Search

Astrometry of pulsars, particularly their distances, serves as a critical input for various astrophysical experiments using pulsars. Pulsar timing is a primary approach for determining a pulsar's position, parallax, and distance. In this paper, we explore the influence of the solar wind on astrometric measurements obtained through pulsar timing, focusing on its potential to affect the accuracy of these parameters. Using both theoretical calculation and mock-data simulations, we demonstrate a significant correlation between the pulsar position, annual parallax and the solar-wind density parameters. This correlation strongly depends on the pulsar's ecliptic latitude. We show that fixing solar-wind density to an arbitrary value in the timing analysis can introduce significant bias in the estimated pulsar position and parallax, and its significance is highly dependent on the ecliptic latitude of the pulsar and the timing precision of the data. For pulsars with favourable ecliptic latitude and timing precision, the astrometric and solar-wind parameters can be measured jointly with other timing parameters using single-frequency data. The parameter correlation can be mitigated by using multi-frequency data, which also significantly improves the measurement precision of these parameters; this is particularly important for pulsars at a medium or high ecliptic latitude. Additionally, for a selection of pulsars we reprocess their EPTA Data Release 2 data to include modelling of solar-wind effect in the timing analysis. This delivers significant measurements of both parallax and solar-wind density, the latter of which are consistent with those obtained at low-frequency band. In the future, combining pulsar timing data at gigahertz and lower frequencies will probably deliver the most robust and precise measurements of astrometry and solar wind properties in pulsar timing., Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Ultra-light axion-like particles (ALPs) can be a viable solution to the dark matter problem. The scalar field associated with ALPs, coupled to the electromagnetic field, acts as an active birefringent medium, altering the polarisation properties of light through which it propagates. In particular, oscillations of the axionic field induce monochromatic variations of the plane of linearly polarised radiation of astrophysical signals. The radio emission of millisecond pulsars provides an excellent tool to search for such manifestations, given their high fractional linear polarisation and negligible fluctuations of their polarisation properties. We have searched for the evidence of ALPs in the polarimetry measurements of pulsars collected and preprocessed for the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) campaign. Focusing on the twelve brightest sources in linear polarisation, we searched for an astrophysical signal from axions using both frequentist and Bayesian statistical frameworks. For the frequentist analysis, which uses Lomb-Scargle periodograms at its core, no statistically significant signal has been found. The model used for the Bayesian analysis has been adjusted to accommodate multiple deterministic systematics that may be present in the data. A statistically significant signal has been found in the dataset of multiple pulsars with common frequency between $10^{-8}$ Hz and $2\times10^{-8}$ Hz, which can most likely be explained by the residual Faraday rotation in the terrestrial ionosphere. Strong bounds on the coupling constant $g_{a\gamma}$, in the same ballpark as other searches, have been obtained in the mass range between $6\times10^{-24}$ eV and $5\times10^{-21}$ eV. We conclude by discussing problems that can limit the sensitivity of our search for ultra-light axions in the polarimetry data of pulsars, and possible ways to resolve them., Comment: 24 pages, 15 figures

Millisecond pulsars (MSPs) are laboratories for stellar evolution, strong gravity, and ultra-dense matter. Although MSPs are thought to originate in low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs), approximately 27% lack a binary companion, while others are found in systems with large orbital eccentricities. Understanding how these systems form may provide insight into the internal properties of neutron stars (NSs). We study the formation of a twin compact star through rapid first-order phase transitions in NS cores due to mass accretion in LMXBs. We investigate whether this mechanism, possibly coupled with secondary kick effects such as neutrino or electromagnetic rocket effects, may leave an observable long-lasting imprint on the orbit. We simulate mass accretion in LMXBs consisting of a NS and a low-mass main sequence companion, following the evolution of the NS mass, radius, and spin until a strong phase transition is triggered. For the NS structure, we assume a multipolytrope equation-of-state that allows for a sharp phase transition from hadronic to quark matter and satisfies observational constraints. We find that in compact binaries with relatively short pre-Roche lobe overflow orbital periods, an accretion-induced phase transition may occur during the LMXB phase. In contrast, in systems with wider orbits, this transition may take place during the spin-down phase, forming an eccentric binary MSP. If the transition is accompanied by a secondary kick (w > 20 km/s), the binary is likely to be disrupted, forming an isolated MSP or reconfigured to an ultra-wide orbit. Our results suggest that accretion in LMXBs provides a viable path for forming twin compact stars, potentially leaving an observable imprint on the orbit. The eccentricity distribution of binary MSPs with long (> 50 d) orbital periods could provide constraints on first-order phase transitions in dense nuclear matter., Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures. To be submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)

We find the inferred properties of the putative gravitational wave background in the second data release of the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) to be in better agreement with theoretical expectations under the improved noise model. In particular, if the gravitational wave background is from supermassive black hole binaries, the observed gravitational wave emission is the dominant source of the binary energy loss, with no evidence of environmental effects, eccentric orbits, or an overabundance of sources. Our improved noise model addresses the misspecification of noise priors which impacts the inference of temporal correlations of the background. We also find evidence for epoch-correlated temporally-uncorrelated (white) noise which has a stronger impact on the measurement in the presence of Hellings-Downs correlations of the background., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures

