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At least 19 records

Pulsar timing anomalies: a window into baryon number violation

Here, we investigate the influence of a specific class of slow Baryon Number Violation (BNV)—one that induces quasi-equilibrium evolution — on pulsar spin characteristics. This work reveals how BNV can potentially alter observable parameters, including spin-down rates, the second derivative of spin frequency, and braking indices of pulsars. Moreover, we demonstrate that BNV could lead to anomalies in pulsar timing, along with a wide array of braking indices, both positive and negative. In addition, we examine the possibility of pulsar spin-up due to BNV, which may result in a novel mechanism for the revival of “dead” pulsars. We conclude by assessing the sensitivity required for future pulsar timing efforts to detect such BNV effects, thus highlighting the potential for pulsars to serve as laboratories for testing fundamental physics.

cosmology↗

A Systematic Search for MeV–GeV Pulsar Wind Nebulae without Gamma-Ray Detected Pulsars

An increasing number of pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) are being identified in the TeV band by ground-based Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes such that they constitute the dominant source class of Galactic TeV emitters. However, MeV–GeV PWN counterparts are still largely lacking. To date, only a dozen PWNe are identified by the Fermi–Large Area Telescope (LAT) in the MeV–GeV band. Most PWNe are located along the Galactic plane embedded within the prominent, diffuse Galactic γ-ray emission, which makes these sources difficult to disentangle from the bright diffuse background. We present a systematic search for γ-ray counterparts to known PWNe in the 300 MeV–2 TeV energy band using the Fermi–LAT. We target the locations of previously identified PWNe that lack detected Fermi–LAT pulsars to minimize associated pulsar contamination. The sample includes six previously identified Fermi PWNe and eight Fermi–LAT sources associated with PWNe. We report the analysis of 58 regions of interest and classify Fermi–LAT detected sources as either a likely PWN or a candidate PWN counterpart based on their morphological and spectral characteristics across the broadband spectrum. There are nine unidentified Fermi–LAT sources that we consider as likely PWN counterparts, which, if confirmed to be PWNe, would greatly increase the PWN population detected by the Fermi–LAT from 12 to 21. The remaining Fermi–LAT detected sources are considered weaker PWN candidates. A second approach in the systematic search for γ-ray emitting PWNe will involve studying the off-pulse phases of Fermi–LAT detected pulsars for the presence of an obscured PWN and will be reported in a subsequent paper.

Acharyya, A. [Univ. of Southern Denmark, Odense (D↗

Spindown of Pulsars Interacting with Companion Winds: The Impact of Magnetospheric Compression

Pulsars in binary systems with strong companion winds can have the magnetopause separating their magnetosphere from the wind located well within their light cylinder. This bow-like enclosure effectively creates a waveguide that confines the pulsar's electromagnetic fields and can significantly alter its spindown. In this paper, we study the spindown of compressed pulsar magnetospheres in such systems. We parameterize the confinement as the ratio between the equatorial position of the magnetopause (or standoff distance) R m and the pulsar's light cylinder R LC . Using particle-in-cell simulations, we quantify the pulsar spindown for a range of compressions, R m /R LC = 1/3–1, and inclination angles, χ = 0°...90°, between magnetic and rotation axes. Our strongly confined models (R m /R LC = 1/3) show two distinct limits. For χ = 0°, the spindown of a compressed pulsar magnetosphere is enhanced by approximately a factor of three compared to an isolated pulsar due to the increased number of open magnetic field lines. Conversely, for χ = 90°, the compressed pulsar spins down at less than 40% of the rate of an isolated reference pulsar due to the mismatch between the pulsar wind stripe wavelength and the waveguide size. We apply our analysis to the 2.77 s oblique rotator (χ = 60°) in the double-pulsar system PSR J0737-3039. With the numerically derived spindown estimate, we constrain its surface magnetic field to B* ≈ (7.3 ± 0.2) × 10 11 G. We discuss the time modulation of its period derivative, the effects of compression on its braking index, and implications for the radio eclipse in PSR J0737-3039.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A Search for Pulsars around Sgr A* in the First Event Horizon Telescope Data Set

