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Creators/Authors contains: "Kaspi, V"

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  1. Abstract The Green Bank 820 MHz pulsar survey covers ≃173 deg2in the Cygnus X region of the Galaxy, centered onl= 84.°5 andb= 1.°5. Significant star formation is present in this region, and lines of sight pass through three arms of the Galaxy (Orion–Cygnus, Perseus, and an outer arm). Using the Green Bank Telescope, we recorded 200 MHz of bandwidth for 4.5 minutes at 81.92μs resolution for each of 3457 observed survey pointings during 2016 and 2017, covering about two-thirds of the total area. We searched these data for pulsars and report the discovery of six new pulsars—PSRs J2016+3820, J2016+4231, J2019+3810, J2035+3538, J2035+3655, and J2041+4551—and the codiscovery of PSR J2057+4701. PSR J2035+3655 is in a short (4.5 hr) binary orbit; we report the full binary solution and weakly constrain the mass of the pulsar via a marginal (2σ) detection of the Shapiro delay. We also searched the survey data for known pulsars to estimate the survey’s sensitivity and measured 820 MHz pulse widths and flux density for 20 detected sources. For sources that were also detected in the Green Bank North Celestial Cap survey at 350 MHz, we measure scattering parameters and compare to expectations for the region. With these results, we revisit the population estimates that motivated this survey and consider the impact of the survey’s yield on their underlying models. We note an apparent underestimate in dispersion measure predictions from typical Galactic electron density models in the survey region, and discuss future observation strategies. 
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  2. Abstract The discovery and localization of FRB 20240209A by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Fast Radio Burst (CHIME/FRB) experiment marks the first repeating FRB localized with the CHIME/FRB Outriggers and adds to the small sample of repeating FRBs with associated host galaxies. Here we present Keck and Gemini observations of the host that reveal a redshiftz = 0.1384 ± 0.0004. We perform stellar population modeling to jointly fit the optical through mid-IR data of the host and infer a median stellar mass log(M*/M) = 11.35 ± 0.01 and a mass-weighted stellar population age  ~11 Gyr, corresponding to the most massive and oldest FRB host discovered to date. Coupled with a star formation rate  <0.31Myr−1, the specific star formation rate  <10−11.9yr−1classifies the host as quiescent. Through surface brightness profile modeling, we determine an elliptical galaxy morphology, marking the host as the first confirmed elliptical FRB host. The discovery of a quiescent early-type host galaxy within a transient class predominantly characterized by late-type star-forming hosts is reminiscent of short-duration gamma-ray bursts, Type Ia supernovae, and ultraluminous X-ray sources. Based on these shared host demographics, coupled with a large offset as demonstrated in our companion Letter, we conclude that preferred sources for FRB 20240209A include magnetars formed through merging binary neutron stars/white dwarfs or the accretion-induced collapse of a white dwarf, or a luminous X-ray binary. Together with FRB 20200120E localized to a globular cluster in M81, our findings provide strong evidence that some fraction of FRBs may arise from a process distinct from the core collapse of massive stars. 
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  3. Abstract We present timing solutions for 21 pulsars discovered in 350 MHz surveys using the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). All were discovered in the Green Bank North Celestial Cap pulsar survey, with the exception of PSR J0957−0619, which was found in the GBT 350 MHz Drift-scan pulsar survey. The majority of our timing observations were made with the GBT at 820 MHz. With a spin period of 37 ms and a 528 days orbit, PSR J0032+6946 joins a small group of five other mildly recycled wide binary pulsars, for which the duration of recycling through accretion is limited by the length of the companion’s giant phase. PSRs J0141+6303 and J1327+3423 are new disrupted recycled pulsars. We incorporate Arecibo observations from the NANOGrav pulsar timing array into our analysis of the latter. We also observed PSR J1327+3423 with the Long Wavelength Array, and our data suggest a frequency-dependent dispersion measure. PSR J0957−0619 was discovered as a rotating radio transient, but is a nulling pulsar at 820 MHz. PSR J1239+3239 is a new millisecond pulsar (MSP) in a 4 days orbit with a low-mass companion. Four of our pulsars already have published timing solutions, which we update in this work: the recycled wide binary PSR J0214+5222, the noneclipsing black widow PSR J0636+5128, the disrupted recycled pulsar J1434+7257, and the eclipsing binary MSP J1816+4510, which is in an 8.7 hr orbit with a redback-mass companion. 
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  4. Abstract We report the discovery of seven new Galactic pulsars with the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment’s Fast Radio Burst (CHIME/FRB) backend. These sources were first identified via single pulses in CHIME/FRB, then followed up with CHIME/Pulsar. Four sources appear to be rotating radio transients, pulsar-like sources with occasional single-pulse emission with an underlying periodicity. Of those four sources, three have detected periods ranging from 220 ms to 2.726 s. Three sources have more persistent but still intermittent emission and are likely intermittent or nulling pulsars. We have determined phase-coherent timing solutions for the latter two. These seven sources are the first discovery of previously unknown Galactic sources with CHIME/FRB and highlight the potential of fast radio burst detection instruments to search for intermittent Galactic radio sources. 