Pulsar Timing Array (PTA) collaborations recently reported evidence for the presence of a gravitational wave background (GWB) in their datasets. The main candidate that is expected to produce such a GWB is the population of supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHB). Some analyses showed that the recovered signal may exhibit time-dependent properties, i.e. non-stationarity. In this paper, we propose an approximated non-stationary Gaussian process (GP) model obtained from the perturbation of stationary processes. The presented method is applied to the second data release of the European pulsar timing array to search for non-stationary features in the GWB. We analyzed the data in different time slices and showed that the inferred properties of the GWB evolve with time. We find no evidence for such non-stationary behavior and the Bayes factor in favor of the latter is $\mathcal{B}^{NS}_{S} = 1.5$. We argue that the evolution of the GWB properties most likely comes from the \mf{improvement of the observation cadence} with time and \mf{better} characterization of the noise of individual pulsars. Such non-stationary GWB could also be produced by the leakage of non-stationary features in the noise of individual pulsars or by the presence of an eccentric single source., Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures

Millisecond pulsars are extremely precise celestial clocks: as they rotate, the beamed radio waves emitted along the axis of their magnetic field can be detected with radio telescopes, which allows for tracking subtle changes in the pulsars' rotation periods. A possible effect on the period of a pulsar is given by a potential coupling to dark matter, in cases where it is modeled with an "ultralight" scalar field. In this paper, we consider a universal conformal coupling of the dark matter scalar to gravity, which in turn mediates an effective coupling between pulsars and dark matter. If the dark matter scalar field is changing in time, as expected in the Milky Way, this effective coupling produces a periodic modulation of the pulsar rotational frequency. By studying the time series of observed radio pulses collected by the European Pulsar Timing Array experiment, we present constraints on the coupling of dark matter, improving on existing bounds. These bounds can also be regarded as constraints on the parameters of scalar-tensor theories of the Fierz-Jordan-Brans-Dicke and Damour-Esposito-Far\`{e}se types in the presence of a (light) mass potential term., Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, Updated plots, matching published version

The Australian, Chinese, European, Indian, and North American pulsar timing array (PTA) collaborations recently reported, at varying levels, evidence for the presence of a nanohertz gravitational wave background (GWB). Given that each PTA made different choices in modeling their data, we perform a comparison of the GWB and individual pulsar noise parameters across the results reported from the PTAs that constitute the International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA). We show that despite making different modeling choices, there is no significant difference in the GWB parameters that are measured by the different PTAs, agreeing within $1\sigma$. The pulsar noise parameters are also consistent between different PTAs for the majority of the pulsars included in these analyses. We bridge the differences in modeling choices by adopting a standardized noise model for all pulsars and PTAs, finding that under this model there is a reduction in the tension in the pulsar noise parameters. As part of this reanalysis, we "extended" each PTA's data set by adding extra pulsars that were not timed by that PTA. Under these extensions, we find better constraints on the GWB amplitude and a higher signal-to-noise ratio for the Hellings and Downs correlations. These extensions serve as a prelude to the benefits offered by a full combination of data across all pulsars in the IPTA, i.e., the IPTA's Data Release 3, which will involve not just adding in additional pulsars, but also including data from all three PTAs where any given pulsar is timed by more than as single PTA., Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures, submitted to ApJ

Optical polarimeters are typically calibrated using measurements of stars with known and stable polarization parameters. However, there is a lack of such stars available across the sky. Many of the currently available standards are not suitable for medium and large telescopes due to their high brightness. Moreover, as we find, some of the used polarimetric standards are in fact variable or have polarization parameters that differ from their cataloged values. Our goal is to establish a sample of stable standards suitable for calibrating linear optical polarimeters with an accuracy down to $10^{-3}$ in fractional polarization. For five years, we have been running a monitoring campaign of a sample of standard candidates comprised of 107 stars distributed across the northern sky. We analyzed the variability of the linear polarization of these stars, taking into account the non-Gaussian nature of fractional polarization measurements. For a subsample of nine stars, we also performed multiband polarization measurements. We created a new catalog of 65 stars (see Table 2) that are stable, have small uncertainties of measured polarimetric parameters, and can be used as calibrators of polarimeters at medium- and large-size telescopes.

Pulsar Timing Array experiments probe the presence of possible scalar or pseudoscalar ultralight dark matter particles through decade-long timing of an ensemble of galactic millisecond radio pulsars. With the second data release of the European Pulsar Timing Array, we focus on the most robust scenario, in which dark matter interacts only gravitationally with ordinary baryonic matter. Our results show that ultralight particles with masses $10^{-24.0}~\text{eV} \lesssim m \lesssim 10^{-23.3}~\text{eV}$ cannot constitute $100\%$ of the measured local dark matter density, but can have at most local density $\rho\lesssim 0.3$ GeV/cm$^3$., Comment: 5 pages + acknowledgements + refs, 2 figures. Text and figures match the version published in PRL

