{"title":"Is PSR J0514–4002E in a PBH-NS binary?","authors":"Zu-Cheng Chen, Lang Liu","doi":"10.1007/s11433-025-2615-3","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Recent pulsar timing observations using MeerKAT of the eccentric binary millisecond pulsar, PSR J0514–4002E, have unveiled a companion with a mass in the mass gap, ranging from 2.09 <i>M</i><sub>⊙</sub> to 2.71 <i>M</i><sub>⊙</sub>. This challenges conventional astrophysical scenarios for black hole formation. In this paper, we present an alternative explanation: PSR J0514–4002E could be in a PBH-NS binary, with the companion potentially being a primordial black hole formed during the early Universe’s first-order phase transition. The associated stochastic gravitational-wave background generated during this phase transition can account for the observed signal from the pulsar timing array, and the abundance of primordial black holes is consistent with constraints from LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":774,"journal":{"name":"Science China Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy","volume":"68 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Science China Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy","FirstCategoryId":"101","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11433-025-2615-3","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PHYSICS, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Recent pulsar timing observations using MeerKAT of the eccentric binary millisecond pulsar, PSR J0514–4002E, have unveiled a companion with a mass in the mass gap, ranging from 2.09 M⊙ to 2.71 M⊙. This challenges conventional astrophysical scenarios for black hole formation. In this paper, we present an alternative explanation: PSR J0514–4002E could be in a PBH-NS binary, with the companion potentially being a primordial black hole formed during the early Universe’s first-order phase transition. The associated stochastic gravitational-wave background generated during this phase transition can account for the observed signal from the pulsar timing array, and the abundance of primordial black holes is consistent with constraints from LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA.
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Science China Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy, an academic journal cosponsored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and published by Science China Press, is committed to publishing high-quality, original results in both basic and applied research.
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