In 2017 the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observed the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), at a frequency of 228.1 GHz (λ = 1.3 mm). The fundamental physics tests that even a single pulsar orbiting Sgr A* would enable motivate searching for pulsars in EHT data sets. The high observing frequency means that pulsars—which typically exhibit steep emission spectra—are expected to be very faint. However, it also negates pulse scattering, an effect that could hinder pulsar detections in the Galactic center. Additionally, magnetars or a secondary inverse Compton emission could be stronger at millimeter wavelengths than at lower frequencies. We present a search for pulsars close to Sgr A* using the data from the three most sensitive stations in the EHT 2017 campaign: the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, the Large Millimeter Telescope, and the IRAM 30 m Telescope. We apply three detection methods based on Fourier-domain analysis, the fast folding algorithm, and single-pulse searches targeting both pulsars and burst-like transient emission. We use the simultaneity of the observations to confirm potential candidates. No new pulsars or significant bursts were found. Being the first pulsar search ever carried out at such high radio frequencies, we detail our analysis methods and give a detailed estimation of the sensitivity of the search. We conclude that the EHT 2017 observations are only sensitive to a small fraction (≲2.2%) of the pulsars that may exist close to Sgr A*, motivating further searches for fainter pulsars in the region.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

The SPAN512 mid-latitude pulsar survey at the Nançay Radio Telescope

The large number of ongoing surveys for pulsars and transients at various radio observatories is motivated by the science obtained from these sources. Timing and polarisation analysis of relativistic binaries can place strong constraints on theories of gravity. The observation of a growing number of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) spread over the celestial sphere may allow the detection of a stochastic gravitational wave background arising from supermassive black hole binaries. A more complete sample of young pulsars improves our knowledge of neutron star birth and evolution. Transients such as fast radio bursts can serve to probe the intergalactic medium. The SPAN512 pulsar survey covers intermediate Galactic latitudes using the L-band receiver of the Nançay Radio Telescope (NRT). The survey covers 224 sq. deg. of the sky for a total exposure time of 2200 h. Population syntheses predict the discovery of 3 to 19 new normal pulsars and a few MSPs. We present detailed modelling of the NRT beam with its L-band receiver and its sensitivity which we used to precisely assess the expected survey yield. We used the flexible Pulsar Arecibo L-band Feed Array data processing pipeline to search the 47 TB of SPAN512 data for pulsars and transients. The SPAN512 survey discovered two new MSPs and one new middle-aged pulsar. We focus on the analysis of the 2.4-ms spin period pulsar J2205+6012 for which we also report the detection of gamma-ray pulsations. Its narrow pulse width (35µs at an observing frequency of 2.55 GHz) allows for sub-microsecond timing precision over 8 yr, with exciting prospects for pulsar timing array programs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Utilizing cosmic-ray positron and electron observations to probe the averaged properties of Milky Way pulsars

Pulsars have long been studied in the electromagnetic spectrum. Their environments are rich in high-energy cosmic-ray electrons and positrons likely enriching the interstellar medium with such particles. In this work we use recent cosmic-ray observations from the AMS-02, CALET and DAMPE collaborations to study the averaged properties of the local Milky Way pulsar population. We perform simulations of the local Milky Way pulsar population, for interstellar medium assumptions in agreement with a range of cosmic-ray nuclei measurements. Each such simulation contains $\sim 10^{4}$ pulsars of unique age, location, initial spin-down power and cosmic-ray electron/positron spectra. We produce more than $7 \times 10^3$ such Milky Way pulsar simulations. Further, we account for and study i) the pulsars' birth rates and the stochastic nature of their birth, ii) their initial spin-down power distribution, iii) their time evolution in terms of their braking index and characteristic spin-down timescale, iv) the fraction of spin-down power going to cosmic-ray electrons and positrons and v) their propagation through the interstellar medium and the Heliosphere. We find that pulsars of ages $\sim 10^{5}-10^{7}$ yr, have a braking index that on average has to be 3 or larger. Given that electromagnetic spectrum observations of young pulsars find braking indices lower than 3, our work provides strong hints that pulsars' braking index increases on average as they age, allowing them to retain some of their rotational energy. Moreover, we find that pulsars have relatively uniform properties as sources of cosmic-ray electrons and positrons in terms of the spectra they produce and likely release $O(10\%)$ of their rotational energy to cosmic rays in the ISM. Finally, we find at $\simeq$12 GeV positrons a spectral feature that suggests a new subpopulation of positron sources contributing at these energies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

