Radio counterparts of gamma-ray pulsars

TL;DR

This paper reviews how radio observations complement gamma-ray data from Fermi LAT, leading to discoveries of new pulsars and insights into their properties and populations.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of radio follow-up studies of LAT-discovered pulsars and unidentified sources, highlighting their significance in pulsar research.

Findings

Radio follow-ups have confirmed many gamma-ray pulsars.

Over forty millisecond pulsars have been discovered via radio searches.

Radio observations constrain pulsar beaming and population models.

Abstract

Observations of pulsars with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi satellite have revolutionized our view of the gamma-ray pulsar population. For the first time, a large number of young gamma-ray pulsars have been discovered in blind searches of the LAT data. More generally, the LAT has discovered many new gamma-ray sources whose properties suggest that they are powered by unknown pulsars. Radio observations of gamma-ray sources have been key to the success of pulsar studies with the LAT. For example, radio observations of LAT-discovered pulsars provide constraints on the relative beaming fractions, which are crucial for pulsar population studies. Also, radio searches of LAT sources with no known counterparts have been very efficient, with the discovery of over forty millisecond pulsars. I review radio follow-up studies of LAT-discovered pulsars and unidentified sources, and discuss some of the implications of the results.