The European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) and Indian Pulsar Timing Array (InPTA) collaborations have measured a low-frequency common signal in the combination of their second and first data releases respectively, with the correlation properties of a gravitational wave background (GWB). Such signal may have its origin in a number of physical processes including a cosmic population of inspiralling supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs); inflation, phase transitions, cosmic strings and tensor mode generation by non-linear evolution of scalar perturbations in the early Universe; oscillations of the Galactic potential in the presence of ultra-light dark matter (ULDM). At the current stage of emerging evidence, it is impossible to discriminate among the different origins. Therefore, in this paper, we consider each process separately, and investigate the implications of the signal under the hypothesis that it is generated by that specific process. We find that the signal is consistent with a cosmic population of inspiralling SMBHBs, and its relatively high amplitude can be used to place constraints on binary merger timescales and the SMBH-host galaxy scaling relations. If this origin is confirmed, this is the first direct evidence that SMBHBs merge in nature, adding an important observational piece to the puzzle of structure formation and galaxy evolution. As for early Universe processes, the measurement would place tight constraints on the cosmic string tension and on the level of turbulence developed by first-order phase transitions. Other processes would require non-standard scenarios, such as a blue-tilted inflationary spectrum or an excess in the primordial spectrum of scalar perturbations at large wavenumbers. Finally, a ULDM origin of the detected signal is disfavoured, which leads to direct constraints on the abundance of ULDM in our Galaxy., Comment: 30 pages, 23 figures, replaced to match the version published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, note the change in the numbering order in the series (now paper IV)

We present the results of a search for continuous gravitational wave signals (CGWs) in the second data release (DR2) of the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) collaboration. The most significant candidate event from this search has a gravitational wave frequency of 4-5 nHz. Such a signal could be generated by a supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB) in the local Universe. We present the results of a follow-up analysis of this candidate using both Bayesian and frequentist methods. The Bayesian analysis gives a Bayes factor of 4 in favor of the presence of the CGW over a common uncorrelated noise process, while the frequentist analysis estimates the p-value of the candidate to be 1%, also assuming the presence of common uncorrelated red noise. However, comparing a model that includes both a CGW and a gravitational wave background (GWB) to a GWB only, the Bayes factor in favour of the CGW model is only 0.7. Therefore, we cannot conclusively determine the origin of the observed feature, but we cannot rule it out as a CGW source. We present results of simulations that demonstrate that data containing a weak gravitational wave background can be misinterpreted as data including a CGW and vice versa, providing two plausible explanations of the EPTA DR2 data. Further investigations combining data from all PTA collaborations will be needed to reveal the true origin of this feature., Comment: 13 figures, 15 pages, accepted

The nanohertz gravitational wave background (GWB) is expected to be an aggregate signal of an ensemble of gravitational waves emitted predominantly by a large population of coalescing supermassive black hole binaries in the centres of merging galaxies. Pulsar timing arrays, ensembles of extremely stable pulsars, are the most precise experiments capable of detecting this background. However, the subtle imprints that the GWB induces on pulsar timing data are obscured by many sources of noise. These must be carefully characterized to increase the sensitivity to the GWB. In this paper, we present a novel technique to estimate the optimal number of frequency coefficients for modelling achromatic and chromatic noise and perform model selection. We also incorporate a new model to fit for scattering variations in the pulsar timing package temponest and created realistic simulations of the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) datasets that allowed us to test the efficacy of our noise modelling algorithms. We present an in-depth analysis of the noise properties of 25 millisecond pulsars (MSPs) that form the second data release (DR2) of the EPTA and investigate the effect of incorporating low-frequency data from the Indian PTA collaboration. We use enterprise and temponest packages to compare noise models with those reported with the EPTA DR1. We find that, while in some pulsars we can successfully disentangle chromatic from achromatic noise owing to the wider frequency coverage in DR2, in others the noise models evolve in a more complicated way. We also find evidence of long-term scattering variations in PSR J1600$-$3053. Through our simulations, we identify intrinsic biases in our current noise analysis techniques and discuss their effect on GWB searches. The results presented here directly help improve sensitivity to the GWB and are already being used as part of global PTA efforts., Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, 9 tables

Pulsar timing arrays offer a probe of the low-frequency gravitational wave spectrum (1 - 100 nanohertz), which is intimately connected to a number of markers that can uniquely trace the formation and evolution of the Universe. We present the dataset and the results of the timing analysis from the second data release of the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA). The dataset contains high-precision pulsar timing data from 25 millisecond pulsars collected with the five largest radio telescopes in Europe, as well as the Large European Array for Pulsars. The dataset forms the foundation for the search for gravitational waves by the EPTA, presented in associated papers. We describe the dataset and present the results of the frequentist and Bayesian pulsar timing analysis for individual millisecond pulsars that have been observed over the last ~25 years. We discuss the improvements to the individual pulsar parameter estimates, as well as new measurements of the physical properties of these pulsars and their companions. This data release extends the dataset from EPTA Data Release 1 up to the beginning of 2021, with individual pulsar datasets with timespans ranging from 14 to 25 years. These lead to improved constraints on annual parallaxes, secular variation of the orbital period, and Shapiro delay for a number of sources. Based on these results, we derived astrophysical parameters that include distances, transverse velocities, binary pulsar masses, and annual orbital parallaxes., Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, 13 tables, Astronomy & Astrophysics in press

