Observability of pulsar beam bending by the Sgr~A* black hole

Abstract

According to some models, there may be a significant population of radio pulsars in the Galactic center. In principle, a beam from one of these pulsars could pass close to the supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the center, be deflected, and be detected by Earth telescopes. Such a configuration would be an unprecedented probe of the properties of spacetime in the moderate- to strong-field regime of the SMBH. We present here background on the problem, and approximations for the probability of detection of such beams. We conclude that detection is marginally probable with current telescopes, but that telescopes that will be operating in the near future, with an appropriate multiyear observational program, will have a good chance of detecting a beam deflected by the SMBH.

18 pages, 16 figures

References in corpus (7)

• Evidence for Low Black Hole Spin and Physically Motivated Accretion Models from Millimeter VLBI Observations of Sagittarius A*
• Evidence for a Long-Standing Top-Heavy IMF in the Central Parsec of the Galaxy
• The population of pulsars with interpulses and the implications for beam evolution
• Discovery of two pulsars towards the Galactic Centre
• Constraining the number of compact remnants near Sgr A*
• Models of mass segregation at the Galactic centre
• Resonant Relaxation near the Massive Black Hole in the Galactic Center

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Spatial dispersion of light rays propagating through a plasma in Kerr spacetime
• Pulsar timing in extreme mass ratio binaries: a general relativistic approach
• Detection of pulsar beams deflected by the black hole in Sgr A*: effects of black hole spin
• On the Deepest Search for Galactic Center Pulsars and an Examination of an Intriguing Millisecond Pulsar Candidate