Single-pulse Emission Variation of Two Pulsars Discovered by FAST

We investigate the single-pulse emission variations of two pulsars,PSRs J0211+4235 and J0553+4111,observed with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope at the 1.25 GHz central frequency.The observation sessions span from 2020 December to 2021 July,with 21 and 22 observations for them respectively.The integrated pulse profile of PSR J0211+4235 shows that there is a weak pulse component following the main component,and PSR J0553+4111 displays a bimodal profile with a bridge component in the middle.PSR J0211+4235 presents significant nulling phenomenon with nulling duration lasting from 2 to 115 pulses and burst duration lasting from 2 to 113 pulses.The NF of each observation is determined to be 45%-55%.No emission greater than threeσis found in the mean integrated profile of all nulling pulses.In most cases,the pulse energy changes abruptly during the transition from null to burst,while in the transition from burst to null there are two trends:abrupt and gradual.We find that the nulling phenomenon of PSR J0211+4235 is periodic by the Fourier transform of the null and burst state.In addition,the single-pulse modulation characteristics of these two pulsars are investigated,and the distributions of modulation index,LRFS and 2DFS are analyzed with PSRSALSA.The left peak of PSR J0553+4111 has intensity modulation.Finally,the polarization properties of these two pulsars are obtained through polarization calibration,and their characteristics are analyzed.The possible physical mechanisms of these phenomena are discussed.

Searching for the Nano-Hertz Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background with the Chinese Pulsar Timing Array Data ReleaseⅠ

Observing and timing a group of millisecond pulsars with high rotational stability enables the direct detection of gravitational waves(GWs).The GW signals can be identified from the spatial correlations encoded in the times-of-arrival of widely spaced pulsar-pairs.The Chinese Pulsar Timing Array(CPTA)is a collaboration aiming at the direct GW detection with observations carried out using Chinese radio telescopes.This short article serves as a“table of contents”for a forthcoming series of papers related to the CPTA Data Release 1(CPTA DR1)which uses observations from the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope.Here,after summarizing the time span and accuracy of CPTA DR1,we report the key results of our statistical inference finding a correlated signal with amplitude logA_(c)=-14.4_(-2.8)^(+1.0)for spectral index in the range ofα∈[-1.8,1.5]assuming a GW background(GWB)induced quadrupolar correlation.The search for the Hellings–Downs(HD)correlation curve is also presented,where some evidence for the HD correlation has been found that a 4.6σstatistical significance is achieved using the discrete frequency method around the frequency of 14 n Hz.We expect that the future International Pulsar Timing Array data analysis and the next CPTA data release will be more sensitive to the n Hz GWB,which could verify the current results.

Reciprocating Magnetic Fields in the Pulsar Wind Observed from the Black Widow Pulsar J1720-0534

We report the radio observations of the eclipsing black widow pulsar J1720-0534, a 3.26 ms pulsar in orbit with a low mass companion of mass 0.029 to 0.034 M⊙. We obtain the phase-connected timing ephemeris and polarization profile of this millisecond pulsar(MSP) using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope(FAST), the Green Bank Telescope(GBT), and the Parkes Telescope. For the first time from such a system, an oscillatory polarization angle change was observed from a particular eclipse egress with partial depolarization, indicating 10-milliGauss-level reciprocating magnetic fields oscillating in a length scale of 5 ×10^(3)km(assuming an orbital inclination angle of 90°) outside the companion's magnetosphere. The dispersion measure variation observed during the ingresses and egresses shows the rapid raising of the electron density in the shock boundary between the companion's magnetosphere and the surrounding pulsar wind. We suggest that the observed oscillatory magnetic fields originate from the pulsar wind outside the companion's magnetosphere.

