Mass measurements of the double neutron star system PSR J0641+0448

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery and precise mass measurements of a new double neutron star system, PSR J0641+0448, using FAST telescope data, providing insights into neutron star mass distribution and orbital characteristics.

Contribution

It presents the first timing solution for PSR J0641+0448, including mass constraints, and demonstrates the use of FAST observations for detailed neutron star system analysis.

Findings

Pulsar mass: 1.319^{+0.021}_{-0.035} M_sun

Companion mass: 1.269^{+0.022}_{-0.016} M_sun

Consistent with neutron mass-eccentricity correlation

Abstract

Pulsar timing of double neutron star (DNS) systems is one of the best methodologies to study the neutron star masses distribution. Here we report the discovery of a double neutron star system PSR J0641+0448 in the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) Galactic Plane Pulsar Snapshot (GPPS) survey. This pulsar has a 25.7 ms spin period and moves in a 3.73-days eccentric orbit with an eccentricity of 0.145. Using FAST observations, we obtained its phase-connected timing solution with periastron advance and Shapiro delay detected. Using $\chi^2$ analysis based on DDGR model, we constrain the pulsar mass to $1.319^{+0.021}_{-0.035}~M_\odot$, and the companion mass to $1.269^{+0.022}_{-0.016}~M_\odot$ with a 68.3\% confidence level. The low companion mass and mild orbital eccentricity is consistent with the correlation between neutron masses and orbital eccentricities.