GLST171181

RADIO OBSERVATIONS OF FORGOTTEN SPIDERS FOR THE FERMI PULSAR TIMING ARRAY

Abstract

Both radio and gamma-ray pulsar timing array (PTA) experiments have made
monumental strides towards constraining the nHz gravitational background in the
last year. Although traditionally not included in PTAs due to their eclipses
and orbital period variations (OPVs), spider MSPs have slowly been added to
radio PTAs and constitute a sizable portion of the best gamma-ray timers. We
propose to time six spider MSPs over one year with the GBT in order to better
understand the nature of these OPVs, their effect on measurements of timing
noise and ISM variations, and the impact that modeling them has on gravitational
wave sensitivity. A total of 48 hours are requested using the GBT 820 MHz and
L-band receivers alongside the VEGAS backend, or the Ultra-Wideband Receiver if
it becomes available.

Investigators

Name	Institution
Thankful Cromartie *	Cornell University; Virginia, University of; Naval Research Laboratory
Paul Ray	Naval Research Laboratory
Matthew Kerr	Naval Research Laboratory
Julia Deneva	Naval Research Laboratory
Megan DeCesar	George Mason University

* indicates the PI