The Radius of PSR J0740+6620 from NICER and XMM-Newton Data

Abstract

PSR J0740$+$6620 has a gravitational mass of $2.08\pm 0.07M_{\odot }$, which is the highest reliably determined mass of any neutron star. As a result, a measurement of its radius will provide unique insight into the properties of neutron star core matter at high densities. Here we report a radius measurement based on fits of rotating hot spot patterns to Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) and X-ray Multi-Mirror (XMM-Newton) X-ray observations. We find that the equatorial circumferential radius of PSR J0740$+$6620 is $13.7_{-1.5}^{+2.6}$ km (68%). We apply our measurement, combined with the previous NICER mass and radius measurement of PSR J0030$+$0451, the masses of two other $\sim 2M_{\odot }$ pulsars, and the tidal deformability constraints from two gravitational wave events, to three different frameworks for equation of state modeling, and find consistent results at $\sim 1.5-3$ times nuclear saturation density. For a given framework, when all measurements are included the radius of a $1.4M_{\odot }$ neutron star is known to $\pm 4$% (68% credibility) and the radius of a $2.08M_{\odot }$ neutron star is known to $\pm 5$%. The full radius range that spans the $\pm 1\ddot{I}ƒ$ credible intervals of all the radius estimates in the three frameworks is $12.45\pm 0.65$ km for a $1.4M_{\odot }$ neutron star and $12.35\pm 0.75$ km for a $2.08M_{\odot }$ neutron star.

49 pages, 16 figures, submitted to The Astrophysical Journal Letters