The High Time Resolution Universe survey - XI. Discovery of five recycled pulsars and the optical detectability of survey white dwarf companions

We present the discovery of a further five recycled pulsar systems in the mid-Galactic latitude portion of the High Time Resolution Universe survey. The pulsars have rotational periods ranging from 2 to 66 ms, and four are in binary systems with orbital periods between 10.8 h and 9 d. Three of these...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bates, S., Thornton, D., Bailes, M., Barr, E., Bassa, C., Bhat, Ramesh, Burgay, M., Burke-Spolaor, S., Champion, D., Flynn, C., Jameson, A., Johnston, S., Keith, M., Kramer, M., Levin, L., Lyne, A., Milia, S., Ng, C., Petroff, E., Possenti, A., Stappers, B., van Straten, W., Tiburzi, C.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Oxford University Press 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/50914
Description
Summary:We present the discovery of a further five recycled pulsar systems in the mid-Galactic latitude portion of the High Time Resolution Universe survey. The pulsars have rotational periods ranging from 2 to 66 ms, and four are in binary systems with orbital periods between 10.8 h and 9 d. Three of these binary systems are particularly interesting; PSR J1227-6208 has a pulse period of 34.5 ms and the highest mass function of all pulsars with near-circular orbits. The circular orbit suggests that the companion is not another neutron star, so future timing experiments may reveal one of the heaviest white dwarfs ever found (>1.3 M☉). Timing observations of PSR J1431-4715 indicate that it is eclipsed by its companion which has a mass indicating it belongs to the redback class of eclipsing millisecond pulsars. PSR J1653-2054 has a companion with a minimum mass of only 0.08M☉, placing it among the class of pulsars with low-mass companions. Unlike the majority of such systems, however, no evidence of eclipses is seen at 1.4 GHz.