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  5. Abstract The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) has emerged as the prime telescope for detecting fast radio bursts (FRBs). CHIME/FRB Outriggers will be a dedicated very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) instrument consisting of outrigger telescopes at continental baselines working with CHIME and its specialized real-time transient-search backend (CHIME/FRB) to detect and localize FRBs with 50 mas precision. In this paper, we present a minimally invasive clock stabilization system that effectively transfers the CHIME digital backend reference clock from its original GPS-disciplined ovenized crystal oscillator to a passive hydrogen maser. This enables us to combine the long-term stability and absolute time tagging of the GPS clock with the short- and intermediate-term stability of the maser to reduce the clock timing errors between VLBI calibration observations. We validate the system with VLBI-style observations of Cygnus A over a 400 m baseline between CHIME and the CHIME Pathfinder, demonstrating agreement between sky-based and maser-based timing measurements at the 30 ps rms level on timescales ranging from one minute to up to nine days, and meeting the stability requirements for CHIME/FRB Outriggers. In addition, we present an alternate reference clock solution for outrigger stations that lack the infrastructure to support a passive hydrogen maser. 
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  6. Abstract We present timing solutions for 12 pulsars discovered in the Green Bank North Celestial Cap 350 MHz pulsar survey, including six millisecond pulsars (MSPs), a double neutron star (DNS) system, and a pulsar orbiting a massive white dwarf companion. Timing solutions presented here include 350 and 820 MHz Green Bank Telescope data from initial confirmation and follow-up, as well as a dedicated timing campaign spanning 1 ryr PSR J1122−3546 is an isolated MSP, PSRs J1221−0633 and J1317−0157 are MSPs in black widow systems and regularly exhibit eclipses, and PSRs J2022+2534 and J2039−3616 are MSPs that can be timed with high precision and have been included in pulsar timing array experiments seeking to detect low-frequency gravitational waves. PSRs J1221−0633 and J2039−3616 have Fermi Large Area Telescope gamma-ray counterparts and also exhibit significant gamma-ray pulsations. We measure proper motions for three of the MSPs in this sample and estimate their space velocities, which are typical compared to those of other MSPs. We have detected the advance of periastron for PSR J1018−1523 and therefore measure the total mass of the DNS system,mtot= 2.3 ± 0.3M. Long-term pulsar timing with data spanning more than 1 yr is critical for classifying recycled pulsars, carrying out detailed astrometry studies, and shedding light on the wealth of information in these systems post-discovery. 
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  7. Abstract The Green Bank North Celestial Cap survey is a 350 MHz all-sky survey for pulsars and fast radio transients using the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope. To date, the survey has discovered over 190 pulsars, including 33 millisecond pulsars and 24 rotating radio transients. Several exotic pulsars have been discovered in the survey, including PSR J1759+5036, a binary pulsar with a 176 ms spin period in an orbit with a period of 2.04 days, an eccentricity of 0.3, and a projected semi-major axis of 6.8 light seconds. Using seven years of timing data, we are able to measure one post–Keplerian parameter, advance of periastron, which has allowed us to constrain the total system mass to 2.62 ± 0.03 M ⊙ . This constraint, along with the spin period and orbital parameters, suggests that this is a double neutron star system, although we cannot entirely rule out a pulsar-white dwarf binary. This pulsar is only detectable in roughly 45% of observations, most likely due to scintillation. However, additional observations are required to determine whether there may be other contributing effects. 
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  8. Abstract We present new discoveries and results from long-term timing of 72 pulsars discovered in the Pulsar Arecibo L -band Feed Array (PALFA) survey, including precise determination of astrometric and spin parameters, and flux density and scatter broadening measurements at 1.4 GHz. Notable discoveries include two young pulsars (characteristic ages ∼30 kyr) with no apparent supernova remnant associations, three mode-changing, 12 nulling and two intermittent pulsars. We detected eight glitches in five pulsars. Among them is PSR J1939+2609, an apparently old pulsar (characteristic age ∼1 Gy), and PSR J1954+2529, which likely belongs to a newly emerging class of binary pulsars. The latter is the only pulsar among the 72 that is clearly not isolated: a nonrecycled neutron star with a 931 ms spin period in an eccentric ( e = 0.114) wide ( P b = 82.7 days) orbit with a companion of undetermined nature having a minimum mass of ∼0.6 M ⊙ . Since operations at Arecibo ceased in 2020 August, we give a final tally of PALFA sky coverage, and compare its 207 pulsar discoveries to the known population. On average, they are 50% more distant than other Galactic plane radio pulsars; PALFA millisecond pulsars (MSPs) have twice the dispersion measure per unit spin period than the known population of MSP in the plane. The four intermittent pulsars discovered by PALFA more than double the population of such objects, which should help to improve our understanding of pulsar magnetosphere physics. The statistics for these, rotating radio transients, and nulling pulsars suggest that there are many more of these objects in the Galaxy than was previously thought. 
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