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A secular relativistic change in the period of a binary pulsar

Abstract

THE discovery of the first binary radio pulsar PSR1913+16 by Hulse and Taylor1 stimulated an interest in using relativistic effects to calculate more details of this system.2–4 It was shown, for example, that observations of the apsidal motion could allow the masses of the pulsar and its companion to be calculated. There are many mechanisms which could cause a secular change in the observed period of a binary pulsar (for example, mass exchange magnetic friction, electromagnetic radiation). Here we would like to discuss another possibility related to a change of orbital parameters of a pulsar in a binary system and we also estimate the effect of the emission of gravitational radiation on the period of the binary.

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References

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DEMIANSKI, M., SHAKURA, N. A secular relativistic change in the period of a binary pulsar. Nature 263, 665–666 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/263665a0

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