A Search for Pulsars around Sgr A* in the First Event Horizon Telescope Data Set
Journal article, 2023
In 2017 the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observed the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), at a frequency of 228.1 GHz (lambda = 1.3 mm). The fundamental physics tests that even a single pulsar orbiting Sgr A* would enable motivate searching for pulsars in EHT data sets. The high observing frequency means that pulsars-which typically exhibit steep emission spectra-are expected to be very faint. However, it also negates pulse scattering, an effect that could hinder pulsar detections in the Galactic center. Additionally, magnetars or a secondary inverse Compton emission could be stronger at millimeter wavelengths than at lower frequencies. We present a search for pulsars close to Sgr A* using the data from the three most sensitive stations in the EHT 2017 campaign: the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, the Large Millimeter Telescope, and the IRAM 30 m Telescope. We apply three detection methods based on Fourier-domain analysis, the fast folding algorithm, and single-pulse searches targeting both pulsars and burst-like transient emission. We use the simultaneity of the observations to confirm potential candidates. No new pulsars or significant bursts were found. Being the first pulsar search ever carried out at such high radio frequencies, we detail our analysis methods and give a detailed estimation of the sensitivity of the search. We conclude that the EHT 2017 observations are only sensitive to a small fraction (less than or similar to 2.2%) of the pulsars that may exist close to Sgr A*, motivating further searches for fainter pulsars in the region.
Author
Pablo Torne
Max Planck Society
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Kuo Liu
Max Planck Society
Ralph P. Eatough
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Max Planck Society
Jompoj Wongphechauxsorn
Max Planck Society
James M. Cordes
Cornell University
Gregory Desvignes
Max Planck Society
Paris Descartes University
Mariafelicia De Laurentis
National Institute for Nuclear Physics
Goethe University Frankfurt
University of Naples Federico II
Michael Kramer
University of Manchester
Max Planck Society
Scott M. Ransom
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Shami Chatterjee
Cornell University
Robert Wharton
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Ramesh Karuppusamy
Max Planck Society
Lindy Blackburn
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Michael Janssen
Max Planck Society
Chi-Kwan Chan
University of Arizona
Geoffrey B. Crew
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Lynn D. Matthews
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Ciriaco Goddi
University of Cagliari
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
National Institute for Nuclear Physics
University of Sao Paulo (USP)
Helge Rottmann
Max Planck Society
Jan Wagner
Max Planck Society
Salvador Sanchez
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Ignacio Ruiz
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Federico Abbate
Max Planck Society
Geoffrey C. Bower
Academia Sinica
University of Hawaii
Juan J. Salamanca
University of Oviedo
Arturo I. Gomez-Ruiz
National Council for Science and Technology Mexico
Inst Nacl Astrofis Optic & Elect
Alfredo Herrera-Aguilar
Benemerita Univ Autonoma Puebla
Wu Jiang
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ru-Sen Lu
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Max Planck Society
Ue-Li Pen
University of Toronto
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Academia Sinica
Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
Alexander W. Raymond
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Lijing Shao
Max Planck Society
Beijing University of Technology
Zhiqiang Shen
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Gabriel Paubert
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Miguel Sanchez-Portal
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Carsten Kramer
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Manuel Castillo
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Santiago Navarro
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
David John
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Karl-Friedrich Schuster
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Michael D. Johnson
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Kazi L. J. Rygl
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Italian ALMA Regional Centre
Kazunori Akiyama
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
University of Sao Paulo (USP)
Harvard University
Antxon Alberdi
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Walter Alef
Max Planck Society
Juan Carlos Algaba
University of Malaya
Richard Anantua
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
University of Texas at San Antonio
Keiichi Asada
Academia Sinica
Rebecca Azulay
Universitat de Valencia
Max Planck Society
Uwe Bach
Max Planck Society
Anne-Kathrin Baczko
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
David Ball
University of Arizona
Mislav Balokovic
Yale University
John Barrett
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Michi Baubock
University of Illinois
Bradford A. Benson
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
University of Chicago
Dan Bintley
East Asian Observatory
James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
Raymond Blundell
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Katherine L. Bouman
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Hope Boyce
McGill University
Michael Bremer
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Christiaan D. Brinkerink
Radboud University
Roger Brissenden
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Silke Britzen
Max Planck Society
Avery E. Broderick
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
University of Waterloo
Dominique Broguiere
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Thomas Bronzwaer
Radboud University
Sandra Bustamante
University of Massachusetts
Do-Young Byun
University of Science and Technology (UST)
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
John E. Carlstrom
Univ Chicago, Enrico Fermi Inst, 5640 S Ellis Ave
University of Chicago
Univ Chicago, Dept Phys, 5720 S Ellis Ave
Univ Chicago, Kavli Inst Cosmol Phys, 5640 S Ellis Ave
Chiara Ceccobello
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
Andrew Chael
Princeton University
Dominic O. Chang
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Koushik Chatterjee
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Ming-Tang Chen
Academia Sinica
Yongjun Chen
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xiaopeng Cheng
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
I. Cho
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Pierre Christian
Fairfield Univ, Dept Phys, 1073 N Benson Rd
Nicholas S. Conroy
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
University of Illinois
John E. Conway
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
Thomas M. Crawford
University of Chicago
Univ Chicago, Kavli Inst Cosmol Phys, 5640 S Ellis Ave
Alejandro Cruz-Osorio
Goethe University Frankfurt
Max Planck Society
Yuzhu Cui
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Zhejiang Lab
Thomas M. Crawford
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Jordy Davelaar
Columbia University
Flatiron Inst, Ctr Comp Astrophys, 162 Fifth Ave
Radboud University
Roger Deane
University of Pretoria
University of Witwatersrand
Rhodes University
Jessica Dempsey
James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)
East Asian Observatory
Jason Dexter
University of Colorado at Boulder
Vedant Dhruv
University of Illinois
Sheperd S. Doeleman
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Sean Dougal
University of Arizona
Sergio A. Dzib
Max Planck Society
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Razieh Emami
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Heino Falcke
Radboud University
Joseph Farah
University of California at Santa Barbara
Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network
Vincent L. Fish
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Ed Fomalont
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
H. Alyson Ford
University of Arizona
Marianna Foschi
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Raquel Fraga-Encinas
Radboud University
William T. Freeman
Google Inc.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Per Friberg
James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
East Asian Observatory
Cistian M. Fromm
Max Planck Society
University of Würzburg
Goethe University Frankfurt
Antonio Fuentes
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Peter Galison
Harvard University
Charles F. Gammie
University of Illinois
Roberto Garcia
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Olivier Gentaz
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Boris Georgiev
University of Waterloo
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Roman Gold
University of Southern Denmark
Jose L. Gomez
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Minfeng Gu
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Mark Gurwell
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Kazuhiro Hada
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
Daryl Haggard
McGill University
Kari Haworth
