1995/09/26 by Demetrios N. Matsakis, Demetrios Matsakis, Matsakis, Demetrios N. +3
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Frequency and Time Standards #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #GNSS positioning and interference #Geophysics and Sensor Technology #astro-ph #earthquake and tectonic studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/9509133
16 pages, latex, 9 figures, to be published in Amazing Light, Springer-Verlag Press, 1995
openalex publication_date 1995/09/26 · arxiv created 1995/09/27 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2022/10/02 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Terrestrial timescales show instabilities due to the physical limitations of\nthe atomic clocks. Stricter environmental isolation and increased numbers of\nimproved cesium clocks and cavity-tuned hydrogen masers have resulted in time\nscales more accurate by a factor of about five. The use of different clock\nensembles results in measurable changes in some millisecond pulsar timing data.\nWe investigate the possible application of millisecond pulsars to define a\nprecise long-term time standard and positional reference system in a nearly\ninertial reference frame. Although possible quantitative contribution of the\ntwo longest studied millisecond pulsars to terrestrial timescales appears\nminimal, they may prove useful as independent standards in identifying error\nsources that are difficult to detect due to the finite lifetime and common\nreference frame of terrestrial clocks. New millisecond pulsars, perhaps some\nwith even better timing properties, may be discovered as a result of the\ncurrent global pulsar search efforts.\n