We present the results of the search for an isotropic stochastic gravitational wave background (GWB) at nanohertz frequencies using the second data release of the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) for 25 millisecond pulsars and a combination with the first data release of the Indian Pulsar Timing Array (InPTA). We analysed (i) the full 24.7-year EPTA data set, (ii) its 10.3-year subset based on modern observing systems, (iii) the combination of the full data set with the first data release of the InPTA for ten commonly timed millisecond pulsars, and (iv) the combination of the 10.3-year subset with the InPTA data. These combinations allowed us to probe the contributions of instrumental noise and interstellar propagation effects. With the full data set, we find marginal evidence for a GWB, with a Bayes factor of four and a false alarm probability of $4\%$. With the 10.3-year subset, we report evidence for a GWB, with a Bayes factor of $60$ and a false alarm probability of about $0.1\%$ ($\gtrsim 3\sigma$ significance). The addition of the InPTA data yields results that are broadly consistent with the EPTA-only data sets, with the benefit of better noise modelling. Analyses were performed with different data processing pipelines to test the consistency of the results from independent software packages. The inferred spectrum from the latest EPTA data from new generation observing systems is rather uncertain and in mild tension with the common signal measured in the full data set. However, if the spectral index is fixed at 13/3, the two data sets give a similar amplitude of ($2.5\pm0.7)\times10^{-15}$ at a reference frequency of $1\,{\rm yr}^{-1}$. By continuing our detection efforts as part of the International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA), we expect to be able to improve the measurement of spatial correlations and better characterise this signal in the coming years., Comment: 21 pages, 14 figures, 4 appendix figures, accepted for publication in A&A

We present the first large sample of scintillation arcs in millisecond pulsars, analysing 12 sources observed with the Large European Array for Pulsars (LEAP), and the Effelsberg 100\,m telescope. We estimate the delays from multipath propagation, measuring significant correlated changes in scattering timescales over a 10-year timespan. Many sources show compact concentrations of power in the secondary spectrum, which in PSRs J0613$-$0200 and J1600$-$3053 can be tracked between observations, and are consistent with compact scattering at fixed angular positions. Other sources such as PSRs J1643$-$1224 and J0621+1002 show diffuse, asymmetric arcs which are likely related to phase-gradients across the scattering screen. PSR B1937+21 shows at least three distinct screens which dominate at different times and evidence of varying screen axes or multi-screen interactions. We model annual and orbital arc curvature variations in PSR J0613$-$0200, providing a measurement of the longitude of ascending node, resolving the sense of the orbital inclination, where our best fit model is of a screen with variable axis of anisotropy over time, corresponding to changes in the scattering of the source. Unmodeled variations of the screen's axis of anisotropy are likely to be a limiting factor in determining orbital parameters with scintillation, requiring careful consideration of variable screen properties, or independent VLBI measurements. Long-term scintillation studies such as this serve as a complementary tool to pulsar timing, to measure a source of correlated noise for pulsar timing arrays, solve pulsar orbits, and to understand the astrophysical origin of scattering screens., Comment: Submitted to MNRAS, first revision. 18 pages, 16 figures

We search for a stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB) generated by a network of cosmic strings using six millisecond pulsars from Data Release 2 (DR2) of the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA). We perform a Bayesian analysis considering two models for the network of cosmic string loops, and compare it to a simple power-law model which is expected from the population of supermassive black hole binaries. Our main strong assumption is that the previously reported common red noise process is a SGWB. We find that the one-parameter cosmic string model is slightly favored over a power-law model thanks to its simplicity. If we assume a two-component stochastic signal in the data (supermassive black hole binary population and the signal from cosmic strings), we get a $95\%$ upper limit on the string tension of $\log_{10}(G\mu) < -9.9$ ($-10.5$) for the two cosmic string models we consider. In extended two-parameter string models, we were unable to constrain the number of kinks. We test two approximate and fast Bayesian data analysis methods against the most rigorous analysis and find consistent results. These two fast and efficient methods are applicable to all SGWBs, independent of their source, and will be crucial for analysis of extended data sets., Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures; typo corrected in (5)

PSR J1933$-$6211 is a 3.5-ms pulsar in a 12.8-d orbit with a white dwarf (WD). Its high proper motion and low dispersion measure result in such significant interstellar scintillation that high signal-to-noise detections require long observing durations or fortuitous timing. We turn to the sensitive MeerKAT telescope and, combined with historic Parkes data, leverage PSR J1933$-$6211's kinematic and relativistic effects to constrain its 3D orbital geometry and the component masses. We obtain precise proper motion and parallax estimates, and measure their effects as secular changes in the Keplerian orbital parameters: a variation in orbital period of $7(1) \times 10^{-13}$ s s$^{-1}$ and a change in projected semi-major axis of $1.60(5) \times 10^{-14}$ s s$^{-1}$. A self-consistent analysis of all kinematic and relativistic effects yields a distance of $1.6^{+0.2}_{-0.3}$ kpc, an orbital inclination, $i = 55(1)$ deg and a longitude of the ascending node, $\Omega = 255^{+8}_{-14}$ deg. The probability densities for $\Omega$ and $i$ and their symmetric counterparts, ($180-i$, $360-\Omega$), are seen to depend on the fiducial orbit used to measure the time of periastron passage. We investigate this unexpected dependence and rule out software-related causes using simulations. Nevertheless, we constrain the pulsar and WD masses to $1.4^{+0.3}_{-0.2}$ M$_\odot$ and $0.43(5)$ M$_\odot$ respectively. These strongly disfavour a helium-dominated WD. The orbital similarities between PSRs J1933$-$6211 and J1614$-$2230 suggest they underwent Case A Roche lobe overflow, an extended evolution while the companion star is still on the Main Sequence. However, with a mass of $\sim 1.4$ M$_\odot$, PSR J1933$-$6211 has not accreted significant matter. This highlights the low accretion efficiency of the spin-up process and suggests that observed neutron star masses are mostly a result of supernova physics., Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures. Abstract shortened to adhere to ArXiv limit

