The Fermi-LAT source 2FGL J2339.6-0532 is likely to host a millisecond pulsar in a ‘black-widow’ system. Strong indications of its nature come from gamma rays and particularly from optical and X-ray observations. However, no pulsations have been found so far neither in radio nor in gamma rays, despite deep searches. I will present here our efforts to find pulsations in Fermi-LAT data. I will describe the uncertainties in the orbital and spin parameters of the source, broadly covered in our search. I will prove the robustness of our technique on other similar systems, and through simulations. I will present the results of our search: the most likely candidates and the further constraints on the parameters of the putative pulsar. Finally, I will discuss the implications of our results and the prospects to find pulsations in this and other similar systems in the future.

Radiation of most of the known pulsars is powered by the loss of their rotational energy and angular momentum. Thanks to the Chandra and XMM-Newton observatories, X-ray emission has been detected from over 100 rotation-powered pulsars in the last 12 years. I will overview the current results of X-ray observations of rotation-powered pulsars, including the evolution of the X-ray properties, thermal and magnetospheric components of X-ray emission, and connection between the X-ray emission and emission at other wavelengths.

In the last years a series of blind and/or targeted pulsar searches led to almost triple the number of known binary pulsars in the galactic field with respect to a decade ago. The focus will be on few outliers, which are emerging from the average properties of the enlarged binary pulsar population. Some of them may represent the long sought missing links between two kinds of neutron star binaries, while others could represent the stereotype of new groups of binaries, resulting from an evolutionary path which is more exotic than those considered until recently. In particular, a new class of binaries, which can be dubbed Ultra Low Mass Binary Pulsars (ULMBPs), is emerging from recent data.

Over the last few years, the number of known eclipsing radio millisecond pulsar systems in the Galactic field has dramatically increased, with many being associated with Fermi gamma-ray sources. All are in tight binaries (orbital period < 24 hr) with many being classical “black widows” which have very low mass companions (companion mass Mc ≪ 0.1 M⊙) but some are “redbacks” with low mass (Mc ~ 0.2-0.4 M⊙) companions which are probably non-degenerate. These latter are systems where the mass transfer process may have only temporarily halted, and so are transitional systems between low mass X-ray binaries and ordinary binary millisecond pulsars. Here we review the new discoveries and their multi-wavelength properties, and briefly discuss models of shock emission, mass determinations, and evolutionary scenarios.

In 2011, Bailes et al. reported on the discovery of a detached companion in a 131 minute orbit around PSR J1719–1438, a 173 Hz millisecond pulsar. The combination of the very low mass function and such a short orbital period is unique. The discoverers suggested that the progenitor system could be an ultracompact X-ray binary (UCXB), which is a binary with a sub-hour orbital period in which a (semi-)degenerate donor fills its Roche lobe and transfers mass to a neutron star. The standard gravitational-wave driven UCXB scenario, however, cannot produce a system like PSR J1719–1438 as it would take longer than the age of the Universe to reach an orbital period of 131 min. We investigate two modifications to the standard UCXB evolution that may resolve this discrepancy. The first involves significant heating and bloating of the donor by pulsar irradiation, and in the second modification the system loses orbital angular momentum via a fast stellar wind from the irradiated donor, additional to the losses via the usual gravitational wave radiation. In particular a donor wind is effective in accelerating orbital expansion, and even a mild wind could produce the 131 minute period within the age of the Universe. We note that UCXBs could be an important class of progenitors of solitary millisecond radio pulsars.

Although the first millisecond pulsars (MSPs) were discovered 30 years ago we still do not understand all details of their formation process. Here, we present new results from Tauris, Langer & Kramer (2012) on the recycling scenario leading to radio MSPs with helium or carbon-oxygen white dwarf companions via evolution of low- and intermediate mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs, IMXBs). We discuss the location of the spin-up line in the PṖ–diagram and estimate the amount of accreted mass needed to obtain a given spin period and compare with observations. Finally, we constrain the true ages of observed recycled pulsars via calculated isochrones in the PṖ–diagram.