FAST Pulsar Database.I.Polarization Profiles of 682 Pulsars

Pulsar polarization profiles form a very basic database for understanding the emission processes in a pulsar magnetosphere.After careful polarization calibration of the 19-beam L-band receiver and verification of beamoffset observation results,we obtain polarization profiles of 682 pulsars from observations by the Five-hundredmeter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope(FAST)duringthe Galactic Plane Pulsar Snapshot survey and other normal FAST projects.Among them,polarization profiles of about 460 pulsars are observed for the first time.The profiles exhibit diverse features.Some pulsars have a polarization position angle curve with a good S-shaped swing,some with orthogonal modes;some have components with highly linearly polarized components or strong circularly polarized components;some have a very wide profile,coming from an aligned rotator,and some have an interpulse from a perpendicular rotator;some wide profiles are caused by interstellar scattering.We derive geometric parameters for 190 pulsars from the S-shaped position angle curves or with orthogonal modes.We find that the linear and circular polarization or the widths of pulse profiles have various frequency dependencies.Pulsars with a large fraction of linear polarization are more likely to have a large Edot.

Cleaning Radio Frequency Interference in Pulsar-Folded Data Based on the Conditional Random Fields with an Adaptive Prior

Radio astronomy observations are frequently impacted by radio frequency interference(RFI).We propose a novel method,named 2σCRF,for cleaning RFI in the folded data of pulsar observations,utilizing a Bayesian-based model called conditional random fields(CRFs).This algorithm minimizes the“energy”of every pixel given an initial label.The standard deviations(i.e.,rms values)of the folded pulsar data are utilized as pixels for all subintegrations and channels.Non-RFI data without obvious interference is treated as“background noise,”while RFI-affected data have different classes due to their exceptional rms values.This initial labeling can be automated and is adaptive to the actual data.The CRF algorithm optimizes the label category for each pixel of the image with the prior initial labels.We demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method on pulsar folded data obtained from Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope observations.It can effectively recognize and tag various categories of RFIs,including broadband or narrowband,constant or instantaneous,and even weak RFIs that are unrecognizable in some pixels but picked out based on their neighborhoods.The results are comparable to those obtained via manual labeling but without the need for human intervention,saving time and effort.

An Arecibo follow-up study of seven pulsars discovered by Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope(FAST)

We present Arecibo 327 MHz confirmation and follow-up studies of seven new pulsars discovered by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope(FAST).These pulsars are discovered in a pilot program of the Commensal Radio Astronomy FAST Survey(CRAFTS)with the ultra-widebandwidth commissioning receiver.Five of them are normal pulsars and two are extreme nulling slow pulsars.PSR J2111+2132’s dispersion measure(DM:78.5 pc cm^(-3))is above the upper limits of the two Galactic free electron density models,NE2001 and YMW16,and PSR J2057+2133’s position is out of the Scutum-Crux Arm,making them uniquely useful for improving the Galactic free electron density model in their directions.We present a detailed single pulse analysis for the slow nulling pulsars.We show evidence that PSR J2323+1214’s main pulse component follows a non-Poisson distribution and marginal evidence for a sub-pulse-drift or recurrent period of 32.3±0.4 rotations from PSR J0539+0013.We discuss the implication of our finding to the pulsar radiation mechanism.

Results of 23 yr of Pulsar Timing of PSR J1453-6413

In this paper,we presented the 23.3 yr of pulsar timing results of PSR J1456-6413 based on the observations of Parkes 64 m radio telescope.We detected two new glitches at MJD 57093(3)and 59060(12)and confirmed its first glitch at MJD 54554(10).The relative sizes(Δν/ν)of these two new glitches are 0.9×10^(-9)and 1.16×10^(-9),respectively.Using the“Cholesky”timing analysis method,we have determined its position,proper motion,and two-dimensional transverse velocities from the data segments before and after the second glitch,respectively.Furthermore,we detected exponential recovery behavior after the first glitch,with a recovery timescale of approximately 200 days and a corresponding exponential recovery factor Q of approximately 0.15(2),while no exponential recovery was detected for the other two glitches.More interestingly,we found that the leading component of the integral pulse profile after the second glitch became stronger,while the main component became weaker.Our results will expand the sample of pulsars with magnetosphere fluctuation triggered by the glitch event.

