PaperSwipe

Frequency- and phase-resolved polarimetry of millisecond pulsars and its application to timing

Published 5 days agoVersion 1arXiv:2512.09220

Authors

Małgorzata Curyło, Andrew Zic, Shuangqiang Wang, Eric Thrane, Paul D. Lasky, Jacob Cardinal Tremblay, Zu-Cheng Chen, Shi Dai, Valentina Di Marco, George Hobbs, Agastya Kapur, Wenhua Ling, Marcus E. Lower, Saurav Mishra, Daniel J. Reardon, Christopher J. Russell, Ryan M. Shannon, Xing-Jiang Zhu

Categories

astro-ph.HEastro-ph.IM

Abstract

Pulsar timing is used for a variety of applications including tests of fundamental physics, probing the structure of neutron stars, and detecting nanohertz gravitational waves. Development of robust methods and generation of high-quality timing data is therefore of utmost importance. In this paper, we present a new technique for creating high-fidelity templates that can be used to measure the pulse times of arrival with significantly increased precision compared to existing methods. Our framework makes use of all available polarimetric information to generate frequency-dependent models of pulse-shape evolution of all four Stokes parameters. We apply this method to millisecond pulsars observed by the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array and show that it results in timing measurement uncertainties reduced up to $\sim$20-30\%. We also present, for the first time, phase- and frequency-resolved polarimetric measurements of millisecond pulsars observed with the Parkes Murriyang ultra-widebandwith-low receiver. The data, plots and the code underlying this analysis are made publicly available.

Frequency- and phase-resolved polarimetry of millisecond pulsars and its application to timing

5 days ago
v1
18 authors

Categories

astro-ph.HEastro-ph.IM

Abstract

Pulsar timing is used for a variety of applications including tests of fundamental physics, probing the structure of neutron stars, and detecting nanohertz gravitational waves. Development of robust methods and generation of high-quality timing data is therefore of utmost importance. In this paper, we present a new technique for creating high-fidelity templates that can be used to measure the pulse times of arrival with significantly increased precision compared to existing methods. Our framework makes use of all available polarimetric information to generate frequency-dependent models of pulse-shape evolution of all four Stokes parameters. We apply this method to millisecond pulsars observed by the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array and show that it results in timing measurement uncertainties reduced up to $\sim$20-30\%. We also present, for the first time, phase- and frequency-resolved polarimetric measurements of millisecond pulsars observed with the Parkes Murriyang ultra-widebandwith-low receiver. The data, plots and the code underlying this analysis are made publicly available.

Authors

Małgorzata Curyło, Andrew Zic, Shuangqiang Wang et al. (+15 more)

arXiv ID: 2512.09220
Published Dec 10, 2025

Click to preview the PDF directly in your browser