Cross-Comparison of Sampling Algorithms for Pulse Profile Modeling of PSR J0740+6620

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Auteurs principaux: Hoogkamer, Mariska, Kini, Yves, Salmi, Tuomo, Watts, Anna L., Buchner, Johannes
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Hoogkamer, Mariska
Kini, Yves
Salmi, Tuomo
Watts, Anna L.
Buchner, Johannes
author_facet Hoogkamer, Mariska
Kini, Yves
Salmi, Tuomo
Watts, Anna L.
Buchner, Johannes
contents In the last few years, NICER data has enabled mass and radius inferences for various pulsars, and thus shed light on the equation of state for dense nuclear matter. This is achieved through a technique called pulse profile modeling. The importance of the results necessitates careful validation and testing of the robustness of the inference procedure. In this paper, we investigate the effect of sampler choice for X-PSI (X-ray Pulse Simulation and Inference), an open-source package for pulse profile modeling and Bayesian statistical inference that has been used extensively for analysis of NICER data. We focus on the specific case of the high-mass pulsar PSR J0740+6620. Using synthetic data that mimics the most recently analyzed NICER and XMM-Newton data sets of PSR J0740+6620, we evaluate the parameter recovery performance, convergence, and computational cost for MultiNest's multimodal nested sampling algorithm and UltraNest's slice nested sampling algorithm. We find that both samplers perform reliably, producing accurate and unbiased parameter estimation results when analyzing simulated data. We also investigate the consequences for inference using the real data for PSR J0740+6620, finding that both samplers produce consistent credible intervals.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_13682
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Cross-Comparison of Sampling Algorithms for Pulse Profile Modeling of PSR J0740+6620
Hoogkamer, Mariska
Kini, Yves
Salmi, Tuomo
Watts, Anna L.
Buchner, Johannes
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Nuclear Theory
In the last few years, NICER data has enabled mass and radius inferences for various pulsars, and thus shed light on the equation of state for dense nuclear matter. This is achieved through a technique called pulse profile modeling. The importance of the results necessitates careful validation and testing of the robustness of the inference procedure. In this paper, we investigate the effect of sampler choice for X-PSI (X-ray Pulse Simulation and Inference), an open-source package for pulse profile modeling and Bayesian statistical inference that has been used extensively for analysis of NICER data. We focus on the specific case of the high-mass pulsar PSR J0740+6620. Using synthetic data that mimics the most recently analyzed NICER and XMM-Newton data sets of PSR J0740+6620, we evaluate the parameter recovery performance, convergence, and computational cost for MultiNest's multimodal nested sampling algorithm and UltraNest's slice nested sampling algorithm. We find that both samplers perform reliably, producing accurate and unbiased parameter estimation results when analyzing simulated data. We also investigate the consequences for inference using the real data for PSR J0740+6620, finding that both samplers produce consistent credible intervals.
title Cross-Comparison of Sampling Algorithms for Pulse Profile Modeling of PSR J0740+6620
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Nuclear Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.13682