Constraining the Orbital Inclination and Companion Properties of Three Black Widow Pulsars Detected by FAST

Black widows(BWs)are millisecond pulsars ablating their companion stars.The out-flowing material from the companion can block the radio emission of the pulsar,resulting in eclipses.In this paper,we construct a model for the radio eclipse by calculating the geometry of the bow shock between the winds of the pulsar and companion,where the shock shapes the eclipsing medium but had not been described in detail in previous works.The model is further used to explain the variations of the flux density and dispersion measure of three BW pulsars(i.e.,PSR B1957+20,J2055+3829,and J2051-0827)detected by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope.Consequently,we constrained the parameters of the three BW systems such as the inclination angles and true anomalies of the observer as well as the mass-loss rates and wind velocity of the companion stars.With the help of these constraints,it is expected that magnetic fields of companion stars and even masses of pulsars could further be determined as some extra observation can be achieved in the future.

Rotating Massive Strangeon Stars and X-Ray Plateau of Short GRBs

Strangeon stars,which are proposed to describe the nature of pulsar-like compact stars,have passed various observational tests.The maximum mass of a non-rotating strangeon star could be high,which implies that the remnants of binary strangeon star mergers could even be long-lived massive strangeon stars.We study rigidly rotating strangeon stars in the slowly rotating approximation,using the Lennard-Jones model for the equation of state.Rotation can significantly increase the maximum mass of strangeon stars with unchanged baryon numbers,enlarging the mass-range of long-lived strangeon stars.During spin-down after merger,the decrease of radius of the remnant will lead to the release of gravitational energy.Taking into account the efficiency of converting the gravitational energy luminosity to the observed X-ray luminosity,we find that the gravitational energy could provide an alternative energy source for the plateau emission of X-ray afterglow.The fitting results of X-ray plateau emission of some short gamma-ray bursts suggest that the magnetic dipole field strength of the remnants can be much smaller than that of expected when the plateau emission is powered only by spin-down luminosity of magnetars.

How Massive Are the Superfluid Cores in the Crab and Vela Pulsars and Why Their Glitch-Events Are Accompanied with under and Overshootings?

The Crab and Vela are well-studied glitching pulsars and the data obtained so far should enable us to test the reliability of models of their internal structures. Very recently it was proposed that glitching pulsars are embedded in bimetric spacetime: their incompressible superfluid cores (SuSu-cores) are embedded in flat spacetime, whereas the ambient compressible and dissipative media are enclosed in Schwarzschild spacetime. In this letter we apply this model to the Crab and Vela pulsars and show that a newly born pulsar initially of and an embryonic SuSu-core of could evolve into a Crab-like pulsar after 1000 years and into a Vela-like pulsar 10,000 years later to finally fade away as an invisible dark energy object after roughly 10 Myr. Based thereon we infer that the Crab and the Vela pulsars should have SuSu-cores of and , respectively. Furthermore, the under- and overshootings phenomena observed to accompany the glitch events of the Vela pulsar are rather a common phenomenon of glitching pulsars that can be well-explained within the framework of bimetric spacetime.

Glitching Pulsars: Unraveling the Interactions of General Relativistic and Quantum Fields in the Strong Field Regimes

In this article we modify our previous model for the mechanisms underlying the glitch phenomena in pulsars. Accordingly, pulsars are born with embryonic cores that are made of purely incompressible superconducting gluon-quark superfluid (henceforth SuSu-cores). As the ambient medium cools and spins down due to emission of magnetic dipole radiation, the mass and size of SuSu-cores must grow discretely with time, in accordance with the Onsager-Feynmann analysis of superfluidity. Here we argue that the spacetime embedding glitching pulsars is dynamical and of bimetric nature: inside SuSu-cores the spacetime must be flat, whereas the surrounding region, where the matter is compressible and dissipative, the spacetime is Schwarzschild. It is argued here that the topological change of spacetime is derived by the strong nuclear force, whose operating length scales are found to increase with time to reach O (1) cm at the end of the luminous lifetimes of pulsars. The here-presented model is in line with the recent radio- and gravitational wave observations of pulsars and merger of neutron stars.

