The High Time Resolution Universe Pulsar Survey - XIII. PSR J1757-1854, the most accelerated binary pulsar

TL;DR

The discovery of PSR J1757-1854, a highly relativistic binary pulsar with extreme gravitational effects, provides a new natural laboratory for testing general relativity and understanding binary neutron star formation.

Contribution

This paper reports the discovery and detailed timing analysis of PSR J1757-1854, the most accelerated binary pulsar with extreme relativistic parameters, and presents new tests of gravitational theories.

Findings

Measured five post-Keplerian parameters confirming GR predictions.

Determined component masses of the binary system.

Identified potential for future measurements of Lense-Thirring precession.

Abstract

We report the discovery of PSR J1757$-$1854, a 21.5-ms pulsar in a highly-eccentric, 4.4-h orbit around a neutron star (NS) companion. PSR J1757$-$1854 exhibits some of the most extreme relativistic parameters of any known pulsar, including the strongest relativistic effects due to gravitational-wave (GW) damping, with a merger time of 76 Myr. Following a 1.6-yr timing campaign, we have measured five post-Keplerian (PK) parameters, yielding the two component masses ($m_\text{p}=1.3384(9)\,\text{M}_\odot$ and $m_\text{c}=1.3946(9)\,\text{M}_\odot$) plus three tests of general relativity (GR), which the theory passes. The larger mass of the NS companion provides important clues regarding the binary formation of PSR J1757$-$1854. With simulations suggesting 3-$\sigma$ measurements of both the contribution of Lense-Thirring precession to the rate of change of the semi-major axis and the relativistic deformation of the orbit within $\sim7-9$ years, PSR J1757$-$1854 stands out as a unique laboratory for new tests of gravitational theories.