The Third Fermi Large Area Telescope Catalog of Gamma-Ray Pulsars

We present 294 pulsars found in GeV data from the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Another 33 millisecond pulsars (MSPs) discovered in deep radio searches of LAT sources will likely reveal pulsations once phase-connected rotation ephemerides are achieved. A further dozen optical and/or X-ray binary systems colocated with LAT sources also likely harbor gamma-ray MSPs. This catalog thus reports roughly 340 gamma-ray pulsars and candidates, 10% of all known pulsars, compared to ≤11 known before Fermi. Half of the gamma-ray pulsars are young. Of these, the half that are undetected in radio have a broader Galactic latitude distribution than the young radio-loud pulsars. The others are MSPs, with six undetected in radio. Overall, ≥236 are bright enough above 50 MeV to fit the pulse profile, the energy spectrum, or both. For the common two-peaked profiles, the gamma-ray peak closest to the magnetic pole crossing generally has a softer spectrum. The spectral energy distributions tend to narrow as the spindown power $\dot{E}$ decreases to its observed minimum near 10 33 erg s -1 , approaching the shape for synchrotron radiation from monoenergetic electrons. We calculate gamma-ray luminosities when distances are available. Our all-sky gamma-ray sensitivity map is useful for population syntheses. The electronic catalog version provides gamma-ray pulsar ephemerides, properties, and fit results to guide and be compared with modeling results.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

New determination of the millisecond pulsar gamma-ray luminosity function and implications for the Galactic Center gamma-ray excess

It has been suggested that the Galactic Center gamma-ray excess (GCE) could be produced by a large number of centrally located millisecond pulsars. The fact that no such pulsar population has been detected implies that these sources must be very faint and very numerous. Here, in this study, we use the contents of Fermi’s recently released Third Pulsar Catalog (3PC) to measure the luminosity function of the millisecond pulsars in the Milky Way’s disk. We find that this source population exhibits a luminosity function with a mean γ -ray luminosity of ⟨ L γ ⟩ ∼ 6 × 10 32 erg / s (integrated above 0.1 GeV). If the GCE were generated by millisecond pulsars with the same luminosity function, we find that ∼ 20 such sources from the inner Galaxy population should have already been detected by Fermi and included in the 3PC. Given the lack of such observed sources, we exclude the hypothesis that the GCE is generated by pulsars with the same luminosity function as those in the Galactic disk with a significance of 3.4 σ . We conclude that either less than 39% of the GCE is generated by pulsars, or that the millisecond pulsars in the inner Galaxy are at least 5 times less luminous on average than those found in the Galactic disk.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Towards modelling AR Sco: calibration – reproducing high-energy pulsar emission and testing convergence to Aristotelian electrodynamics