PSRDP:A Parallel Processing Method for Pulsar Baseband Data

To address the problem of real-time processing of ultra-wide bandwidth pulsar baseband data,we designed and implemented a pulsar baseband data processing algorithm(PSRDP)based on GPU parallel computing technology.PSRDP can perform operations such as baseband data unpacking,channel separation,coherent dedispersion,Stokes detection,phase and folding period prediction,and folding integration in GPU clusters.We tested the algorithm using the J0437-4715 pulsar baseband data generated by the CASPSR and Medusa backends of the Parkes,and the J0332+5434 pulsar baseband data generated by the self-developed backend of the Nan Shan Radio Telescope.We obtained the pulse profiles of each baseband data.Through experimental analysis,we have found that the pulse profiles generated by the PSRDP algorithm in this paper are essentially consistent with the processing results of Digital Signal Processing Software for Pulsar Astronomy(DSPSR),which verified the effectiveness of the PSRDP algorithm.Furthermore,using the same baseband data,we compared the processing speed of PSRDP with DSPSR,and the results showed that PSRDP was not slower than DSPSR in terms of speed.The theoretical and technical experience gained from the PSRDP algorithm research in this article lays a technical foundation for the real-time processing of QTT(Qi Tai radio Telescope)ultra-wide bandwidth pulsar baseband data.

Ultra-wide Bandwidth Observations of 19 Pulsars with Parkes Telescope

Flux densities are basic observation parameters to describe pulsars.In the most updated pulsar catalog,24%of the listed radio pulsars have no flux density measurement at any frequency.Here,we report the first flux density measurements,spectral indices,pulse profiles,and correlations of the spectral index with pulsar parameters for 19 pulsars employing the Ultra-Wideband Low receiver system installed on the Parkes radio telescope.The results for spectral indices of 17 pulsars are in the range between-0.6 and-3.10.The polarization profiles of thirteen pulsars are shown.There is a moderate correlation between the spectral index and spin frequency.For most pulsars detected,the signal-to-noise ratio of pulse profile is not high,so DM,Faraday rotation measure,and polarization cannot be determined precisely.Twenty-nine pulsars were not detected in our observations.We discuss the possible explanations for why these pulsars were not detected.

A Possible γ-Ray Pulsation from PSR J1740-5340B in the Globular Cluster NGC 6397

Recently, a new radio millisecond pulsar(MSP) J1740-5340B, hosted in the globular cluster(GC) NGC 6397,was reported with a 5.78 ms spin period in an eclipsing binary system with a 1.97 days orbital period. Based on a modified radio ephemeris updated by tool tempo2, we analyze the ~15 yr γ-ray data obtained from the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and detect PSR J1740-5340B's γ-ray pulsation at a confidence level of ~4σ with a weighted H-test value of ~26. By performing a phase-resolved analysis, the γ-ray luminosity in on-pulse interval of PSR J1740-5340B is L_(γ)~ 3.8 × 10^(33) erg s^(-1) using NGC 6397's distance of 2.48 kpc. And γ-rays from the on-pulse part of PSR J1740-5340B contribute ~90% of the total observed γ-ray emissions from NGC 6397. No significant γ-ray pulsation of another MSP J1740-5340A in the GC is detected.Considering that the previous four cases of MSPs in GCs, more data in γ-ray, X-ray, and radio are encouraged to finally confirm the γ-ray emissions from MSP J1740-5340B, especially starving for a precise ephemeris.