The International Pulsar Timing Array 2nd data release is the combination of datasets from worldwide collaborations. In this study, we search for continuous waves: gravitational wave signals produced by individual supermassive black hole binaries in the local universe. We consider binaries on circular orbits and neglect the evolution of orbital frequency over the observational span. We find no evidence for such signals and set sky averaged 95% upper limits on their amplitude h 95 . The most sensitive frequency is 10nHz with h 95 = 9.1 10-15 . We achieved the best upper limit to date at low and high frequencies of the PTA band thanks to improved effective cadence of observations. In our analysis, we have taken into account the recently discovered common red noise process, which has an impact at low frequencies. We also find that the peculiar noise features present in some pulsars data must be taken into account to reduce the false alarm. We show that using custom noise models is essential in searching for continuous gravitational wave signals and setting the upper limit.

We report on the follow-up of the extremely bright long gamma-ray burst GRB~210619B with optical polarimetry. We conducted optopolarimetric observations of the optical afterglow of GRB~210619B in the SDSS-r band in the time window ~ 5967 - 8245 seconds after the burst, using the RoboPol instrument at the Skinakas observatory. We report a $5\,\sigma$ detection of polarization $P=1.5\pm0.3$ at polarization angle $EVPA=8\pm6^\circ$. We find that during our observations the polarization is likely constant. These values are corrected for polarization induced by the interstellar medium of the Milky Way and host-induced polarization is likely negligible. Thus the polarization we quote is intrinsic to the GRB afterglow., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

We report on the detection of quasi-periodic micro-structure in three millisecond pulsars (MSPs), PSRs J1022+1001, J2145-0750 and J1744-1134, using high time resolution data acquired with the Large European Array for Pulsars at a radio frequency of 1.4 GHz. The occurrence rate of quasi-periodic micro-structure is consistent among pulses with different peak flux densities. Using an auto-correlation analysis, we measure the periodicity and width of the micro-structure in these three pulsars. The detected micro-structure from PSRs J1022+1001 and J1744-1134 is often highly linearly polarised. In PSR J1022+1001, the linear polarisation position angles of micro-structure pulses are in general flat with a small degree of variation. Using these results, we further examine the frequency and rotational period dependency of micro-structure properties established in previous work, along with the angular beaming and temporal modulation models that explains the appearance of micro-structure. We also discuss a possible link of micro-structure to the properties of some of the recently discovered fast radio bursts which exhibit a very similar emission morphology., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, published in MNRAS

Recently, global pulsar timing arrays have released results from searching for a nano-Hertz gravitational wave background signal. Although there has not been any definite evidence of the presence of such a signal in residuals of pulsar timing data yet, with more and improved data in future, a statistically significant detection is expected to be made. Stochastic algorithms are used to sample a very large parameter space to infer results from data. In this paper, we attempt to rule out effects arising from the stochasticity of the sampler in the inference process. We compare different configurations of nested samplers and the more commonly used markov chain monte carlo method to sample the pulsar timing array parameter space and account for times taken by the different samplers on same data. Although we obtain consistent results on parameters from different sampling algorithms, we propose two different samplers for robustness checks on data in the future to account for cross-checks between sampling methods as well as realistic run-times., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 4 tables

In this work we study variations in the parabolic scintillation arcs of the binary millisecond pulsar PSR J1643-1224 over five years using the Large European Array for Pulsars (LEAP). The 2D power spectrum of scintillation, called the secondary spectrum, often shows a parabolic distribution of power, where the arc curvature encodes the relative velocities and distances of the pulsar, ionised interstellar medium (IISM), and Earth. We observe a clear parabolic scintillation arc which varies in curvature throughout the year. The distribution of power in the secondary spectra are inconsistent with a single scattering screen which is fully 1D, or entirely isotropic. We fit the observed arc curvature variations with two models; an isotropic scattering screen, and a model with two independent 1D screens. We measure the distance to the scattering screen to be in the range 114-223 pc, depending on the model, consistent with the known distance of the foreground large-diameter HII region Sh 2-27 (112+/-17 pc), suggesting that it is the dominant source of scattering. We obtain only weak constraints on the pulsar's orbital inclination and angle of periastron, since the scintillation pattern is not very sensitive to the pulsar's motion, since the screen is much closer to the Earth than the pulsar. More measurements of this kind - where scattering screens can be associated with foreground objects - will help to inform the origins and distribution of scattering screens within our galaxy., Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures. Accepted by MNRAS