In recent years, kinetic simulations have been crucial to further our understanding of pulsar electrodynamics. Yet, due to the large-scale separation between the gyro-period and the stellar rotation period, resolving the particle gyration has been computationally unfeasible for realistic pulsar parameters. The main aim of this work is comparing our gyro-phase-resolved model with a gyro-centric pulsar model, where our model solves the general equations of motion with included radiation reaction using a higher order numerical solver with adaptive time-steps. Specifically, we aim to (i) reproduce a pulsar’s high-energy emission maps, namely one with 10 per cent of the surface B-field strength of Vela, and the spectra produced by an independent gyro-centric pulsar emission model; and (ii) test convergence of these results to the radiation-reaction limit of Aristotelian electrodynamics. (iii) Additionally, we identify the effect that a large $E_{\parallel }$-field has on the trajectories and radiation calculations. We find that we can reproduce the curvature radiation emission maps and spectra well, using 10 per cent field strengths of the Vela pulsar and injecting our particles at a higher altitude in the magnetosphere. Using sufficiently large $E_{\parallel }$-fields, our numeric results converge to the analytic radiation-reaction limit trajectories. Additionally, we illustrate the importance of accounting for the $\mathbf {E}\times \mathbf {B}$-drift in the particle trajectories and radiation calculations, validating the Harding and collaborators’ model approach. Lastly, we found that our model deals very well with the high-radiation-reaction and high-field regimes present in pulsars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Development of Real-Time High-Density Pulsar Data Transmission and Processing for Grid Synchronization

Taking advantage of the extreme stability of the pulsar period, it can serve as the timing source for grid synchronization to compensate for the timing drift instigated by the loss of GPS signal. Nevertheless, the real-time transmission and processing of the pulsar data suffer from its high-frequency data rate, varying from megahertz to gigahertz, resulting in reduced computing speed and increased time delay. To mitigate this issue, the hardware and software frameworks are implemented for the high-density pulsar data transmission and processing for grid synchronization in this research. Initially, the high-density pulsar data is transferred using open-source software. The complementary duty cycle timing module is designed to coordinate the operation of the dual-channel high-speed interface and software. Subsequently, the multiple-threading is applied to the receiving, parsing, and splicing pulsar data. Next, the pulsar signal extraction method is implemented based on the polyphase filterbank and time of arrival estimation. Ultimately, real-time performance verification experiments are carried out for different components under two hardware platforms. Finally, the results demonstrate that only 0.482 s is required for processing 4 Gigabyte data through multiple-threading, which is 3.8 times faster than the single thread. The pulsar signal extraction can also be executed within 707 ms for 4.8 seconds of data, thereby indicating that real-time requirements can be met.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Global Kinetic Modeling of the Intrabinary Shock in Spider Pulsars

Abstract Spider pulsars are compact binary systems composed of a millisecond pulsar and a low-mass companion. The relativistic magnetically dominated pulsar wind impacts onto the companion, ablating it and slowly consuming its atmosphere. The interaction forms an intrabinary shock, a proposed site of particle acceleration. We perform global fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations of the intrabinary shock, assuming that the pulsar wind consists of plane-parallel stripes of alternating polarity and that the shock wraps around the companion. We find that particles are efficiently accelerated via shock-driven reconnection. We extract first-principles synchrotron spectra and light curves, which are in good agreement with X-ray observations: (1) the synchrotron spectrum is nearly flat, F ν ∝ const; (2) when the pulsar spin axis is nearly aligned with the orbital angular momentum, the light curve displays two peaks, just before and after the pulsar eclipse (pulsar superior conjunction), separated in phase by ∼0.8 rad; (3) the peak flux exceeds the one at the inferior conjunction by a factor of 10.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Timing Six Energetic Rotation-powered X-Ray Pulsars, Including the Fast-spinning Young PSR J0058-7218 and Big Glitcher PSR J0537-6910

Abstract Measuring a pulsar’s rotational evolution is crucial to understanding the nature of the pulsar. Here, we provide updated timing models for the rotational evolution of six pulsars, five of which are rotation phase-connected using primarily NICER X-ray data. For the newly discovered fast energetic young pulsar, PSR J0058−7218, we increase the baseline of its timing model from 1.4 days to 8 months and not only measure more precisely its spin-down rate ν ̇ = ( − 6.2324 ± 0.0001 ) × 10 − 11 Hz s − 1 but also for the first time the second time derivative of its spin rate ν ̈ = ( 4.2 ± 0.2 ) × 10 − 21 Hz s − 2 . For the fastest and most energetic young pulsar, PSR J0537−6910 (with a 16 ms spin period), we detect four more glitches, for a total of 15 glitches over 4.5 yr of NICER monitoring, and show that its spin-down behavior continues to set this pulsar apart from all others, including a long-term braking index n = −1.234 ± 0.009 and interglitch braking indices that asymptote to ≲7 for long times after a glitch. For PSR J1101−6101, we measure a much more accurate spin-down rate that agrees with a previous value measured without phase connection. For PSR J1412+7922 (also known as Calvera), we extend the baseline of its timing model from our previous 1 yr model to 4.4 yr, and for PSR J1849−0001, we extend the baseline from 1.5 to 4.7 yr. We also present a long-term timing model of the energetic pulsar PSR J1813−1749, by fitting previous radio and X-ray spin frequencies from 2009–2019 and new ones measured here using 2018 NuSTAR and 2021 Chandra data.