On Strong Correlations between Timing Irregularities and Surface Magnetic Field of Rotation-Powered Pulsars

Using a large homogenous sample of Jodrell Bank Observatory (JBO) rotation-powered pulsars with derived pulsar parameter obtained from the Australian Telescope National Facility (ATNF) catalogue, we investigated the degree of statistical dependence of timing noise on surface magnetic field for our sample. The distributions of the timing irregularities parameters reveal a striking trend, in which pulsars with large timing noise parameters on average, have large surface magnetic field with up to 5 orders of magnitude. Regression analysis of the data reveals significant correlations (r ≥ 0.80) between timing noise parameters and the surface magnetic field. The implications of the observed significant relationships are discussed.

New limits on the photon mass with radio pulsars in the Magellanic clouds

A conservative constraint on the rest mass of the photon can be estimated under the assumption that the frequency dependence of dispersion from astronomical sources is mainly contributed by the nonzero photon mass effect. Photon mass limits have been set earlier through the optical emissions of the Crab Nebula pulsar, but we demonstrate that these limits can be significantly improved with the dispersion measure(DM) measurements of radio pulsars in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.The combination of DM measurements of pulsars and distances of the Magellanic Clouds provides a strict upper limit on the photon mass as low as m_γ≤ 2.0 × 10^(-45) g, which is at least four orders of magnitude smaller than the constraint from the Crab Nebula pulsar. Although our limit is not as tight as the current best result(~ 10^(-47)g) from a fast radio burst(FRB 150418) at a cosmological distance,the cosmological origin of FRB 150418 remains under debate; and our limit can reach the same high precision of FRB 150418 when it has an extragalactic origin(~ 10^(-45)g).

Why the Spacetime Embedding Incompressible Cores of Pulsars Must Be Conformally Flat?

The multi-messenger observations of the merger event in GW170817 did not rule out the possibility that the remnant might be a dynamically stable neutron star with . Based on this and other recent events, I argue that the universal maximum density hypothesis should be revived. Accordingly, the central densities in the cores of ultra-compact objects must be upper-limited by the critical density number ncr, beyond which supranuclear dense matter becomes purely incompressible. Based on the spacetime-matter coupling in GR, it is shown that the topology of spacetime embedding incompressible quantum fluids with n=ncr must be Minkowski flat, which implies that spacetime at the background of ultra-compact objects should be bimetric.

Spectral indices for radio emission of 228 pulsars

We determine spectral indices of 228 pulsars by using Parkes pulsar data observed at 1.4 GHz,among which 200 spectra are newly determined.The indices are distributed in the range from-4.84 to-0.46.Together with known pulsar spectra from literature,we tried to find clues to the pulsar emission process.The weak correlations between the spectral index,the spin-down energy loss rate E and the potential drop in the polar gap △Ψ hint that emission properties are related to the particle acceleration process in a pulsar's magnetosphere.

How Fast Could a Proto-pulsar Rotate?

According to two estimated relations between the initial period andthe dynamo-generated magnetic dipole field of pulsars, we calculate the statisticaldistributions of pulsar initial periods. It is found that proto-pulsars are very likelyto have rotation periods between 20 ms and 30 ms, and that most of the pulsarsrotate initially at a period ＜ 60 ms. Our result supports the asymmetric neutrinoemission model for pulsar kick.

30 glitches in 18 radio pulsars

Pulsar timing is a classic technology of detecting irregularities in pulsar rotation.We carried out this method for 18 young radio pulsars,with long-term timing observations obtained between 2007 and 2015 using the Parkes 64-m radio telescope.As a result,30 glitches were identified,ranging from 0.75 × 10^(-9) to 8.6 × 10^(-6) in the relative glitch sizes Δv/v,where v=1/P is the pulse frequency.These glitches are composed of 26 new glitches and four published glitches with new exponential recoveries.All pulsars exhibit normal glitches,and six pulsars were observed to undergo a glitch event for the first time.We discuss the properties and implications for neutron-star physics of these glitches,and show that they are in agreement with previous work,except that the cumulative probability distributions of the mean waiting times for PSRs J0537-6910,J1341-6220 and J1740-3015 are not in consonance with the Poisson model.