The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2024)
Exploring Pulsar Timing Precision: A Comparative Study of Polarization Calibration Methods for NANOGrav Data from the Green Bank Telescope
- Lankeswar Dey,
- Maura A. McLaughlin,
- Haley M. Wahl,
- Paul B. Demorest,
- Zaven Arzoumanian,
- Harsha Blumer,
- Paul R. Brook,
- Sarah Burke-Spolaor,
- H. Thankful Cromartie,
- Megan E. DeCesar,
- Timothy Dolch,
- Justin A. Ellis,
- Robert D. Ferdman,
- Elizabeth C. Ferrara,
- William Fiore,
- Emmanuel Fonseca,
- Nate Garver-Daniels,
- Peter A. Gentile,
- Joseph Glaser,
- Deborah C. Good,
- Ross J. Jennings,
- Megan L. Jones,
- Michael T. Lam,
- Duncan R. Lorimer,
- Jing Luo,
- Ryan S. Lynch,
- Cherry Ng,
- David J. Nice,
- Timothy T. Pennucci,
- Nihan S. Pol,
- Scott M. Ransom,
- Renée Spiewak,
- Ingrid H. Stairs,
- Kevin Stovall,
- Joseph K. Swiggum
Affiliations
- Lankeswar Dey
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University , P.O. Box 6315, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA ; [email protected]; Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, West Virginia University , Chestnut Ridge Research Building, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
- Maura A. McLaughlin
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University , P.O. Box 6315, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA ; [email protected]; Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, West Virginia University , Chestnut Ridge Research Building, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
- Haley M. Wahl
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University , P.O. Box 6315, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA ; [email protected]; Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, West Virginia University , Chestnut Ridge Research Building, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
- Paul B. Demorest
- ORCiD
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory , 1003 Lopezville Road, Socorro, NM 87801, USA
- Zaven Arzoumanian
- X-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Code 662, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Harsha Blumer
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University , P.O. Box 6315, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA ; [email protected]; Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, West Virginia University , Chestnut Ridge Research Building, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
- Paul R. Brook
- ORCiD
- Institute for Gravitational Wave Astronomy and School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham , Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
- Sarah Burke-Spolaor
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University , P.O. Box 6315, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA ; [email protected]; Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, West Virginia University , Chestnut Ridge Research Building, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
- H. Thankful Cromartie
- ORCiD
- National Research Council Postdoctoral Associate, National Academy of Sciences , Washington, DC 20001, USA 32
- Megan E. DeCesar
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, George Mason University , Fairfax, VA 22030, USA
- Timothy Dolch
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics , Hillsdale College, 33 E. College Street, Hillsdale, MI 49242, USA; Eureka Scientific , 2452 Delmer Street, Suite 100, Oakland, CA 94602-3017, USA
- Justin A. Ellis
- School of Chemistry, University of East Anglia , Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
- Robert D. Ferdman
- ORCiD
- School of Chemistry, University of East Anglia , Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
- Elizabeth C. Ferrara
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742, USA; Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology , NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- William Fiore
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University , P.O. Box 6315, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA ; [email protected]; Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, West Virginia University , Chestnut Ridge Research Building, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
- Emmanuel Fonseca
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University , P.O. Box 6315, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA ; [email protected]; Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, West Virginia University , Chestnut Ridge Research Building, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
- Nate Garver-Daniels
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University , P.O. Box 6315, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA ; [email protected]; Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, West Virginia University , Chestnut Ridge Research Building, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
- Peter A. Gentile
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University , P.O. Box 6315, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA ; [email protected]; Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, West Virginia University , Chestnut Ridge Research Building, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
- Joseph Glaser
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University , P.O. Box 6315, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA ; [email protected]; Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, West Virginia University , Chestnut Ridge Research Building, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
- Deborah C. Good
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Montana , 32 Campus Drive, Missoula, MT 59812, USA
- Ross J. Jennings
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University , P.O. Box 6315, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA ; [email protected]; Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, West Virginia University , Chestnut Ridge Research Building, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
- Megan L. Jones
- ORCiD
- Center for Gravitation, Cosmology and Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee , P.O. Box 413, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA
- Michael T. Lam
- ORCiD
- SETI Institute , 339 N Bernardo Avenue Suite 200, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA; School of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology , Rochester, NY 14623, USA; Laboratory for Multiwavelength Astrophysics, Rochester Institute of Technology , Rochester, NY 14623, USA
- Duncan R. Lorimer
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University , P.O. Box 6315, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA ; [email protected]; Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, West Virginia University , Chestnut Ridge Research Building, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
- Jing Luo
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto , 50 Saint George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4, Canada
- Ryan S. Lynch
- ORCiD
- Green Bank Observatory , P.O. Box 2, Green Bank, WV 24944, USA
- Cherry Ng
- ORCiD
- Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto , 50 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4, Canada
- David J. Nice
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics , Lafayette College, Easton, PA 18042, USA
- Timothy T. Pennucci
- ORCiD
- Institute of Physics and Astronomy, Eötvös Loránd University , Pázmány P. s. 1/A, 1117 Budapest, Hungary
- Nihan S. Pol
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University , 2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
- Scott M. Ransom
- ORCiD
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory , 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA
- Renée Spiewak
- ORCiD
- Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, University of Manchester , Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
- Ingrid H. Stairs
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia , 6224 Agricultural Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
- Kevin Stovall
- ORCiD
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory , 1003 Lopezville Road, Socorro, NM 87801, USA
- Joseph K. Swiggum
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics , Lafayette College, Easton, PA 18042, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad8c24
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 977,
no. 1
p. 114
Abstract
Pulsar timing array experiments have recently uncovered evidence for a nanohertz gravitational wave background by precisely timing an ensemble of millisecond pulsars. The next significant milestones for these experiments include characterizing the detected background with greater precision, identifying its source(s), and detecting continuous gravitational waves from individual supermassive black hole binaries. To achieve these objectives, generating accurate and precise times of arrival of pulses from pulsar observations is crucial. Incorrect polarization calibration of the observed pulsar profiles may introduce errors in the measured times of arrival. Further, previous studies have demonstrated that robust polarization calibration of pulsar profiles can reduce noise in the pulsar timing data and improve timing solutions. In this paper, we investigate and compare the impact of different polarization calibration methods on pulsar timing precision using three distinct calibration techniques: the Ideal Feed Assumption (IFA), Measurement Equation Modeling (MEM), and Measurement Equation Template Matching (METM). Three NANOGrav pulsars—PSRs J1643−1224, J1744−1134, and J1909−3744—observed with the 800 MHz and 1.5 GHz receivers at the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) are utilized for our analysis. Our findings reveal that all three calibration methods enhance timing precision compared to scenarios where no polarization calibration is performed. Additionally, among the three calibration methods, the IFA approach generally provides the best results for timing analysis of pulsars observed with the GBT receiver system. We attribute the comparatively poorer performance of the MEM and METM methods to potential instabilities in the reference noise diode coupled to the receiver and temporal variations in the profile of the reference pulsar, respectively.
Keywords
