📻 DRAFT RESEARCH PROPOSAL · RADIO PULSAR TIMING · MEERKAT / SKA-MID
A high-cadence pulsar timing campaign to discriminate between a single IMBH and a dark cluster of stellar-mass black holes — providing a definitive gravitational test before LISA (~2035) while simultaneously searching for anomalous timing residuals consistent with the OCS computronium hypothesis · Working draft · April 2026
The OCS Macro Transcension Hypothesis requires a single massive IMBH as the energy and computational substrate. The current observational situation is ambiguous:
These constraints are methodologically inconsistent. A dedicated, high-cadence pulsar timing campaign directly measures the gravitational potential through line-of-sight accelerations, providing an independent probe with a distinct systematic error budget.
Millisecond pulsars are the most stable natural clocks known, with period drift ~1 µs per 10¹⁵ years. Their line-of-sight accelerations (measured through secular changes in pulse period: Ṗ_obs = Ṗ_int + P · a_los / c) map the gravitational potential at their orbital radii with ~10⁻⁹ m/s² sensitivity per year of timing. OC hosts at least 18 confirmed MSPs — the densest known population in any globular cluster — spanning a range of projected radii from the core. Their radial acceleration profile directly encodes the mass distribution: a point-mass IMBH produces a smooth 1/r² profile, while a distributed dark mass produces an extended, flatter profile.
If an IMBH is confirmed by the acceleration profile, the same timing dataset probes a secondary OCS prediction: a computronium swarm concentrated near the ISCO would contribute a localized mass excess that would produce anomalous, position-dependent timing residuals in MSPs whose line of sight passes close to the ISCO radius (~177,000 km for a 20,000 M☉ IMBH). This is speculative but falsifiable: the residuals would show a non-random angular pattern around the cluster center inconsistent with any astrophysical model.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Target pulsars | All 18+ confirmed OC MSPs; priority on those with smallest projected separation from core (<0.1 pc) |
| Observing cadence | Bi-weekly (26 sessions/year) at L-band (1.28 GHz) and S-band (2.6 GHz); 2-hour sessions |
| Timing precision | ~1 µs ToA per session for brightest MSPs; ~10 µs for faint ones |
| Acceleration sensitivity | ~5 × 10⁻¹⁰ m/s² per year (brightest MSPs); ~2 × 10⁻⁹ m/s² (faint) |
| Primary science products | Secular period derivatives (Ṗ_obs) for all 18 MSPs; 3D acceleration field map of OC core |
| New pulsar search | Commensal deep imaging search with L-band data; expected 5–10 new MSPs (extrapolating Chen et al. 2024) |
SKA-MID will increase timing precision by ~5× and enable detection of MSPs 10× fainter than MeerKAT's threshold. The legacy dataset from this proposal will serve as the timing baseline for SKA-era precision measurements. Specific SKA science goals include constraining the IMBH spin parameter a★ through frame-dragging effects on MSP orbits — a uniquely OCS-relevant measurement.
| Acceleration profile result | Interpretation | Implication for OCS |
|---|---|---|
| Smooth 1/r² profile consistent with point mass ≥8,200 M☉ | Single IMBH strongly supported; dark cluster disfavoured | OCS physical substrate confirmed; proceed to Phase planning |
| Flat/extended profile matching 2–3 × 10⁵ M☉ distributed mass | Dark cluster of ~10,000–20,000 stellar-mass BHs supported | OCS Phase 3-5 substrate falsified; no single BZ extraction point |
| Stochastic, unexplained residuals at small projected radii | Localized mass perturbation inconsistent with smooth models | Computronium swarm candidate (speculative; requires multi-messenger corroboration) |
| Null detection of secular Ṗ changes | Pulsar population too faint or too widely distributed | Inconclusive; await SKA |
| Year | Quarter | Milestone | Deliverable |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Q1–Q2 | MeerKAT time allocation; timing pipeline setup; ephemeris initialization for all 18 MSPs | Timing pipeline documentation |
| 1 | Q3–Q4 | First year bi-weekly observations; initial acceleration constraints | Year-1 timing baseline |
| 2 | Q1–Q4 | Continued timing; new pulsar discovery analysis; 2-year acceleration profile | Acceleration map v1; new MSP discoveries |
| 3 | Q1–Q2 | 3-year profile; statistical comparison of point-mass vs extended-mass models | IMBH vs dark cluster Bayesian comparison |
| 3 | Q3–Q4 | Publication; SKA pathfinder coordination | Submitted to MNRAS / ApJ |
| 4 | ongoing | Continued monitoring; SKA-MID baseline preparation | SKA early science proposal |
| Item | Cost (USD) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Graduate RA (4 years) | 160,000 | Timing pipeline development, analysis, pulsar searches |
| MeerKAT observing time | 20,000 | ~200 hours/year × 4 years at est. access costs |
| HPC compute | 12,000 | Bayesian timing analysis, TEMPO2/PINT, acceleration modelling |
| Travel + publication | 8,000 | MeerKAT/SARAO collaboration meetings, open-access fees |
| Total | ~200,000 |