A More Precise Measurement of the Radius of PSR J0740+6620 Using Updated NICER Data

Abstract

PSR J0740+6620 is the neutron star with the highest precisely determined mass, inferred from radio observations to be 2.08 ± 0.07 M _⊙. Measurements of its radius therefore hold promise to constrain the properties of the cold, catalyzed, high-density matter in neutron star cores. Previously, Miller et al. and Riley et al. reported measurements of the radius of PSR J0740+6620 based on Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) observations accumulated through 2020 April 17, and an exploratory analysis utilizing NICER background estimates and a data set accumulated through 2021 December 28 was presented in Salmi et al. Here we report an updated radius measurement, derived by fitting models of X-ray emission from the neutron star surface to NICER data accumulated through 2022 April 21, totaling ∼1.1 Ms additional exposure compared to the data set analyzed in Miller et al. and Riley et al., and to data from XMM-Newton observations. We find that the equatorial circumferential radius of PSR J0740+6620 is 12.92‑1.13+2.09 km (68% credibility), a fractional uncertainty ∼83% the width of that reported in Miller et al., in line with statistical expectations given the additional data. If we were to require the radius to be less than 16 km, as was done in Salmi et al., then our 68% credible region would become R=12.76‑1.02+1.49 km, which is close to the headline result of Salmi et al. Our updated measurements, along with other laboratory and astrophysical constraints, imply a slightly softer equation of state than that inferred from our previous measurements.