Conquering systematics in the timing of the pulsar triple system J0337+1715: Towards a unique and robust test of the strong equivalence principle

PSR J0337+1715 is a millisecond radio pulsar in a hierarchical stellar triple system with two white dwarfs. This system is a unique and excellent laboratory in which to test the strong equivalence principle (SEP) of general relativity. An initial SEP-violation test was performed using direct 3-body...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 2017-09, Vol.13 (S337), p.342-343
Main Authors: Gusinskaia, N. V., Archibald, A. M., Hessels, J. W. T., Lorimer, D. R., Ransom, S. M., Stairs, I. H., Lynch, R. S.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:PSR J0337+1715 is a millisecond radio pulsar in a hierarchical stellar triple system with two white dwarfs. This system is a unique and excellent laboratory in which to test the strong equivalence principle (SEP) of general relativity. An initial SEP-violation test was performed using direct 3-body numerical integration of the orbit in order to model the more than 25000 pulse times of arrival (TOAs) from three radio telescopes: Arecibo, Green Bank and Westerbork. In this work I present our efforts to quantify the effects of systematics in the TOAs and timing residuals, which limit the precision of an SEP test. In particular, we apply Fourier-based techniques to the timing residuals in order to isolate the effects of systematics that can masquerade as an SEP violation.
ISSN:1743-9213
1743-9221
DOI:10.1017/S1743921317010018