Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0The Astrophysical Journal
Generalized Non-linear Bayesian Pulsar Timing with Enterprise
40 affiliations
- 1West Virginia University
- 2Oregon State University
- 3Cornell University
- 4University of Colorado
- 5Vanderbilt University
- 6California Institute of Technology
- 7University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
- 8NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- 9Widener University
- 10Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology
- 11University of Birmingham
- 12Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l’Environnement et de l’Espace – Université d’Orléans/CNRS
- 13Observatoire de Paris
- 14George Mason University
- 15National Radio Astronomy Observatory
- 16Hillsdale College
- 17Eureka Scientific
- 18SETI Institute
- 19University of New Mexico
- 20University of British Columbia
- 21University of East Anglia
- 22University of Maryland
- 23University of Connecticut
- 24Flatiron Institute
- 25Naval Research Laboratory
- 26Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
- 27Ioffe Institute
- 28University of Toronto
- 29Green Bank Observatory
- 30University of Hull
- 31Curtin University
- 32University of Oxford
- 33Lafayette College
- 34Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
- 35Eötvös Loránd University
- 36Arecibo Observatory
- 37University of Puerto Rico
- 38University of Manchester
- 39Giant Army
- 40McGill University
Abstract
In this study, we use the Bayesian methods in the Enterprise package to examine the fully general parameterization of pulsar timing models in tandem with noise. We investigate four pulsars, PSR J1600−3053, PSR J2043+1711, PSR J0740+6620, and PSR J1640+2224, through the lens of Bayesian timing. These four are selected as they are well-studied, but exhibit interesting characteristics under the lens of Bayesian timing. Our new pulsar mass constraints (medians and 68% confidence intervals) for our fully general non-linear Bayesian timing models are mp=1.6(1) M⊙ for PSR J2043+1711 and mp=2.3+0.9−0.7 M⊙ for PSR J1600−3053 both using the NANOGrav 12.5-yr data release, and mp=2.06(6) M⊙ for PSR J0740+6620 using the data from Fonseca, et al., 2021. We investigate the effects on placing physical priors on timing model parameters, including restricting the upper limit on the pulsar mass for PSR J1640+2224, which has a mass often estimated to be greater than 3 M⊙. We find \ark{that restricting the allowed sampling space of the pulsar mass for PSR J1640+2224 to}mp<3 M⊙ results in a pulsar mass of mp=2.2(5) M⊙ for PSR J1640+2224 using the NANOGrav 12.5-yr data release. For the first time, we find evidence for intrinsic red noise in PSR J2043+1711. We show how fully general Bayesian timing can better model the interplay of the intrinsic noise and the timing parameters.
Related
- Robust Bayesian non-linear pulsar timing and noise analysis using a sequential data-tempered ensemble sampler
- Parameter Estimation for Eccentric Supermassive Black Hole Binaries with Pulsar Timing Arrays
- The pulsar population of Omega Centauri: New TRAPUM searches, timing, and cluster dynamics with MeerKAT and Parkes
- Non-Gaussian timing residual skewness in pulsar timing arrays
- Opening the Black Box: What Neural Networks Learn from Pulsar Timing Array Data
BibTeX
@article{kaiser2026generalized,
title = {{Generalized Non-linear Bayesian Pulsar Timing with Enterprise}},