We report on a thermonuclear (type-I) X-ray burst that was detected from the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary SAX J1810.8–2609 in 2007 with Swift. This event was longer (≃20 min) and more energetic (a radiated energy of Eb≃6.5×1039 erg) than other X-ray bursts observed from this source. A possible explanation for the peculiar properties is that the X-ray burst occurred during the early stage of the outburst when the neutron star was relatively cold, which allows for the accumulation of a thicker layer of fuel. We also report on a new accretion outburst of SAX J1810.8–2609 that was observed with MAXI and Swift in 2012. The outburst had a duration of ≃17 days and reached a 2–10 keV peak luminosity of ≃ 3 × 1037 (D/5.7 kpc)2 erg s−1. This is a factor >10 more luminous than the two previous outbursts observed from the source, and classifies it as a bright rather than a faint X-ray transient.

Thermal emission during X-ray bursts is a powerful tool to determine neutron star masses and radii, if the Eddington flux and the apparent radius in the cooling tail can be measured accurately, and distances to the sources are known. We propose here an improved method of determining the basic stellar parameters using the data from the cooling phase of long, photospheric radius expansion bursts covering a large range of luminosities. For this purpose, we computed a large set of atmosphere models for burst luminosities varying by two orders of magnitude and for various chemical compositions and surface gravities. We show that the variation of the inverse square root of the apparent blackbody radius with the flux, observed during the photospheric radius expansion bursts from a number of sources at low accretion rate is entirely consistent with the theoretical expectations of the color-correction factor evolution. However, for bursts happening at higher accretion rates the observed evolution is inconsistent with theory, implying that accretion strongly disturbs the neutron star atmosphere. These findings have profound implications for the recent claims on determination of the neutron star radii and masses from such bursts. Our method allows us to determine both the Eddington flux and the ratio of the stellar apparent radius to the distance much more reliably. For 4U 1724-307, we find a lower limit on the neutron star radius of 13 km, independently of the chemical composition. These results suggest that the matter inside neutron stars is characterized by a stiff equation of state.

Neutron star masses can be inferred from observations of binary pulsar systems, particularly by the measurement of relativistic phenomena within these orbits. The observed distribution of masses can be used to infer or constrain the equation of state for nuclear matter and to study astrophysical processes such as supernovae and binary star evolution. In this talk, I will review our present understanding of the neutron star mass distribution with an emphasis on the observational data.

Merging neutron star (NS) binaries may be detected by ground-based gravitational wave (GW) interferometers (e.g. LIGO/VIRGO) within this decade and may also generate electromagnetic radiation detectable by wide-field, fast imaging telescopes that are coming online. The GWs can provide new constraint on the NS equation of state (including mass-radius relation and the related nuclear symmetry energy). This paper reviews various hydrodynamical and electrodynamical processes in coalescing NS binaries, with focus on the pre-merger phase.

I present recent results studying flare emission in magnetars. Strong quasi-periodic oscillations observed in the tail of giant magnetar flares are frequently interpreted as evidence for global seismic oscillations. I demonstrate that such a global oscillation is not directly observable in the lightcurve. New work suggests the amplitude for the strongest QPO stays nearly constant in the rotation phases where it is observed, which I argue suggests it is produced by an additional emission process from the star.

I will provide an overview of recent improvements in our models for vibrating neutron stars, discussing the role of composition, heat, crust elasticity and superfluidity. I will explain how the results may impact on observations, in particular related to magnetar QPOs and future gravitational-wave searches.

Soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) and anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) are peculiar X-ray sources which are believed to be magnetars: ultra-magnetized neutron stars which emission is dominated by surface fields (often in excess of 1E14 G, i.e. well above the QED threshold).

Spectral analysis is an important tool in magnetar astrophysics since it can provide key information on the emission mechanisms. The first attempts at modelling the persistent (i.e. outside bursts) soft X-ray (¡10 keV) spectra of AXPs proved that a model consisting of a blackbody (kT 0.3-0.6 keV) plus a power-law (photon index 2-4) could successfully reproduce the observed emission. Moreover, INTEGRAL observations have shown that, while in quiescence, magnetars emit substantial persistent radiation also at higher energies, up to a few hundreds of keV. However, a convincing physical interpretation of the various spectral components is still missing.

In this talk I will focus on the interpretation of magnetar spectral properties during quiescence. I will summarise the present status of the art and the currents attempts to model the broadband persistent emission of magnetars (from IR to hard Xrays) within a self consistent, physical scenario.

