Conveners
Pulsar Power in Physics and Astrophysics and Pulsars and Pulsar Systems at High Energies: Block 1
- Andrea Possenti (INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari)
Description
Thanks to the clock-like nature of their pulsed emission, it is well known that some radio pulsars can provide an accurate and very precise determination of their positional, kinematic, rotational and (when applicable) orbital parameters, as well as indications on the properties of their space-time environment. That in turn paved the way to the use of the pulsars as unique tools for a variety of experiments in fundamental physics and astrophysics.
The decades-long monitoring of the best systems, the new methodologies for the data analysis, the uninterrupted series of discoveries of new intriguing binary pulsar systems, coupled with the advent of a new generation of instruments, alike the Meerkat telescope in South Africa or FAST in China, are now allowing pulsar science to address new key astrophysical questions and to perform unprecedented tests of fundamental theories. This session will host the presentation of the most significant recent results of pulsar timing, as well as shedding light on the exciting immediate perspectives opened by the new radio telescopes and the transformational developments provided by the future Square Kilometer Array (SKA).
In this talk, I will review the current status of the timing of PSR J2222-0137, which promises to be one of the most important laboratories for testing the nature of gravitational waves, for limiting the variation of Newton's gravitational constant, and for testing non-perturbative deviations from general relativity in the behavior of gravity (in particular the phenomenon of ``spontaneous...
We provide an update on the ongoing monitoring and study of the highly-relativistic double neutron star binary system, PSR J1757-1854, a 21.5-ms pulsar in a highly eccentric, 4.4-hour orbit. The extreme nature of this pulsar’s orbit allows it to probe a parameter space largely unexplored by other relativistic binary pulsars. For example, it displays one of the highest gravitational wave (GW)...
Timing relativistic binary pulsar systems have enabled the measurements of precise neutron star masses and fundamental tests of gravity in the strong field regime. The measurement of neutron star masses not only provide insight into the elusive neutron star interior, but also help constrain binary evolution theories and supernova physics. For many binary systems in the southern hemisphere, the...
Mass measurements of binary pulsars have provided significant constraints to the equation of state (EOS) of ultra-dense matter. The measurement of the moment of inertia (MOI) of a binary pulsar, however, would provide important additional constraints. The Double Pulsar, PSR J0737-3039A/B, is the most promising system for the first robust MOI measurement via high-precision pulsar timing. In...
Globular clusters are known to host an unusually large population of millisecond pulsar when compared to the Galactic disk. This is thanks to the high rate of dynamical encounters occurring in the clusters that can create the conditions to efficiently recycle neutron stars in millisecond pulsars. The result is a rich population of pulsars with properties and companions difficult to replicate...
Even if, at the moment, globular cluster (GC) millisecond pulsars (MSPs) cannot be timed with an extremely high precision, mainly due to the effects induced on the MSPs dynamics by the GC gravitational potential, we expect that the situation will change in the near future thanks to new powerful detectors, like the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Therefore, we suggest the possibility of including...
The physical mechanism underlying pulsar glitches, abrupt spin-up events that interrupt the secular spin-down of some pulsars, is unknown. Plausible models include superfluid vortex avalanches, starquakes, or hydrodynamic instabilities. Almost all such models are reducible to a system in which stress accumulates between glitches and is partially (or fully) released at a glitch. The...
