Inferring the composition of super-Jupiter mass companions of pulsars with radio line spectroscopy

Abstract

We propose using radio line spectroscopy to detect molecular absorption lines (such as OH at 1.6-1.7 GHz) before and after the total eclipse of black widow (BW) and other short orbital period binary pulsars with low mass companions. The companion in such a binary may be ablated away by energetic particles and high energy radiation produced by the pulsar wind. The observations will probe the eclipsing wind being ablated by the pulsar and constrain the nature of the companion and its surroundings. Maser emission from the interstellar medium stimulated by a pulsar beam might also be detected from the intrabinary medium. The short temporal resolution allowed by the millisecond pulsars can probe this medium with the high angular resolution of the pulsar beam.

Accepted for publication, ApJ. This version extends the discussion of equivalent width of molecular gas or HI absorption and the required signal to noise ratio. Molecule formation in the environment of ultra-low mass companions around pulsars and ways to distinguish interstellar vs in situ binary gas are discussed. A possible search through pulse gated spectral line interferometry is mentioned

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• Tiny-scale Structure Discovered toward PSR B1557$-$50
• Definition of Exoplanets and Brown Dwarfs
• Repeating X-ray bursts: Interaction between a neutron star and clumps partially disrupted from a planet