We searched for an isotropic stochastic gravitational wave background in the second data release of the International Pulsar Timing Array, a global collaboration synthesizing decadal-length pulsar-timing campaigns in North America, Europe, and Australia. In our reference search for a power law strain spectrum of the form $h_c = A(f/1\,\mathrm{yr}^{-1})^{\alpha}$, we found strong evidence for a spectrally-similar low-frequency stochastic process of amplitude $A = 3.8^{+6.3}_{-2.5}\times10^{-15}$ and spectral index $\alpha = -0.5 \pm 0.5$, where the uncertainties represent 95\% credible regions, using information from the auto- and cross-correlation terms between the pulsars in the array. For a spectral index of $\alpha = -2/3$, as expected from a population of inspiralling supermassive black hole binaries, the recovered amplitude is $A = 2.8^{+1.2}_{-0.8}\times10^{-15}$. Nonetheless, no significant evidence of the Hellings-Downs correlations that would indicate a gravitational-wave origin was found. We also analyzed the constituent data from the individual pulsar timing arrays in a consistent way, and clearly demonstrate that the combined international data set is more sensitive. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this combined data set produces comparable constraints to recent single-array data sets which have more data than the constituent parts of the combination. Future international data releases will deliver increased sensitivity to gravitational wave radiation, and significantly increase the detection probability., Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, accepted in MNRAS

The European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) collaboration has recently released an extended data set for six pulsars (DR2) and reported evidence for a common red noise signal. Here we present a noise analysis for each of the six pulsars. We consider several types of noise: (i) radio frequency independent, "achromatic", and time-correlated red noise; (ii) variations of dispersion measure and scattering; (iii) system and band noise; and (iv) deterministic signals (other than gravitational waves) that could be present in the PTA data. We perform Bayesian model selection to find the optimal combination of noise components for each pulsar. Using these custom models we revisit the presence of the common uncorrelated red noise signal previously reported in the EPTA DR2 and show that the data still supports it with a high statistical significance. Next, we confirm that there is no preference for or against the Hellings-Downs spatial correlations expected for the stochastic gravitational-wave background. The main conclusion of the EPTA DR2 paper remains unchanged despite a very significant change in the noise model of each pulsar. However, modelling the noise is essential for the robust detection of gravitational waves and its impact could be significant when analysing the next EPTA data release, which will include a larger number of pulsars and more precise measurements., Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures, 7 tables, 1 appendix figure and 1 appendix table, accepted for publication to MNRAS

We present results from the search for a stochastic gravitational-wave background (GWB) as predicted by the theory of General Relativity using six radio millisecond pulsars from the Data Release 2 (DR2) of the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) covering a timespan up to 24 years. A GWB manifests itself as a long-term low-frequency stochastic signal common to all pulsars, a common red signal (CRS), with the characteristic Hellings-Downs (HD) spatial correlation. Our analysis is performed with two independent pipelines, \eprise{} and \tn{}+\ftwo{}, which produce consistent results. A search for a CRS with simultaneous estimation of its spatial correlations yields spectral properties compatible with theoretical GWB predictions, but does not result in the required measurement of the HD correlation, as required for GWB detection. Further Bayesian model comparison between different types of CRSs, including a GWB, finds the most favoured model to be the common uncorrelated red noise described by a power-law with $A = 5.13_{-2.73}^{+4.20} \times 10^{-15}$ and $\gamma = 3.78_{-0.59}^{+0.69}$ (95\% credible regions). Fixing the spectral index to $\gamma=13/3$ as expected from the GWB by circular, inspiralling supermassive black-hole binaries results in an amplitude of $A =2.95_{-0.72}^{+0.89} \times 10^{-15}$. We implement three different models, BAYESEPHEM, LINIMOSS and EPHEMGP, to address possible Solar-system ephemeris (SSE) systematics and conclude that our results may only marginally depend on these effects. This work builds on the methods and models from the studies on the EPTA DR1. We show that under the same analysis framework the results remain consistent after the data set extension., Comment: 25 pages, 10 figures, 7 tables, 2 appendix tables and 1 appendix figure

We report on a high-precision timing analysis and an astrophysical study of the binary millisecond pulsar, PSR J1909$-$3744, motivated by the accumulation of data with well improved quality over the past decade. Using 15 years of observations with the Nan\c{c}ay Radio Telescope, we achieve a timing precision of approximately 100 ns. We verify our timing results by using both broad-band and sub-band template matching methods to create the pulse time-of-arrivals. Compared with previous studies, we improve the measurement precision of secular changes in orbital period and projected semi-major axis. We show that these variations are both dominated by the relative motion between the pulsar system and the solar system barycenter. Additionally, we identified four possible solutions to the ascending node of the pulsar orbit, and measured a precise kinetic distance of the system. Using our timing measurements and published optical observations, we investigate the binary history of this system using the stellar evolution code MESA, and discuss solutions based on detailed WD cooling at the edge of the WD age dichotomy paradigm. We determine the 3-D velocity of the system and show that it has been undergoing a highly eccentric orbit around the centre of our Galaxy. Furthermore, we set up a constraint over dipolar gravitational radiation with the system, which is complementary to previous studies given the mass of the pulsar. We also obtain a new limit on the parameterised post-Newtonian parameter, $\alpha_1<2.1 \times 10^{-5}$ at 95 % confidence level, which is fractionally better than previous best published value and achieved with a more concrete method., Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Using data from the Large European Array for Pulsars (LEAP), and the Effelsberg telescope, we study the scintillation parameters of the millisecond pulsar J0613-0200 over a 7 year timespan. The "secondary spectrum" -- the 2D power spectrum of scintillation -- presents the scattered power as a function of time delay, and contains the relative velocities of the pulsar, observer, and scattering material. We detect a persistent parabolic scintillation arc, suggesting scattering is dominated by a thin, anisotropic region. The scattering is poorly described by a simple exponential tail, with excess power at high delays; we measure significant, detectable scattered power at times out to $\sim 5 \mu s$, and measure the bulk scattering delay to be between 50 to 200\,ns with particularly strong scattering throughout 2013. These delays are too small to detect a change of the pulse profile shape, yet they would change the times-of-arrival as measured through pulsar timing. The arc curvature varies annually, and is well fit by a one-dimensional scattering screen $\sim 40\%$ of the way towards the pulsar, with a changing orientation during the increased scattering in 2013. Effects of uncorrected scattering will introduce time delays correlated over time in individual pulsars, and may need to be considered in gravitational wave analyses. Pulsar timing programs would benefit from simultaneously recording in a way that scintillation can be resolved, in order to monitor the variable time delays caused by multipath propagation., Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures. Published in MNRAS

