Mitigating the Timing Impact of Anomalous Pulse Profile Shape Variability in PSR J1713+0747 with Gaussian Component Modeling

@article{nichols2026mitigating,
  title = {{Mitigating the Timing Impact of Anomalous Pulse Profile Shape Variability in PSR J1713+0747 with Gaussian Component Modeling}},
  author = {Shania A. Nichols and Michael T. Lam and Gabriella Agazie and Anjana Ashok and Jeremy G. Baier and H. Thankful Cromartie and Kathryn Crowter and Megan E. DeCesar and Paul B. Demorest and Lankeswar Dey and William Fiore and Emmanuel Fonseca and Joseph Glaser and Deborah C. Good and Jeffrey S. Hazboun and Ross J. Jennings and David L. Kaplan and Bjorn Larsen and Georgia A. Lowes and Ryan S. Lynch and Ashley Martsen and Bradley W. Meyers and Patrick M. Meyers and Mason Ng and Daniel J. Oliver and Benetge B. P. Perera and Henri A. Radovan and Scott M. Ransom and Alexander Saffer and Ingrid H. Stairs and Mercedes S. Thompson and Amir Tresnjic and Joris P. W. Verbiest and David Wright},
  journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/aeae2d},
  url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aeae2d},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Mitigating the Timing Impact of Anomalous Pulse Profile Shape Variability in PSR J1713+0747 with Gaussian Component Modeling
AU  - Shania A. Nichols
AU  - Michael T. Lam
AU  - Gabriella Agazie
AU  - Anjana Ashok
AU  - Jeremy G. Baier
AU  - H. Thankful Cromartie
AU  - Kathryn Crowter
AU  - Megan E. DeCesar
AU  - Paul B. Demorest
AU  - Lankeswar Dey
AU  - William Fiore
AU  - Emmanuel Fonseca
AU  - Joseph Glaser
AU  - Deborah C. Good
AU  - Jeffrey S. Hazboun
AU  - Ross J. Jennings
AU  - David L. Kaplan
AU  - Bjorn Larsen
AU  - Georgia A. Lowes
AU  - Ryan S. Lynch
AU  - Ashley Martsen
AU  - Bradley W. Meyers
AU  - Patrick M. Meyers
AU  - Mason Ng
AU  - Daniel J. Oliver
AU  - Benetge B. P. Perera
AU  - Henri A. Radovan
AU  - Scott M. Ransom
AU  - Alexander Saffer
AU  - Ingrid H. Stairs
AU  - Mercedes S. Thompson
AU  - Amir Tresnjic
AU  - Joris P. W. Verbiest
AU  - David Wright
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/04
JO  - The Astrophysical Journal
DO  - 10.3847/1538-4357/aeae2d
UR  - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aeae2d
AB  - The North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves achieves submicrosecond timing precision for several millisecond pulsars in its pulsar timing array (PTA) with the objective of detecting and characterizing nanohertz gravitational waves. PSR J1713+0747 is one of the most precisely timed pulsars in the array, achieving submicrosecond timing precision. However, in 2021 April, PSR J1713+0747 underwent a sudden and unusual change in pulse shape that disrupted its timing stability. As PSR J1713+0747 is a key contributor to PTA sensitivity, variations in its pulse profile significantly affect the array’s sensitivity to nanohertz gravitational waves. We apply frequency-dependent Gaussian component models to decompose the pulse profile and track the evolution of individual components through the event. This component-level method maintains phase-connected timing across the shape-change event. At the L band, the recovered times of arrival (TOAs) have a median uncertainty of ∼0.47 μ s compared to ∼0.70 μ s for standard template matching. At 820 MHz, where profile frequency evolution is stronger, the recovered TOAs have a median uncertainty of ∼1.63 μ s compared to ∼0.67 μ s for standard template matching. The recovered TOAs achieve timing uncertainties comparable to conventional template matching while allowing data affected by profile variability to be retained in PTA gravitational-wave analyses. These results represent an initial step toward profile-domain timing methods capable of accounting for pulse profile evolution while reducing the need for additional timing model parameters.
SN  - 1538-4357
SN  - 0004-637X
ER  -