Recently, PSR J0738-4042 has grown a bright new emission component in its average pulse profile. Using data from Parkes and HartRAO, spanning back to the early 1980s, and applying statistical techniques to model the pulse profile shape with time, we have uncovered unexpected long-term variability, which is very well correlated with changes in the spin-down rate. We present these findings in the context of a growing population of radio-variable pulsars with correlated timing irregularities, including the intermittent pulsars, state-changing pulsars and other individual examples.

Three pulsar timing arrays are now producing high quality data sets. As reviewed in this paper, these data sets are been processed to 1) develop a pulsar-based time standard, 2) search for errors in the solar system planetary ephemeris and 3) detect gravitational waves. It is expected that the data sets will significantly improve in the near future by combining existing observations and by using new telescopes.

The discovery of a pulsar (PSR) in orbit around a black hole (BH) is expected to provide a superb new probe of relativistic gravity and BH properties. Apart from a precise mass measurement for the BH, one could expect a clean verification of the dragging of space-time caused by the BH spin. In order to measure the quadrupole moment of the BH for testing the no-hair theorem of general relativity (GR), one has to hope for a sufficiently massive BH. In this respect, a PSR orbiting the super-massive BH in the center of our Galaxy would be the ultimate laboratory for gravity tests with PSRs. But even for gravity theories that predict the same properties for BHs as GR, a PSR-BH system would constitute an excellent test system, due to the high grade of asymmetry in the strong field properties of these two components. Here we highlight some of the potential gravity tests that one could expect from different PSR-BH systems, utilizing present and future radio telescopes, like FAST and SKA.

The direct detection of gravitational waves will usher in a new era of astrophysics, enabling the study of regions of the universe opaque to electromagnetic radiation or electromagnetically quiet. An ensemble of pulsars (referred to as a pulsar timing array) provides a set of clocks distributed across the Galaxy sensitive to gravitational waves with periods on the order of five years (frequencies of many nanohertz). Plausible source of gravitational waves in this frequency band include massive black hole binaries in the throes of mergers and oscillating cosmic strings. The stochastic gravitational wave background, the sum of gravitational waves emitted throughout the universe, is the most likely signal to be detected by a pulsar timing array.

While the detection of gravitational waves will be a milestone in pulsar astronomy, a constraining limit on the strength of the gravitational wave background can be used to constrain cosmological models and early Universe physics. Here we present a new algorithm that can be used to constrain the strength of the GWB with a pulsar timing array. We then apply this technique to Parkes Pulsar Timing Array observations and place a new limit on the strength of the GWB. We conclude by discussing the astrophysical implications of this limit and the prospects for detecting gravitational waves with pulsars.

The Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) collaboration aims to detect gravitational waves (GWs) through the precise timing of millisecond pulsars. GWs will come in the form of a stochastic background, continuous sources and burst sources. Here we will review recent progress on the development of data analysis pipelines aimed at the detection of a stochastic background as well as continuous sources. We will introduce the Optimal Statistic and F-Statistic methods that are used in the stochastic and continuous pipelines, respectively. Both pipelines are fully functional on real pulsar timing data and take into account the timing models for each pulsar. Finally, we will present the efficacy of each pipeline on locally simulated data as well as data from the 2012 IPTA data challenge.

We report the analysis of a 19-year span of timing data on PSR J1713+0747 taken by the Arecibo and Green Bank telescopes. PSR J1713+0747 is one of the best high-timing-precision pulsars monitored by the NANOGrav project for the purpose of detecting gravitational waves. The timing precision of this pulsar can be regarded as the benchmark of NANOGrav timing instruments. We show the precision improvement achieved by multi-generation instruments including the Green Bank Ultimate Pulsar Processing Instrument (GUPPI) and its counterpart in Arecibo. The new timing solution we found improves the measurement of the pulsars mass, its orbital and geometric parameters, sets new limits on alternative gravitational theories, and may provide a high-quality single pulsar gravitational wave upper limit.

The European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) is one the of three global Pulsar Timing Array communities, aiming to use the clock nature of pulsars to detect gravitational wave. In this talk, I will provide an introduction to the current status of EPTA pulsar observations and present an overview of the recent results. I will also give an update on the progress of the Large European Array for Pulsar (LEAP) project, which attempts to coherently combine the data from the five biggest single site radio telescopes in Europe and make an equivalently 200-metre diameter dish. The LEAP project is an ideal effort in performing high precision pulsar timing and studying characteristics of single pulses from millisecond pulsars.