We present high cadence multi-frequency radio observations of the long Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) 190829A, which was detected at photon energies above 100 GeV by the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.). Observations with the Meer Karoo Array Telescope (MeerKAT, 1.3 GHz), and Arcminute Microkelvin Imager - Large Array (AMI-LA, 15.5 GHz) began one day post-burst and lasted nearly 200 days. We used complementary data from Swift X-Ray Telescope (XRT), which ran to 100 days post-burst. We detected a likely forward shock component with both MeerKAT and XRT up to over 100 days post-burst. Conversely, the AMI-LA light curve appears to be dominated by reverse shock emission until around 70 days post-burst when the afterglow flux drops below the level of the host galaxy. We also present previously unpublished observations of the other H.E.S.S.-detected GRB, GRB 180720B from AMI-LA, which shows likely forward shock emission that fades in less than 10 days. We present a comparison between the radio emission from the three GRBs with detected very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission and a sensitivity-limited radio afterglow sample. GRB 190829A has the lowest isotropic radio luminosity of any GRB in our sample, but the distribution of luminosities is otherwise consistent, as expected, with the VHE GRBs being drawn from the same parent distribution as the other radio-detected long GRBs., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We report timing results for PSR J2234+0611, a 3.6-ms pulsar in a 32-day, eccentric (e = 0.13) orbit with a helium white dwarf companion discovered as part of the Arecibo Observatory 327 MHz drift scan survey. The precise timing and the eccentric nature of the orbit allow precise measurements of an unusual number of parameters: a) a precise proper motion of 27.10(3) mas/yr and a parallax of 1.05(4) mas resulting in a pulsar distance of 0.95(4) kpc; this allows a precise estimate of the transverse velocity, 123(5) km/s. Together with previously published spectroscopic measurements of the systemic radial velocity, this allows a full 3-D determination of the system's velocity; b) precise measurements of the rate of advance of periastron, which after subtraction of the contribution of the proper motion yields a total system mass of $1.6518^{+0.0033}_{-0.0035}$ solar masses; c) a Shapiro delay measurement, h_3 = $82 \pm 14$ ns despite the orbital inclination not being near 90 deg; combined with the measurement of the total mass, this yields a pulsar mass of $1.353^{+0.014}_{-0.017}$ solar masses and a companion mass of $0.298^{+0.015}_{-0.012}$ solar masses; d) we measure precisely the secular variation of the projected semi-major axis and detect significant annual orbital parallax; together these allow a determination of the full 3-D orbital geometry, including an unambiguous orbital inclination (i = $138.7^{+2.5}_{-2.2}$ deg) and a position angle for the line of nodes (Omega = $44^{+5}_{-4}$ deg). We discuss the component masses to investigate hypotheses previously advanced to explain the origin of eccentric MSPs. The unprecedented determination of the full 3-D position, motion and orbital orientation of the system, plus the precisely measured pulsar and WD mass and the latter's optical detection make this system an unique test of our understanding of white dwarfs and their atmospheres., Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, accepted by ApJ

