Recent pulsar timing observations using MeerKAT of the eccentric binary millisecond pulsar, PSR J0514−4002E, have unveiled a companion with a mass in the mass gap, ranging from 2.09M⊙ to 2.71M⊙. This challenges conventional astrophysical scenarios for black hole formation. In this paper, we present an alternative explanation: PSR J0514−4002E could be in a PBH-NS binary, with the companion potentially being a primordial black hole formed during the early Universe's first-order phase transition. The associated stochastic gravitational-wave background generated during this phase transition can account for the observed signal from the pulsar timing array, and the abundance of primordial black holes is consistent with constraints from LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA.
@article{arxiv.2401.12889,
title = {Is PSR J0514$-$4002E in a PBH-NS binary?},
author = {Zu-Cheng Chen and Lang Liu},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2401.12889},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
6 pages, 3 figures, version accepted for publication in Sci. China Phys. Mech. Astron. (SCPMA);