Optical Detection of Two Intermediate Mass Binary Pulsar Companions

Abstract

We report the detection of probable optical counterparts for two Intermediate Mass Binary Pulsar (IMBP) systems, PSR J1528-3146 and PSR J1757-5322. Recent radio pulsar surveys have uncovered a handful of these systems with putative massive white dwarf companions, thought to have an evolutionary history different from that of the more numerous class of Low Mass Binary Pulsars (LMBPs) with He white dwarf companions. The study of IMBP companions via optical observations offers us several new diagnostics: the evolution of main sequence stars near the white-dwarf-neutron star boundary, the physics of white dwarfs close to the Chandrasekhar limit, and insights into the recycling process by which old pulsars are spun up to high rotation frequencies. We were unsuccessful in our attempt to detect optical counterparts of PSR J1141-6545, PSR J1157-5112, PSR J1435-6100, and PSR J1454-5846.

9 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in ApJL

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• Discovery of Five Recycled Pulsars in a High Galactic Latitude Survey
• The Relativistic Binary Programme on MeerKAT: Science objectives and first results
• Gaia pulsars and where to find them
• A 1.05 $M_{\odot }$ Companion to PSR J2222-0137: The Coolest Known White Dwarf?
• A white dwarf companion to the relativistic pulsar PSR J1141-6545
• Long-term timing of four millisecond pulsars
• The optical companion to the intermediate mass millisecond pulsar J1439-5501 in the Galactic field
• Where do the Progenitors of Millisecond Pulsars come from?
• PSR J1227$-$6208 and its massive white dwarf companion: pulsar emission analysis, timing update and mass measurements
• Radio timing constraints on the mass of the binary pulsar PSR J1528-3146