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
Max Planck Society
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jompoj Wongphechauxsorn
Max Planck Society
James M. Cordes
Cornell University
Gregory Desvignes
Max Planck Society
Paris Descartes University
Mariafelicia De Laurentis
Goethe University Frankfurt
National Institute for Nuclear Physics
University of Naples Federico II
Michael Kramer
Max Planck Society
University of Manchester
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-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
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 Sao Paulo (USP)
National Institute for Nuclear Physics
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
University of Cagliari
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 Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics
National Council for Science and Technology Mexico
Alfredo Herrera-Aguilar
Autonomous University of Puebla
Wu Jiang
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ru-Sen Lu
Max Planck Society
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ue-Li Pen
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
Academia Sinica
University of Toronto
Alexander W. Raymond
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Lijing Shao
Beijing University of Technology
Max Planck Society
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 University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Kazi L. J. Rygl
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Italian ALMA Regional Centre
Kazunori Akiyama
University of Sao Paulo (USP)
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
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
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
University of Chicago
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
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
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
University of Science and Technology (UST)
John E. Carlstrom
University of Chicago
Chiara Ceccobello
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
Andrew Chael
Princeton University
Dominic O. Chang
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
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 University
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
Alejandro Cruz-Osorio
Max Planck Society
Goethe University Frankfurt
Yuzhu Cui
Zhejiang Lab
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Thomas M. Crawford
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Jordy Davelaar
Flatiron Institute
Columbia University
Radboud University
Roger Deane
University of Witwatersrand
University of Pretoria
Rhodes University
Jessica Dempsey
Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)
James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
East Asian Observatory
Jason Dexter
University of Colorado
Vedant Dhruv
University of Illinois
Sheperd S. Doeleman
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Sean Dougal
University of Arizona
Sergio A. Dzib
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Max Planck Society
Razieh Emami
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Heino Falcke
Radboud University
Joseph Farah
University of California
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
Goethe University Frankfurt
University of Würzburg
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
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
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
James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
Academia Sinica
East Asian Observatory
Mareki Honma
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
University of Tokyo
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Chih-Wei L. Huang
Academia Sinica
Lei Huang
Chinese Academy of Sciences
David H. Hughes
National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics
Shiro Ikeda
The Institute of Statistical Mathematics
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
University of Tokyo
C. M. Violette Impellizzeri
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Leiden University
Makoto Inoue
Academia Sinica
Sara Issaoun
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
David J. James
ASTRAVEO
Applied Materials Incorporated
Buell T. Jannuzi
University of Arizona
Britton Jeter
Academia Sinica
Alejandra Jimenez-Rosales
Radboud University
Max Planck Society
Svetlana Jorstad
Boston University
Abhishek V. Joshi
Max Planck Society
University of Illinois
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
Max Planck Society
Kyungpook National University
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
Academia Sinica
National Sun Yat-Sen University
Noemi La Bella
Radboud University
Tod R. Lauer
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
Daeyoung Lee
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
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Greg Lindahl
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Michael Lindqvist
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
Mikhail Lisakov
Max Planck Society
Jun Liu
Max Planck Society
Elisabetta Liuzzo
Italian ALMA Regional Centre
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Wen-Ping Lo
Academia Sinica
National Taiwan University
Andrei P. Lobanov
Max Planck Society
Laurent Loinard
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Colin J. Lonsdale
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Nicholas R. MacDonald
Max Planck Society
Jirong Mao
Chinese Academy of Sciences
University of Amsterdam
Nicola Marchili
Italian ALMA Regional Centre
Max Planck Society
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Sera Markoff
University of Amsterdam
Daniel P. Marrone
University of Arizona
Alan P. Marscher
Max Planck Society
Boston University
Ivan Marti-Vidal
Universitat de Valencia
Satoki Matsushita
Academia Sinica
Lia Medeiros
University of Arizona
