An analysis of the timing irregularities for 366 pulsars

TL;DR

This study analyzes long-term timing irregularities in 366 pulsars using 36 years of data, revealing different behaviors in young versus old pulsars and challenging previous noise models.

Contribution

First large-scale analysis of pulsar timing noise over >10 years across a broad pulsar sample, including both normal and recycled pulsars.

Findings

Timing residuals in young pulsars are dominated by glitch recovery.

Older pulsars exhibit quasi-periodic timing irregularities.

Previous low-frequency noise models are inconsistent with observations.

Abstract

We provide an analysis of timing irregularities observed for 366 pulsars. Observations were obtained using the 76-m Lovell radio telescope at the Jodrell Bank Observatory over the past 36 years. These data sets have allowed us to carry out the first large-scale analysis of pulsar timing noise over time scales of > 10yr, with multiple observing frequencies and for a large sample of pulsars. Our sample includes both normal and recycled pulsars. The timing residuals for the pulsars with the smallest characteristic ages are shown to be dominated by the recovery from glitch events, whereas the timing irregularities seen for older pulsars are quasi-periodic. We emphasise that previous models that explained timing residuals as a low-frequency noise process are not consistent with observation.