for pulsar timing array(PTA) research. The primary goals for PTAs are to detect(and subsequently study) ultra-low-frequency gravitational waves, to develop a pulsar-based time standard and to improve solar system planetary ephemerides. FAST will have the sensitivity to observe known pulsars with significantly improved signal-to-noise ratios and will discover a large number of currently unknown pulsars. We describe how FAST will contribute to PTA research and show that jitter-and timing-noise will be the limiting noise processes for FAST data sets. Jitter noise will limit the timing precision achievable over data spans of a few years while timing noise will limit the precision achievable over many years.     

Precision pulsar timing with the ORT and the GMRT and its applications in pulsar astrophysics

Radio pulsars show remarkable clock-like stability, which make them useful astronomy tools in experiments to test equation of state of neutron stars and detecting gravitational waves using pulsar timing techniques. A brief review of relevant astrophysical experiments is provided in this paper highlighting the current state-of-the-art of these experiments. A program to monitor frequently glitching pulsars with Indian radio telescopes using high cadence observations is presented, with illustrations of glitches detected in this program, including the largest ever glitch in PSR B0531+21. An Indian initiative to discover sub-\(\mu \)Hz gravitational waves, called Indian Pulsar Timing Array (InPTA), is also described briefly, where time-of-arrival uncertainties and post-fit residuals of the order of \(\mu \)s are already achievable, comparable to other international pulsar timing array experiments. While timing the glitches and their recoveries are likely to provide constraints on the structure of neutron stars, InPTA will provide upper limits on sub-\(\mu \)Hz gravitational waves apart from auxiliary pulsar science. Future directions for these experiments are outlined.     

A new technique for timing the double pulsar system

In 2004, McLaughlin et al. discovered a phenomenon in the radio emission of PSR J0737−3039B (B) that resembles drifting subpulses. The repeat rate of the subpulses is equal to the spin frequency of PSR J0737−3039A (A); this led to the suggestion that they are caused by incidence upon B's magnetosphere of electromagnetic radiation from A. Here, we describe a geometrical model which predicts the delay of B's subpulses relative to A's radio pulses. We show that measuring these delays is equivalent to tracking A's rotation from the point of view of a hypothetical observer located near B. This has three main astrophysical applications: (i) to determine the sense of rotation of A relative to its orbital plane, (ii) to estimate where in B's magnetosphere the radio subpulses are modulated and (iii) to provide an independent estimate of the mass ratio of A and B. The latter might improve existing tests of gravitational theories using this system.     

Dispersion measure variations and their effect on precision pulsar timing

We present an analysis of the variations seen in the dispersion measures (DMs) of 20-ms pulsars observed as part of the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array project. We carry out a statistically rigorous structure function analysis for each pulsar and show that the variations seen for most pulsars are consistent with those expected for an interstellar medium characterized by a Kolmogorov turbulence spectrum. The structure functions for PSRs J1045−4509 and J1909−3744 provide the first clear evidence for a large inner scale, possibly due to ion–neutral damping. We also show the effect of the solar wind on the DMs and show that the simple models presently implemented into pulsar timing packages cannot reliably correct for this effect. For the first time we clearly show how DM variations affect pulsar timing residuals and how they can be corrected in order to obtain the highest possible timing precision. Even with our presently limited data span, the residuals (and all parameters derived from the timing) for six of our pulsars have been significantly improved by correcting for the DM variations.     

Detecting the errors in solar system ephemeris by pulsar timing

Pulsar timing uses planetary ephemerides to convert the measured pulse arrival time at an observatory to the arrival time at the Solar System barycenter(SSB). Since these planetary ephemerides cannot be perfect, a method of detecting the associated errors based on a pulsar timing array is developed. By using observations made by an array of 18 millisecond pulsars from the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array, we estimated the vector uncertainty from the Earth to the SSB of JPL DE421, which reflects the offset of the ephemeris origin with respect to the ideal SSB, in different piecewise intervals of pulsar timing data, and found consistent results. To investigate the stability and reliability of our method, we divided all the pulsars into two groups. Both groups yield largely consistent results, and the uncertainty of the Earth-SSB vector is several hundred meters, which is consistent with the accuracy of JPL DE421. As an improvement in the observational accuracy, pulsar timing will be helpful to improve the solar system ephemeris in the future.     

Gravitational action of binaries on pulsar timing in globular clusters

The influence of gravitational waves (GW) from binaries in globular clusters on the timing of pulsars situated in this cluster is considered. The probability of observation this effect is estimated. We show that the probability is high enough in clusters Ter 5, M 15, 47 Tuc, NGC 6440. The total list of clusters with pulsars versus probability of event is presented. Total probability of this event reaches 0.97 at least in one cluster.     