Institute for Advanced Study
Karl M. Menten
Max Planck Society
Daniel Michalik
University of Chicago
European Space Agency (ESA)
Izumi Mizuno
East Asian Observatory
James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
Yosuke Mizuno
Goethe University Frankfurt
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
James M. Moran
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Kotaro Moriyama
Goethe University Frankfurt
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Monika Moscibrodzka
Radboud University
Cornelia Mueller
Radboud University
Max Planck Society
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
Ramesh Narayan
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Gopal Narayanan
University of Massachusetts
Iniyan Natarajan
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Antonios Nathanail
Goethe University Frankfurt
Academy of Athens
Joseph Neilsen
Villanova University
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Roberto Neri
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Chunchong Ni
University of Waterloo
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Aristeidis Noutsos
Max Planck Society
Michael A. Nowak
Washington University in St. Louis
Junghwan Oh
Sejong University
Hiroki Okino
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
University of Tokyo
Hector Olivares
Radboud University
Gisela N. Ortiz-Leon
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Max Planck Society
Tomoaki Oyama
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Feryal Ozel
Georgia Institute of Technology
Daniel C. M. Palumbo
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Georgios Filippos Paraschos
Max Planck Society
Jongho Park
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Academia Sinica
Harriet Parsons
James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
East Asian Observatory
Nimesh Patel
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Dominic W. Pesce
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Vincent Pietu
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Richard Plambeck
University of California
Aleksandar PopStefanija
University of Massachusetts
Oliver Porth
Goethe University Frankfurt
University of Amsterdam
Felix M. Potzl
Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH)
Max Planck Society
Ben Prather
University of Illinois
Jorge A. Preciado-Lopez
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Dimitrios Psaltis
Georgia Institute of Technology
Hung-Yi Pu
National Taiwan Normal University
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Academia Sinica
Venkatessh Ramakrishnan
University of Turku
Aalto University
University of Concepcion
Ramprasad Rao
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
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East Asian Observatory
Gemini Observatory North
James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
Luciano Rezzolla
Goethe University Frankfurt
Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies
Trinity College Dublin
Angelo Ricarte
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Bart Ripperda
Institute for Advanced Study
Flatiron Institute
Princeton University
Freek Roelofs
Radboud University
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Alan Rogers
Max Planck Society
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Eduardo Ros
Max Planck Society
Cristina Romero-Canizales
Academia Sinica
Arash Roshanineshat
University of Arizona
Alan L. Roy
Max Planck Society
Chet Ruszczyk
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
David Sanchez-Arguelles
National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics
National Council for Science and Technology Mexico
Mahito Sasada
Tokyo Institute of Technology
Hiroshima University
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Kaushik Satapathy
University of Arizona
Tuomas Savolainen
Aalto University
Max Planck Society
F. Peter Schloerb
University of Massachusetts
Jonathan Schonfeld
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Des Small
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Bong Won Sohn
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
University of Science and Technology (UST)
Yonsei University
Jason SooHoo
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Kamal Souccar
University of Massachusetts
He Sun
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Alexandra J. Tetarenko
University of Lethbridge
Paul Tiede
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Remo P. J. Tilanus
Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)
Radboud University
University of Arizona
Leiden University
Michael Titus
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Teresa Toscano
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Efthalia Traianou
Max Planck Society
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
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
University of New Mexico
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
Leiden University
Daniel R. van Rossum
Radboud University
Jesse Vos
Radboud University
Derek Ward-Thompson
University of Central Lancashire
John Wardle
Brandeis University
Jonathan Weintroub
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Norbert Wex
Max Planck Society
Maciek Wielgus
Max Planck Society
Kaj Wiik
University of Turku
University of Illinois
Gunther Witzel
Max Planck Society
Michael F. Wondrak
Radboud University
George N. Wong
Princeton University
Institute for Advanced Study
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)
Goethe University Frankfurt
Wei Yu
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Feng Yuan
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ye-Fei Yuan
University of Science and Technology of China
J. Anton Zensus
Max Planck Society
Shuo Zhang
Bard College
Guang-Yao Zhao
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Shan-Shan Zhao
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