Special MSI Seminar

An algebraic approach for recovering an unknown timing solution from a list of TOAs

Barak Zackay

Weizmann Institute

Fast radio burst (FRB) progenitors are expected to be neutron stars. Solving the astrophysical conundrum of their origin is one of the central challenges in astrophysics. If a periodic solution for their arrival time is discovered, we will immediately learn of their age, magnetic field, and binary properties. Finding such a periodicity is a hard algorithmic question, especially if FRB progenitors are predominantly in binary systems. Interestingly, the same problem arises in gamma-ray pulsar astronomy, where solving a timing model for thousands of Fermi-LAT unassociated sources could identify them as pulsars, reveal their exact position and nature. The timing problem is currently unsolvable in the case of a binary system, and even for single pulsars it is solvable only under restrictive conditions using substantial computational resources. In this talk, I will show a novel algebraic framework for solving the timing problem using lattice reduction techniques. As a proof of concept, I present the solution of a previously intractable problem with a runtime of a few seconds. Then, I will discuss the limitations of the proposed approach and the path towards applying these methods to real data. Time permitting, I will discuss a possible path towards implementing similar methods to recover pulsars using CHIME.