Related papers: Tight constraint on photon mass from pulsar spindo…
In the presence of massive bosonic degrees of freedom, rotational superradiance can trigger an instability that spins down black holes. This leads to peculiar gravitational-wave signatures and distribution in the spin-mass plane, which in…
The unique binary AR Scorpii consists of an asynchronously rotating, magnetized white dwarf (WD) that interacts with its red-dwarf companion to produce a large-amplitude, highly coherent pulsation every 1.97 minutes. Over the course of two…
A conservative constraint on the rest mass of the photon can be estimated under the assumption that the frequency dependence of dispersion from astronomical sources is mainly contributed by the nonzero photon mass effect. Photon mass limits…
We present high-speed optical photometric observations, spanning ~2 years, of the recently-discovered white dwarf pulsar AR Scorpii. The amplitudes of the orbital, spin and beat modulations appear to be remarkably stable and repeatable over…
AR Scorpii (AR Sco) is the only radio-pulsing white dwarf known to date. It shows a broad-band spectrum extending from radio to X-rays whose luminosity cannot be explained by thermal emission from the system components alone, and is instead…
Exploring the concept of a massive photon has been an important area in astronomy and physics. If photons have mass, their propagation in nonvacuum space would be affected by both the nonzero mass $m_{\gamma}$ and the presence of a plasma…
A systematic X-ray survey of the most energetic rotation-powered pulsars known, based on spin-down energy loss rate, $\dot E$ = $I\omega\dot\omega$, shows that all energetic pulsars with $\dot E > \dot E_{c} \approx 3.4 \times\ 10^{36}$ erg…
The most massive neutron stars constrain the behavior of ultra-dense matter, with larger masses possible only for increasingly stiff equations of state. Here, we present evidence that the black widow pulsar, PSR B1957+20, has a high mass.…
White dwarfs typically have masses in a narrow range centered at about 0.6 solar masses (Msun). Only a few ultra-massive white dwarfs (M>1.2 Msun) are known. Those in binary systems are of particular interest because a small amount of…
Radio pulsating white dwarf (WD) systems, known as WD pulsars, are non-accreting binary systems where the rapidly spinning WD interacts with a low-mass companion producing pulsed non-thermal emission that can be observed across the entire…
Many physically motivated extensions to general relativity (GR) predict significant deviations in the properties of spacetime surrounding massive neutron stars. We report the measurement of a 2.01 +/- 0.04 solar mass pulsar in a 2.46-hr…
White dwarfs are compact stars, similar in size to Earth but ~200,000 times more massive. Isolated white dwarfs emit most of their power from ultraviolet to near-infrared wavelengths, but when in close orbits with less dense stars, white…
AE Aqr is an unusual close binary system with a very short white dwarf spin period, a high spin-down rate, a relatively low quiescent luminosity, and clear pulse signals. The exact nature of the large spin-down power has not been well…
PSR J1738+0333 is one of the four millisecond pulsars known to be orbited by a white dwarf companion bright enough for optical spectroscopy. Of these, it has the shortest orbital period, making it especially interesting for a range of…
A neutron star with mass close to the lower limit might be a reasonable model for some anomalous pulsars. Emission is thermal. X-ray luminosity is high. Spatial velocity can be high. Since the radius is predicted to be large, the magnetic…
We study the effects of a finite mass for the photon on its propagation in a weak gravitational field. In particular, we analyse the gravitational time delay, also known as the Shapiro effect. We work in isotropic coordinates in the…
Understanding the physics of rotation-powered millisecond pulsars (MSPs) presents a number of challenges compared to that of the non-recycled pulsar population. Even though their fast rotation rates can produce high spin-down power and…
We present optical high-speed photometry of three millisecond pulsars with low-mass ($< 0.3 M_{\odot}$) white dwarf companions, bringing the total number of such systems with follow-up time-series photometry to five. We confirm the…
The variable star AR Sco was recently discovered to pulse in brightness every 1.97 min from ultraviolet wavelengths into the radio regime. The system is composed of a cool, low-mass star in a tight, 3.55 hr orbit with a more massive white…
The photon zero-mass hypothesis has been investigated for a long time using the frequency-dependent time delays of radio emissions from astrophysical sources. However, the search for a rest mass of the photon has been hindered by the…