A transitional millisecond pulsar: inference of continuous gravitational waves

Zoom Recording Passcode: 2N%HTU?j

Neutron stars contain more than a solar mass within a 10-15 km radius. These superdense stars provide excellent opportunities to probe extreme aspects of physics, such as strong gravity, high magnetic field, accretion mechanism, high-density degenerate matter, and continuous gravitational waves, which one cannot study in terrestrial laboratories. However, while gravitational waves, which are 'ripples' in space-time, have recently been detected from short-lived merger phenomena of black holes and neutron stars, continuous gravitational waves remain elusive. Nevertheless, one could infer such waves from observed spin-down rates and other multi-wavelength aspects of pulsars, a class of spinning neutron stars. We will show that a transitional millisecond pulsar, PSR J1023+0038, should continuously emit gravitational waves.