A deep search for pulsar wind nebulae using pulsar gating

Using the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) we have imaged the fields around five promising pulsar candidates to search for radio pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe). We have used the ATCA in its pulsar-gating mode; this enables an image to be formed containing only off-pulse visibilities, thereby dramatically improving the sensitivity to any underlying PWN. Data from the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope were also used to provide sensitivity on larger spatial scales. This survey found a faint new PWN around PSR B0906−49; here we report on non-detections of PWNe towards PSRs B1046−58, B1055−52, B1610−50 and J1105−6107. Our radio observations of the field around PSR B1055−52 argue against previous claims of an extended X-ray and radio PWN associated with the pulsar. If these pulsars power unseen, compact radio PWNe, upper limits on the radio flux indicate that a fraction of less than 10⁻⁶ of their spin-down energy is used to power this emission. Alternatively, PSRs B1046−58 and B1610−50 may have relativistic winds similar to other young pulsars and the unseen PWN may be resolved and fainter than our surface brightness sensitivity threshold. We can then determine upper limits on the local interstellar medium (ISM) density of 2.2×10⁻³ and 1×10⁻² cm⁻³, respectively. Furthermore, we derive the spatial velocities of these pulsars to be ∼450 km s⁻¹ and thus rule out the association of PSR B1610−50 with supernova remnant (SNR) G332.4+00.1 (Kes 32). Strong limits on the ratio of unpulsed to pulsed emission are also determined for three pulsars.     

引力波引起的脉冲星计时残差模拟与分析

为了能将引力波引起的脉冲星计时残差从总的脉冲星计时残差中分离出来,我们介绍了3种形式的引力波(单一持续的引力波、单一瞬时的引力波和随机引力波背景)及其对脉冲星计时残差的影响,并利用脉冲星计时处理软件Tempo2进行了模拟,对模拟得到的这三种引力波源引起的脉冲星计时残差进行了分析比较。该工作在脉冲星时间尺度的建立及其应用方面具有参考意义。     

Comparison of three filters in asteroid-based autonomous navigation

At present,optical autonomous navigation has become a key technology in deep space exploration programs.Recent studies focus on the problem of orbit determination using autonomous navigation,and the choice of filter is one of the main issues.To prepare for a possible exploration mission to Mars,the primary emphasis of this paper is to evaluate the capability of three filters,the extended Kalman filter(EKF),unscented Kalman filter(UKF) and weighted least-squares(WLS) algorithm,which have different initial states during the cruise phase.One initial state is assumed to have high accuracy with the support of ground tracking when autonomous navigation is operating; for the other state,errors are set to be large without this support.In addition,the method of selecting asteroids that can be used for navigation from known lists of asteroids to form a sequence is also presented in this study.The simulation results show that WLS and UKF should be the first choice for optical autonomous navigation during the cruise phase to Mars.     

Probing dark contents in globular clusters with timing effects of pulsar acceleration

We investigate pulsar timing residuals due to the coupling effect of the pulsar transverse acceleration and the R?mer delay.The effect is relatively small and u...     

Probing pulsar winds using inverse Compton scattering

We investigate the effects of inverse Compton scattering by electrons and positrons in the unshocked winds of rotationally-powered binary pulsars. This process can scatter low energy target photons to produce gamma rays with energies from MeV to TeV. The binary radio pulsars PSR B1259−63 and PSR J0045−73 are both in close eccentric orbits around bright main sequence stars which provide a huge density of low energy target photons. The inverse Compton scattering process transfers momentum from the pulsar wind to the scattered photons, and therefore provides a drag which tends to decelerate the pulsar wind. We present detailed calculations of the dynamics of a pulsar wind which is undergoing inverse Compton scattering, showing that the deceleration of the wind of PSR B1259−63 due to ‘inverse Compton drag' is small, but that this process may confine the wind of PSR J0045−73 before it attains pressure balance with the outflow of its companion star. We calculate the spectra and light curves of the resulting inverse Compton emission from PSR B1259−63 and show that if the size of the pulsar wind nebula is comparable to the binary separation, then the γ-ray emission from the unshocked wind may be detectable by atmospheric Cherenkov detectors or by the new generation of satellite-borne γ-ray detectors such as INTEGRAL and GLAST. This mechanism may therefore provide a direct probe of the freely-expanding regions of pulsar winds, previously thought to be invisible.     

Revisiting pulsar velocities using Gaia Data Release 2

Precise measurements of neutron star(NS) velocities provide critical clues in regard to the supernova physics and evolution of binary systems. Based on Gaia Data Release 2(DR2), we selected a sample of 24 young( 3 Myr) pulsars with precise parallax measurements and measured the velocity of their local standard of rest(LSR) and the velocity dispersion among their respective local stellar groups. The median velocity difference between thus calculated LSRs and the Galactic rotation model is ～ 7.6 km s~(-1),small compared to the typical velocity dispersion of ～ 27.5 km s~(-1). For pulsars off the Galactic plane,such differences grow significantly to as large as ～ 40 km s~(-1). More importantly, the velocity dispersion of stars in the local group of low-velocity pulsars can be comparable to their transverse velocities, suggesting that the intrinsic velocities of NS progenitors should be taken into account when we consider their natal kicks and binary evolution. We also examined the double NS system J0737-3039 A/B, and measured its transverse velocity to be 26_(-13)~(+18) km s~(-1) assuming nearby Gaia sources are representative of their birth environment. This work demonstrated the feasibility and importance of using Gaia data to study the velocity of individual systems and velocity distribution of NSs.