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Closing a spontaneous-scalarization window with binary pulsars

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arxiv 2201.03771 v2 pith:KQDS4KIH submitted 2022-01-11 astro-ph.HE gr-qc

classification astro-ph.HEgr-qc
keywords gravityneutrontheoriesbinarypulsarsresultsstarstiming
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal
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abstract

Benefitting from the unequaled precision of the pulsar timing technique, binary pulsars are important testbeds of gravity theories, providing some of the tightest bounds on alternative theories of gravity. One class of well-motivated alternative gravity theories, the scalar-tensor gravity, predict large deviations from general relativity for neutron stars through a nonperturbative phenomenon known as spontaneous scalarization. This effect, which cannot be tested in the Solar System, can now be tightly constrained using the latest results from the timing of a set of 7 binary pulsars (PSRs J0348+0432, J0737$-$3039A, J1012+5307, J1738+0333, J1909$-$3744, J1913+1102, and J2222$-$0137), especially with the updated parameters of PSRs J0737$-$3039A, J1913+1102, and J2222$-$0137. Using new timing results, we constrain the neutron star's effective scalar coupling, which describes how strongly neutron stars couple to the scalar field, to a level of $\left|\alpha_{\rm A}\right| \lesssim 6 \times 10^{-3}$ in a Bayesian analysis. Our analysis is thorough, in the sense that our results apply to all neutron star masses and all reasonable equations of state of dense matters, in the full relevant parameter space. It excludes the possibility of spontaneous scalarization of neutron stars, at least within a class of scalar-tensor gravity theories.

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Cited by 5 Pith papers

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  4. Nature of phase transitions and metastability in scalar-tensor theories

    gr-qc 2025-02 conditional novelty 7.0 of 10

    In the canonical scalar-tensor scalarization model, the onset of scalarization is a first-order phase transition across most of the parameter space, creating metastable neutron star configurations.

  5. Unlocking Gravity and Gravitational Waves with Radio Pulsars: Advances and Challenges

    astro-ph.HE 2025-07 conditional novelty 4.0 of 10

    This review summarizes pulsar-based gravity tests and updates simulations predicting that the Double Pulsar will yield a neutron star moment of inertia measurement to about 5% by 2038.

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