author = {Andrew R. Kaiser and Jeffrey S. Hazboun and Maura A. McLaughlin and H. Thankful Cromartie and Emmanuel Fonseca and Joseph Simon and Stephen R. Taylor and Michele Vallisneri and Sarah J. Vigeland and Zaven Arzoumanian and Paul T. Baker and Harsha Blumer and Paul R. Brook and Ismael Cognard and Megan E. DeCesar and Paul B. Demorest and Timothy Dolch and F. Adam Dong and Justin A. Ellis and Robert D. Ferdman and Elizabeth C. Ferrara and William Fiore and Nate Garver-Daniels and Peter A. Gentile and Deborah C. Good and Lucas Guillemot and Ross J. Jennings and Megan L. Jones and David L. Kaplan and Matthew Kerr and Aida Yu. Kirichenko and Michael T. Lam and Duncan R. Lorimer and Jing Luo and Ryan S. Lynch and Alexander McEwen and James W. McKee and Natasha McMann and Bradley W. Meyers and Arun Naidu and Cherry Ng and David J. Nice and Aditya Parthasarathy and Timothy T. Pennucci and Benetge B. P. Perera and Nihan S. Pol and Henri A. Radovan and Scott M. Ransom and Paul S. Ray and Renée Spiewak and Brent J. Shapiro-Albert and Ingrid H. Stairs and Kevin Stovall and Joseph K. Swiggum and Chia Min Tan and Shriharsh P. Tendulkar and Haley M. Wahl and WeiWei Zhu},
journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ae99e3},
eprint = {2608.18047},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05738345v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Generalized Non-linear Bayesian Pulsar Timing with Enterprise
AU - Andrew R. Kaiser
AU - Jeffrey S. Hazboun
AU - Maura A. McLaughlin
AU - H. Thankful Cromartie
AU - Emmanuel Fonseca
AU - Joseph Simon
AU - Stephen R. Taylor
AU - Michele Vallisneri
AU - Sarah J. Vigeland
AU - Zaven Arzoumanian
AU - Paul T. Baker
AU - Harsha Blumer
AU - Paul R. Brook
AU - Ismael Cognard
AU - Megan E. DeCesar
AU - Paul B. Demorest
AU - Timothy Dolch
AU - F. Adam Dong
AU - Justin A. Ellis
AU - Robert D. Ferdman
AU - Elizabeth C. Ferrara
AU - William Fiore
AU - Nate Garver-Daniels
AU - Peter A. Gentile
AU - Deborah C. Good
AU - Lucas Guillemot
AU - Ross J. Jennings
AU - Megan L. Jones
AU - David L. Kaplan
AU - Matthew Kerr
AU - Aida Yu. Kirichenko
AU - Michael T. Lam
AU - Duncan R. Lorimer
AU - Jing Luo
AU - Ryan S. Lynch
AU - Alexander McEwen
AU - James W. McKee
AU - Natasha McMann
AU - Bradley W. Meyers
AU - Arun Naidu
AU - Cherry Ng
AU - David J. Nice
AU - Aditya Parthasarathy
AU - Timothy T. Pennucci
AU - Benetge B. P. Perera
AU - Nihan S. Pol
AU - Henri A. Radovan
AU - Scott M. Ransom
AU - Paul S. Ray
AU - Renée Spiewak
AU - Brent J. Shapiro-Albert
AU - Ingrid H. Stairs
AU - Kevin Stovall
AU - Joseph K. Swiggum
AU - Chia Min Tan
AU - Shriharsh P. Tendulkar
AU - Haley M. Wahl
AU - WeiWei Zhu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - The Astrophysical Journal
DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/ae99e3
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05738345v1
AB - In this study, we use the Bayesian methods in the Enterprise package to examine the fully general parameterization of pulsar timing models in tandem with noise. We investigate four pulsars, PSR J1600−3053, PSR J2043+1711, PSR J0740+6620, and PSR J1640+2224, through the lens of Bayesian timing. These four are selected as they are well-studied, but exhibit interesting characteristics under the lens of Bayesian timing. Our new pulsar mass constraints (medians and 68% confidence intervals) for our fully general non-linear Bayesian timing models are m_p=1.6(1) M_⊙ for PSR J2043+1711 and m_p=2.3^+0.9_−0.7 M_⊙ for PSR J1600−3053 both using the NANOGrav 12.5-yr data release, and m_p=2.06(6) M_⊙ for PSR J0740+6620 using the data from Fonseca, et al., 2021. We investigate the effects on placing physical priors on timing model parameters, including restricting the upper limit on the pulsar mass for PSR J1640+2224, which has a mass often estimated to be greater than 3 M_⊙. We find \ark{that restricting the allowed sampling space of the pulsar mass for PSR J1640+2224 to}m_p<3 M_⊙ results in a pulsar mass of m_p=2.2(5) M_⊙ for PSR J1640+2224 using the NANOGrav 12.5-yr data release. For the first time, we find evidence for intrinsic red noise in PSR J2043+1711. We show how fully general Bayesian timing can better model the interplay of the intrinsic noise and the timing parameters.
SN - 0004-637X
SN - 1538-4357
ER -