Lense-Thirring frame dragging induced by a fast-rotating white dwarf in a binary pulsar system
Abstract
Radio pulsars in short-period eccentric binary orbits can be used to study both gravitational dynamics and binary evolution. The binary system containing PSR J11416545 includes a massive white dwarf (WD) companion that formed before the gravitationally bound young radio pulsar. We observe a temporal evolution of the orbital inclination of this pulsar that we infer is caused by a combination of a Newtonian quadrupole moment and Lense-Thirring precession of the orbit resulting from rapid rotation of the WD. Lense-Thirring precession, an effect of relativistic frame-dragging, is a prediction of general relativity. This detection is consistent with the evolutionary scenario in which the WD accreted matter from the pulsar progenitor, spinning up the WD to a period seconds.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2001.11405,
title = {Lense-Thirring frame dragging induced by a fast-rotating white dwarf in a binary pulsar system},
author = {V. Venkatraman Krishnan and M. Bailes and W. van Straten and N. Wex and P. C. C. Freire and E. F. Keane and T. M. Tauris and P. A. Rosado and N. D. R. Bhat and C. Flynn and A. Jameson and S. Osłowski},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2001.11405},
year = {2020}
}
Comments
Accepted for publication in Science