Post-Keplerian perturbations of the orbital time shift in binary pulsars: an analytical formulation with applications to the Galactic Center

Abstract

We develop a general approach to analytically calculate the perturbations $Δδτ_\textrm{p}$ of the orbital component of the change $δτ_\textrm{p}$ of the times of arrival of the pulses emitted by a binary pulsar p induced by the post-Keplerian accelerations due to the mass quadrupole $Q_2$, and the post-Newtonian gravitoelectric (GE) and Lense-Thirring (LT) fields. We apply our results to the so-far still hypothetical scenario involving a pulsar orbiting the Supermassive Black Hole in in the Galactic Center at Sgr A$^\ast$. We also evaluate the gravitomagnetic and quadrupolar Shapiro-like propagation delays $δτ_\textrm{prop}$. By assuming the orbit of the existing S2 main sequence star and a time span as long as its orbital period $P_\textrm{b}$, we obtain $\left|Δδτ_\textrm{p}^\textrm{GE}\right|\lesssim 10^3~\textrm{s},~\left|Δδτ_\textrm{p}^\textrm{LT}\right|\lesssim 0.6~\textrm{s},\left|Δδτ_\textrm{p}^{Q_2}\right|\lesssim 0.04~\textrm{s}$. Faster $\left(P_\textrm{b} = 5~\textrm{yr}\right)$ and more eccentric $\left(e=0.97\right)$ orbits would imply net shifts per revolution as large as $\left|\left\langleΔδτ_\textrm{p}^\textrm{GE}\right\rangle\right|\lesssim 10~\textrm{Ms},~\left|\left\langleΔδτ_\textrm{p}^\textrm{LT}\right\rangle\right|\lesssim 400~\textrm{s},\left|\left\langleΔδτ_\textrm{p}^{Q_2}\right\rangle\right|\lesssim 10^3~\textrm{s}$, depending on the other orbital parameters and the initial epoch. For the propagation delays, we have $\left|δτ_\textrm{prop}^\textrm{LT}\right|\lesssim 0.02~\textrm{s},~\left|δτ_\textrm{prop}^{Q_2}\right|\lesssim 1~μ\textrm{s}$. The expected precision in pulsar timing in Sgr A$^\ast$ is of the order of $100~μ\textrm{s}$, or, perhaps, even $1-10~μ\textrm{s}$.