Ho, Wynn C. G. (ORCID:0000000260896836)↗

The Eel Pulsar Wind Nebula: A PeVatron-candidate Origin for HAWC J1826-128 and HESS J182-130

HAWC J1826–128 is one of the brightest Galactic TeV γ-ray sources detected by the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory, with photon energies extending up to nearly ~100 TeV. This HAWC source spatially coincides with the H.E.S.S. TeV source HESS J1826–130 and the "Eel" pulsar wind nebula (PWN), which is associated with the GeV pulsar PSR J1826–1256. In the X-ray band, Chandra and XMM-Newton revealed that the Eel PWN is composed of both a compact nebula (~15'') and diffuse X-ray emission (~6' × 2') extending away from the pulsar. Our NuSTAR observation detected hard X-ray emission from the compact PWN up to ~20 keV and evidence of the synchrotron burn-off effect. In addition to the spatial coincidence between HESS J1826–130 and the diffuse X-ray PWN, our multiwavelength spectral energy distribution (SED) analysis using X-ray and γ-ray data establishes a leptonic origin of the TeV emission associated with the Eel PWN. Furthermore, our evolutionary PWN SED model suggests (1) a low PWN B-field of ~1 μG, (2) a significantly younger pulsar age (t ~ 5.7 kyr) than the characteristic age (τ = 14.4 kyr), and (3) a maximum electron energy of ${E}_{\max }=2$ PeV. The low B-field, as well as the putative supersonic motion of the pulsar, may account for the asymmetric morphology of the diffuse X-ray emission. Our results suggest that the Eel PWN may be a leptonic PeVatron particle accelerator powered by the ~6 kyr old pulsar PSR J1826–1256 with a spin-down power of 3.6 × 10 36 erg s –1 .

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Pulsar’s Application in Energy Systems: Review of Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities

To accelerate progress toward the realization of advanced energy systems, this review explores the potential of pulsar technology to create a more stable, economical, and environmentally friendly energy infrastructure. Pulsars, with their precise and reliable timing characteristics, have emerged as a promising tool for enhancing energy systems. This review begins by examining the development history of pulsar technology, shedding light on its evolution and the milestones achieved. It then provides a comprehensive summary of the current state of research, highlighting recent advancements and breakthroughs in this field. It also explores transformative pulsar applications in energy systems, including improved grid stability, advanced energy synchronization, and efficient energy storage management. However, implementing pulsar-related technologies presents significant technical, economic, and operational challenges. This review examines these hurdles and proposes strategies to overcome them, emphasizing the need for innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and supportive policies to fully integrate pulsar technologies into sustainable energy systems.

application↗

HAWC Detection of a TeV Halo Candidate Surrounding a Radio-quiet Pulsar

Extended very-high-energy (VHE; 0.1–100 TeV) γ-ray emission has been observed around several middle-aged pulsars and referred to as "TeV halos." Their formation mechanism remains under debate. It is also unknown whether they are ubiquitous or related to a certain subgroup of pulsars. With 2321 days of observation, the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-Ray Observatory detected VHE γ-ray emission at the location of the radio-quiet pulsar PSR J0359+5414 with >6σ significance. By performing likelihood tests with different spectral and spatial models and comparing the TeV spectrum with multiwavelength observations of nearby sources, we show that this excess is consistent with a TeV halo associated with PSR J0359+5414, though future observation of HAWC and multiwavelength follow-ups are needed to confirm this nature. This new halo candidate is located in a noncrowded region in the outer galaxy. It shares similar properties to the other halos but its pulsar is younger and radio-quiet. Our observation implies that TeV halos could commonly exist around pulsars and their formation does not depend on the configuration of the pulsar magnetosphere.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Constraining the local pulsar population with the cosmic-ray positron fraction