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Michael H. Hecht
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Ronald Hesper
University of Groningen
Dirk Heumann
University of Arizona
Luis C. Ho
Beijing University of Technology
Paul Ho
Academia Sinica
East Asian Observatory
James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
Mareki Honma
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
University of Tokyo
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
Chih-Wei L. Huang
Academia Sinica
Lei Huang
Chinese Academy of Sciences
David H. Hughes
Inst Nacl Astrofis Optic & Elect
Shiro Ikeda
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
University of Tokyo
The Institute of Statistical Mathematics
C. M. Violette Impellizzeri
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Leiden University
Makoto Inoue
Academia Sinica
Sara Issaoun
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
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Buell T. Jannuzi
University of Arizona
Britton Jeter
Academia Sinica
Alejandra Jimenez-Rosales
Radboud University
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Svetlana Jorstad
Boston University
Abhishek V. Joshi
University of Illinois
Max Planck Society
Taehyun Jung
University of Science and Technology (UST)
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Mansour Karami
University of Waterloo
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Tomohisa Kawashima
University of Tokyo
Garrett K. Keating
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Mark Kettenis
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Jae-Young Kim
Kyungpook National University
Max Planck Society
Jongsoo Kim
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Junhan Kim
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Motoki Kino
Kogakuin University of Technology and Engineering
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Jun Yi Koay
Academia Sinica
Prashant Kocherlakota
Goethe University Frankfurt
Yutaro Kofuji
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
University of Tokyo
Shoko Koyama
Niigata University
Academia Sinica
Thomas P. Krichbaum
Max Planck Society
Cheng-Yu Kuo
National Sun Yat-Sen University
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Noemi La Bella
Radboud University
Tod R. Lauer
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
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University of Illinois
Sang-Sung Lee
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Po Kin Leung
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Aviad Levis
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Zhiyuan Li
Nanjing University
Rocco Lico
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
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Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
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Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
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Max Planck Society
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Max Planck Society
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Italian ALMA Regional Centre
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National Taiwan University
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Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
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University of Amsterdam
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Nicola Marchili
Max Planck Society
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University of Amsterdam
Daniel P. Marrone
University of Arizona
Alan P. Marscher
Boston University
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Universitat de Valencia
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University of Arizona
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European Space Agency (ESA)
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James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
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Goethe University Frankfurt
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
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Kotaro Moriyama
Goethe University Frankfurt
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Monika Moscibrodzka
Radboud University
Cornelia Mueller
Max Planck Society
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Hendrik Mueller
Max Planck Society
Alejandro Mus
Universitat de Valencia
Gibwa Musoke
Radboud University
University of Amsterdam
Ioannis Myserlis
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Andrew Nadolski
University of Illinois
Hiroshi Nagai
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
Neil M. Nagar
University of Concepcion
Masanori Nakamura
National Institute of Technology (KOSEN)
Academia Sinica
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Harvard University
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University of Massachusetts
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Goethe University Frankfurt
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Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
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Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
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Max Planck Society
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Washington University in St. Louis
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Sejong University
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National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
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Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Academia Sinica
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James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
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Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
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Harvard University
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Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
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University of California
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University of Massachusetts
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Goethe University Frankfurt
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Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH)
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University of Illinois
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Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
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Georgia Inst Technol, Sch Phys, 837 State St NW
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Trinity College Dublin
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National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
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University of Arizona
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Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
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Yonsei University
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
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University of Massachusetts
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California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
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University of Lethbridge
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
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Efthalia Traianou
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Tyler Trent
University of Arizona
Sascha Trippe
Seoul National University
Matthew Turk
University of Illinois
Ilse van Bemmel
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Huib Jan van Langevelde
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
University of New Mexico
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Radboud University
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Maciek Wielgus
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Kaj Wiik
University of Illinois
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Gunther Witzel
Max Planck Society
Michael F. Wondrak
Radboud University
George N. Wong
Institute for Advanced Study
Princeton University
Qingwen Wu
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Nitika Yadlapalli
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Paul Yamaguchi
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Aristomenis Yfantis
Radboud University
Doosoo Yoon
University of Amsterdam
Andre Young
Radboud University
Ken Young
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Ziri Younsi
University College London (UCL)
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Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Feng Yuan
Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Bard College
Guang-Yao Zhao
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
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Chinese Academy of Sciences
Astrophysical Journal
0004-637X (ISSN) 1538-4357 (eISSN)
Vol. 959 1 14Onsala space observatory infrastructure
Swedish Research Council (VR) (2017-00648), 2018-01-01 -- 2021-12-31.
Subject Categories (SSIF 2011)
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
DOI
10.3847/1538-4357/acf4f2