X-ray Pulsations from Rotation-Powered Millisecond Pulsars with NICER

The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) is an X-ray telescope with capabilities optimized for the study of the structure, dynamics, and energetics of neutron stars through high-precision timing of rotation- and accretion-powered pulsars in the 0.2-12 keV band. It has large collecting area (twice that of the XMM-Newton EPIC-pn camera), CCD-quality spectral resolution, and high-precision photon time tagging referenced to UTC through an onboard GPS receiver. I will describe NICER studies of rotation-powered millisecond pulsars, which have revealed X-ray pulsations from six new millisecond pulsars several of which are promising new targets for light curve modeling studies aimed at constraining the dense matter equation of state. In addition, NICER has made secure pulsation detections of 9 out of the 11 rotation-powered Galactic-field millisecond pulsars with previously known pulsations, providing a consistent view of the X-ray emission properties of this class. NICER is a 0.2-12 keV X-ray telescope operating on the International Space Station. The NICER mission and portions of the NICER science team activities are funded by NASA.