Observations of the TeV halos associated with nearby pulsars indicate that these objects inject significant fluxes of very high-energy electron-positrons pairs into the interstellar medium (ISM), thereby likely providing the dominant contribution to the cosmic-ray positron flux. In this paper, we use the cosmic-ray positron fraction as measured by the AMS-02 Collaboration to constrain the characteristics of the local pulsar population. For reasonable model parameters, we find that we can obtain good agreement with the measured positron fraction up to energies of E e ~ 300 GeV. At higher energies, the positron fraction is dominated by a small number of pulsars, making it difficult to reliably predict the shape of the expected positron fraction. The low-energy positron spectrum supports the conclusion that pulsars typically transfer approximately η ~ 5–20% of their total spindown power into the production of very high-energy electron-positron pairs, producing a spectrum of such particles with a hard spectral index, α ~ 1.5–1.7. Such pulsars typically spindown on a timescale on the order of τ ~ 10 4 years. Our best fits were obtained for models in which the radio and gamma-ray beams from pulsars are detectable to 28% and 62% of surrounding observers, respectively.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Pulsar Movement Animation and its Corresponding Signal Visualization for Timing Source

The global positioning system, widely used for synchronization in energy systems, faces vulnerabilities, while Pulsars—natural cosmic clocks—offer long-term stability as potential backup timing sources. Existing research lacks sufficient exploration of Pulsar signal animation under astrophysical factors, limiting practical applications. This study establishes a mathematical model based on the rotation dynamics of dual-beam Pulsars and implements dynamic signal visualization through MATLAB. The model dynamically illustrates the relative motion between Pulsar beams and observers via timeline calculations, beam intensity modeling, and rotation matrix derivation. A case study on the millisecond Pulsar J1939+2134 reveals that observer angles influence signal peak timing, while beam widths determine signal duration, highlighting the critical role of parameter calibration for timing accuracy. Open-source code and animation results are publicly shared, providing tools for interdisciplinary research. This study validates the feasibility of Pulsar-based timing in energy systems, offering new insights to enhance synchronization robustness.

Wu, Ori [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000326723410)↗

Constraints on light QCD and CP-violating axions from the death line of rotation-powered pulsars

For axions that couple to nucleons, the presence of dense nuclear matter can displace the axion from its vacuum minimum, sourcing large field gradients around neutron stars (and, more generally, compact objects). These gradients, which we refer to as axion hair, couple to the local background magnetic field, inducing a large voltage drop near the surface of the star; here, we demonstrate that the presence of axion hair decouples local near-field particle acceleration in the open magnetic field line bundle from the rotational frequency of the pulsar itself. This is significant as the non-observation of old slowly-rotating pulsars is attributed to the fact the rotationally-induced electric fields are not strong enough to sustain $e^\pm$ pair production. In this work, we review the evidence for the existence for `pulsar death', i.e. the threshold at which $e^\pm$ pair production (and thus, by association, coherent radio emission) ceases, and demonstrate using both semi-analytics and particle-in-cell simulations that the existence of axion hair can dramatically extend pulsar lifetimes. We show that the non-observation of extremely old, slowly rotating, pulsars allows for a new probe of light QCD and CP-violating axions. We also demonstrate how the observation of emission from both poles of pulsars with nearly orthogonal rotational and magnetic axes, as seen e.g. in PSR J1906+0746, can be used to set competitive limits on CP-violating axion-nucleon interactions.

Witte, Samuel J. [Oxford U., Theor. Phys.; DESY; H↗