Related papers: Gravitational-radiation losses from the pulsar-whi…

Neutron stars are composed of the densest form of matter known to exist in our universe, and thus provide a unique laboratory for exploring the properties of cold matter at super-nuclear density. Measurements of the masses or radii of these…

Over 40% of Sun-like stars are bound in binary or multistar systems. Stellar remnants in edge-on binary systems can gravitationally magnify their companions, as predicted 40 years ago. By using data from the Kepler spacecraft, we report the…

We report on 12 years of observations of PSR J1713+0747, a pulsar in a 68-day orbit with a white dwarf. Pulse times of arrival were measured with uncertainties as small as 200 ns. The timing data yielded measurements of the relativistic…

Pulsars are wonderful gravitational probes. Their tiny size and stellar mass give their rotation periods a stablility comparable to that of atomic frequency standards. This is especially true of the rapidly rotating "millisecond pulsars"…

The pulsar PSR J1756$-$2251 resides in a relativistic double neutron star (DNS) binary system with a 7.67-hr orbit. We have conducted long-term precision timing on more than 9 years of data acquired from five telescopes, measuring five…

This thesis focuses on the study of binary radio pulsars, their evolution and some specific use of their properties to investigate fundamental physics such as general relativity and other gravitational theories. The work that we present…

We comment on a recent study reporting evidence for the general relativistic Lense-Thirring secular precession of the inclination $I$ of the orbital plane to the plane of the sky of the tight binary system PSR J1141-6545 made of a white…

We report on timing observations of the recently discovered binary pulsar PSR J1952+2630 using the Arecibo Observatory. The mildly recycled 20.7-ms pulsar is in a 9.4-hr orbit with a massive, M_WD > 0.93 M_sun, white dwarf (WD) companion.…

I introduce the two classes of pulsar, white-dwarf binaries, and describe for each what we have learned from a specific system, PSR J1012+5307 and PSR B0655+64, respectively, summarising what has been done, presenting new results, and…

Binary radio pulsars are superb tools for mapping binary orbits, because of the precision of the pulse timing method (Taylor and Weisberg 1989). To date, all orbital parameters for binary pulsars have been derived from observations of the…

We have discovered two recycled pulsars in relativistic orbits as part of the first high-frequency survey of intermediate Galactic latitudes. PSR J1157-5112 is a 44 ms pulsar and the first recycled pulsar with an ultra-massive (M > 1.14 Mo)…

Large light deflection angles are produced in the strong gravitational field regions around neutron stars and black holes. In the case of binary systems, part of the photons emitted from the companion star towards the collapsed object are…

We have discovered a detached pair of white dwarfs (WDs) with a 12.75 min orbital period and a 1,315 km/s radial velocity amplitude. We measure the full orbital parameters of the system using its light curve, which shows ellipsoidal…

We have obtained an HI absorption spectrum of the relativistic binary PSR J1141-6545 and used it to constrain the distance to the system. The spectrum suggests that the pulsar is at, or beyond, the tangent point, estimated to be at 3.7 kpc.…

The advent of gravitational wave astronomy provides new proving grounds for testing theories of gravity. Recent work has reinvigorated the study of bimetric theories of gravity and massive gravity theories. One of the most interesting…

We describe the techniques used in pulsar timing observations, and show how these observations may be applied to tests of strong-field general relativity for double-neutron-star binary systems. We describe the tests of GR resulting from the…

We performed near-daily observations on the binary pulsars PSR J0218+4232, PSR J1518+4904 and PSR J2023+2853 with the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME). For the first time, we detected the Shapiro time delay in all…

This review is focused on tests of Einstein's theory of general relativity with gravitational waves that are detectable by ground-based interferometers and pulsar-timing experiments. Einstein's theory has been greatly constrained in the…

We analyse archival optical data on the binary companion to the millisecond pulsar \j1045\ obtained with the Very Large Telescope. A possible optical counterpart candidate %source position coincides with the pulsar coordinates is found at…

PSR J1528-3146 is a 60.8 ms pulsar orbiting a heavy white dwarf (WD) companion, with an orbital period of 3.18 d. This work aimed at characterizing the pulsar's astrometric, spin and orbital parameters by analyzing timing measurements…