We search for continuous gravitational waves (CGWs) produced by individual super-massive black-hole binaries (SMBHBs) in circular orbits using high-cadence timing observations of PSR J1713$+$0747. We observe this millisecond pulsar using the telescopes in the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) with an average cadence of approximately 1.6 days over the period between April 2011 and July 2015, including an approximately daily average between February 2013 and April 2014. The high-cadence observations are used to improve the pulsar timing sensitivity across the GW frequency range of $0.008-5$ $\mu$Hz. We use two algorithms in the analysis, including a spectral fitting method and a Bayesian approach. For an independent comparison, we also use a previously published Bayesian algorithm. We find that the Bayesian approaches provide optimal results and the timing observations of the pulsar place a 95 per cent upper limit on the sky-averaged strain amplitude of CGWs to be $\lesssim3.5\times10^{-13}$ at a reference frequency of 1 $\mu$Hz. We also find a 95 per cent upper limit on the sky-averaged strain amplitude of low-frequency CGWs to be $\lesssim1.4\times10^{-14}$ at a reference frequency of 20~nHz., Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Double neutron star (DNS) systems represent extreme physical objects and the endpoint of an exotic journey of stellar evolution and binary interactions. Large numbers of DNS systems and their mergers are anticipated to be discovered using the Square-Kilometre-Array searching for radio pulsars and high-frequency gravitational wave detectors (LIGO/VIRGO), respectively. Here we discuss all key properties of DNS systems, as well as selection effects, and combine the latest observational data with new theoretical progress on various physical processes with the aim of advancing our knowledge on their formation. We examine key interactions of their progenitor systems and evaluate their accretion history during the high-mass X-ray binary stage, the common envelope phase and the subsequent Case BB mass transfer, and argue that the first-formed NSs have accreted at most $\sim 0.02\;M_{\odot}$. We investigate DNS masses, spins and velocities, and in particular correlations between spin period, orbital period and eccentricity. Numerous Monte Carlo simulations of the second supernova (SN) events are performed to extrapolate pre-SN stellar properties and probe the explosions. All known close-orbit DNS systems are consistent with ultra-stripped exploding stars. Although their resulting NS kicks are often small, we demonstrate a large spread in kick magnitudes which may, in general, depend on the past interaction history of the exploding star and thus correlate with the NS mass. We analyze and discuss NS kick directions based on our SN simulations. Finally, we discuss the terminal evolution of close-orbit DNS systems until they merge and possibly produce a short $\gamma$-ray burst., Comment: 62 pages (emulateapj), 40 figures, 7 tables, published in ApJ. Minor typos fixed, two figures updated and text on ULXs updated. Published version is available here: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa7e89

We report on photometric and spectroscopic observations of white dwarf companions to four binary radio millisecond pulsars, leading to the discovery of companions to PSRs J0614-3329, J1231-1411 and J2017+0603. We place limits on the brightness of the companion to PSR J0613-0200. Optical spectroscopy of the companion to PSR J0614-3329 identifies it as a DA type white dwarf with a temperature of Teff=6460+-80 K, a surface gravity log g=7.0+-0.2 cgs and a mass of Mwd=0.24+-0.04 Msun. We find that the distance to PSR J0614-3329 is smaller than previously estimated, removing the need for the pulsar to have an unrealistically high gamma-ray efficiency. Comparing the photometry with predictions from white dwarf cooling models allows us to estimate temperatures and cooling ages of the companions to PSRs J0613-0200, J1231-1411 and J2017+0603. We find that the white dwarfs in these systems are cool Teff<4000 K and old >5 Gyr. Thin Hydrogen envelopes are required for these white dwarfs to cool to the observed temperatures, and we suggest that besides Hydrogen shell flashes, irradiation driven mass loss by the pulsar may have been important., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

PSR J1738+0333 is one of the four millisecond pulsars known to be orbited by a white dwarf companion bright enough for optical spectroscopy. Of these, it has the shortest orbital period, making it especially interesting for a range of astrophysical and gravity related questions. We present a spectroscopic and photometric study of the white dwarf companion and infer its radial velocity curve, effective temperature, surface gravity and luminosity. We find that the white dwarf has properties consistent with those of low-mass white dwarfs with thick hydrogen envelopes, and use the corresponding mass-radius relation to infer its mass; M_WD = 0.181 +/- +0.007/-0.005 solar masses. Combined with the mass ratio q=8.1 +/- 0.2 inferred from the radial velocities and the precise pulsar timing ephemeris, the neutron star mass is constrained to M_PSR = 1.47 +/- +0.07/-0.06 solar masses. Contrary to expectations, the latter is only slightly above the Chandrasekhar limit. We find that, even if the birth mass of the neutron star was only 1.20 solar masses, more than 60% of the matter that left the surface of the white dwarf progenitor escaped the system. The accurate determination of the component masses transforms this system in a laboratory for fundamental physics by constraining the orbital decay predicted by general relativity. Currently, the agreement is within 1 sigma of the observed decay. Further radio timing observations will allow precise tests of white dwarf models, assuming the validity of general relativity., Comment: Article published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society v.3: Updated references

Pulsars with compact companions in close eccentric orbits are unique laboratories for testing general relativity and alternative theories of gravity. Moreover, they are excellent targets for future gravitational wave experiments like LISA and they are also highly important for understanding the equation of state of super-dense matter and the evolution of massive binaries. Here we report on optical observations of the 1.02 M_sun companion to the pulsar PSR J1141-6545. We detect an optical counterpart with apparent magnitudes V=25.08(11) and R=24.38(14), consistent with the timing position of the pulsar. We demonstrate that our results are in agreement with a white dwarf companion. However the latter is redder than expected and the inferred values are not consistent with the theoretical cooling tracks, preventing us from deriving the exact age. Our results confirm the importance of the PSR J1141-6545 system for gravitational experiments., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We have used four telescopes at different longitudes to obtain near-continuous lightcurve coverage of the star HD 80606 as it was transited by its \sim 4-MJup planet. The observations were performed during the predicted transit windows around the 25th of October 2008 and the 14th of February 2009. Our data set is unique in that it simultaneously constrains the duration of the transit and the planet's period. Our Markov-Chain Monte Carlo analysis of the light curves, combined with constraints from radial-velocity data, yields system parameters consistent with previously reported values. We find a planet-to-star radius ratio marginally smaller than previously reported, corresponding to a planet radius of Rp = 0.921 \pm 0.036RJup ., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, MNRAS accepted