The PSR J0435+3233 Triple System

@misc{yang2026j04353233,
  title = {{The PSR J0435+3233 Triple System}},
  author = {Z. L. Yang and J. L. Han and Y. Yan and Bin Liu and Y. L. Guo and M. K. Yang and Bo Wang and W. M. Gu and J. Li and L. H. Li and J. Xu and J. N. Fu},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2608.01227},
  eprint = {2608.01227},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.01227},
  note = {CC BY-NC-SA 4.0},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - The PSR J0435+3233 Triple System
AU  - Z. L. Yang
AU  - J. L. Han
AU  - Y. Yan
AU  - Bin Liu
AU  - Y. L. Guo
AU  - M. K. Yang
AU  - Bo Wang
AU  - W. M. Gu
AU  - J. Li
AU  - L. H. Li
AU  - J. Xu
AU  - J. N. Fu
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/09
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2608.01227
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.01227
AB  - The detailed evolution of triple star systems is complicated and poorly known. Using archived optical/infrared and γ-ray data, we identified the pulsar PSR~J0435+3233 as a γ-ray pulsar in a hierarchical triple system, with a helium white dwarf (WD) as a close inner binary companion and a Sun-like star as the distant tertiary. PSR~J0435+3233 and the WD companion are in a circular orbit with a period of P_orb1 = 8.0~days and an eccentricity of e=0.00016. The tertiary is a G-type subgiant with a mass of 0.98(12) M_⊙ at a distance of 2.1(4) kpc from the Earth. By simultaneously fitting the observed spin-period variations of the γ-ray emission (over 16.7 years) and radio emission (over 4.9 years) from PSR~J0435+3233, the changes in the inner orbital parameters, the Shapiro delay, Gaia astrometry, and the outer companion mass, we determined the outer elliptical orbit for the tertiary, with a period P_orb2 = 73.5~yrs and an eccentricity e_2 = 0.598. The outer orbit is either nearly perpendicular to the inner orbit with a mutual inclination of ∼ 85^∘, or moderately inclined by ∼ 54^∘. For the former geometry, the pulsar, the WD, and the tertiary star have masses of 1.16(5) M_⊙, 0.273(8) M_⊙, and 0.91(5) M_⊙, respectively; for the latter geometry, the corresponding masses are 1.34(15) M_⊙, 0.305(23) M_⊙, and 1.13(7) M_⊙. This is a unique triple system for detailed multi-band observations and for studying the evolutionary path and dynamic processes of a primordial triple star system. It will ultimately evolve into a system consisting of a neutron star and two white dwarfs.
ER  -