The Pulsar Radial Acceleration Relation
TLDR
This paper uses pulsar timing to test a vector generalization of the Radial Acceleration Relation, finding some support but noting solar acceleration dominance.
Key contributions
- Pulsar timing offers a novel probe for the Radial Acceleration Relation (RAR) beyond galactic discs.
- Tests a vector generalization of the RAR using differential accelerations from 26 binary pulsars.
- Generalized RAR fits pulsar data better than Newtonian gravity (χ² 3.58 vs 10.86).
- Current RAR tests with pulsar data are primarily influenced by the Solar acceleration.
Why it matters
This paper pioneers using pulsar timing to test the Radial Acceleration Relation (RAR) beyond galactic discs. It offers initial support for a vector RAR over Newtonian gravity, but current tests are limited by solar acceleration, guiding future, more precise observations.
Original Abstract
The radial acceleration relation (RAR) links observed and baryonic accelerations, and is best established in rotation curves of late-type galaxies. Pulsar timing, which measures line-of-sight (LOS) differential accelerations between the Sun and pulsars, provides a novel probe of this relation, including along directions outside the Galactic disc. By combining these pulsar differential accelerations with the acceleration at the Sun, we test whether current pulsar timing data carry information on a vector generalisation of the RAR, ${g}_{\rm obs}=ν(|{g}_{\rm bar}|){g}_{\rm bar}$. Comparing the measured SPARC RAR (generalised to 3D) to 26 binary-system pulsars with literature accelerations, we find a reduced $χ^2$ of 3.58, compared with 10.86 for Newtonian baryonic gravity alone. However, setting all accelerations to that of the Sun gives a reduced $χ^2$ of 3.75, showing that this vector RAR test is dominated by the Solar acceleration with current data.
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