WorldWideScience

Sample records for strongly magnetized pulsars

  1. Electromagnetic processes in pulsars under strong electric and magnetic field conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ayasli, S.; Hacinliyan, A.; Oegelman, H.B.; Daugherty, I.K.

    1977-01-01

    It is believed that pulsars possess huge electric and magnetic fields. However, the electric field is commonly neglected in calculations of the rate of pair production, a process which is thought to be greatly important in the radiation mechanisms of pulsars. To see the effect of the electric field, the pair production is calculated for arbitrary electric and magnetic field configurations. The formulae thus obtained are then applied to pulsars. It is shown that the correction to the ''polar gap'' height calculated in the Ruderman and Sutherland model is negligible, although it might be important for the spectrum of emerging photons. (author)

  2. Magnetic Pair Creation Transparency in Pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Story, Sarah; Baring, M. G.

    2013-04-01

    The Fermi gamma-ray pulsar database now exceeds 115 sources and has defined an important part of Fermi's science legacy, providing rich information for the interpretation of young energetic pulsars and old millisecond pulsars. Among the well established population characteristics is the common occurrence of exponential turnovers in the 1-10 GeV range. These turnovers are too gradual to arise from magnetic pair creation in the strong magnetic fields of pulsar inner magnetospheres, so their energy can be used to provide lower bounds to the typical altitude of GeV band emission. We explore such constraints due to single-photon pair creation transparency below the turnover energy. We adopt a semi-analytic approach, spanning both domains when general relativistic influences are important and locales where flat spacetime photon propagation is modified by rotational aberration effects. Our work clearly demonstrates that including near-threshold physics in the pair creation rate is essential to deriving accurate attenuation lengths. The altitude bounds, typically in the range of 2-6 neutron star radii, provide key information on the emission altitude in radio quiet pulsars that do not possess double-peaked pulse profiles. For the Crab pulsar, which emits pulsed radiation up to energies of 120 GeV, we obtain a lower bound of around 15 neutron star radii to its emission altitude.

  3. Magnetic field decay in black widow pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mendes, Camile; de Avellar, Marcio G. B.; Horvath, J. E.; Souza, Rodrigo A. de; Benvenuto, O. G.; De Vito, M. A.

    2018-04-01

    We study in this work the evolution of the magnetic field in `redback-black widow' pulsars. Evolutionary calculations of these `spider' systems suggest that first the accretion operates in the redback stage, and later the companion star ablates matter due to winds from the recycled pulsar. It is generally believed that mass accretion by the pulsar results in a rapid decay of the magnetic field when compared to the rate of an isolated neutron star. We study the evolution of the magnetic field in black widow pulsars by solving numerically the induction equation using the modified Crank-Nicolson method with intermittent episodes of mass accretion on to the neutron star. Our results show that the magnetic field does not fall below a minimum value (`bottom field') in spite of the long evolution time of the black widow systems, extending the previous conclusions for much younger low-mass X-ray binary systems. We find that in this scenario, the magnetic field decay is dominated by the accretion rate, and that the existence of a bottom field is likely related to the fact that the surface temperature of the pulsar does not decay as predicted by the current cooling models. We also observe that the impurity of the pulsar crust is not a dominant factor in the decay of magnetic field for the long evolution time of black widow systems.

  4. STRONG FIELD EFFECTS ON PULSAR ARRIVAL TIMES: GENERAL ORIENTATIONS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Yan; Creighton, Teviet; Price, Richard H.; Jenet, Frederick A.

    2009-01-01

    A pulsar beam passing close to a black hole can provide a probe of very strong gravitational fields even if the pulsar itself is not in a strong field region. In the case that the spin of the hole can be ignored, we have previously shown that all strong field effects on the beam can be understood in terms of two 'universal' functions: F(φ in ) and T(φ in ) of the angle of beam emission φ in ; these functions are universal in that they depend only on a single parameter, the pulsar/black hole distance from which the beam is emitted. Here we apply this formalism to general pulsar-hole-observer geometries, with arbitrary alignment of the pulsar spin axis and arbitrary pulsar beam direction and angular width. We show that the analysis of the observational problem has two distinct elements: (1) the computation of the location and trajectory of an observer-dependent 'keyhole' direction of emission in which a signal can be received by the observer; and (2) the determination of an annulus that represents the set of directions containing beam energy. Examples of each are given along with an example of a specific observational scenario.

  5. Magnetic Pair Creation Attenuation Altitude Constraints in Gamma-Ray Pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baring, Matthew; Story, Sarah

    The Fermi gamma-ray pulsar database now exceeds 150 sources and has defined an important part of Fermi's science legacy, providing rich information for the interpretation of young energetic pulsars and old millisecond pulsars. Among the well established population characteristics is the common occurrence of exponential turnovers in the 1-10 GeV range. These turnovers are too gradual to arise from magnetic pair creation in the strong magnetic fields of pulsar inner magnetospheres, so their energy can be used to provide lower bounds to the typical altitude of GeV band emission. We explore such constraints due to single-photon pair creation transparency at and below the turnover energy. Our updated computations span both domains when general relativistic influences are important and locales where flat spacetime photon propagation is modified by rotational aberration effects. The altitude bounds, typically in the range of 2-5 stellar radii, provide key information on the emission altitude in radio quiet pulsars that do not possess double-peaked pulse profiles. However, the exceptional case of the Crab pulsar provides an altitude bound of around 20% of the light cylinder radius if pair transparency persists out to 350 GeV, the maximum energy detected by MAGIC. This is an impressive new physics-based constraint on the Crab's gamma-ray emission locale.

  6. Possible relation between pulsar rotation and evolution of magnetic inclination

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Jun

    2018-05-01

    The pulsar timing is observed to be different from predicted by a simple magnetic dipole radiation. We choose eight pulsars whose braking index was reliably determined. Assuming the smaller values of braking index are dominated by the secular evolution of the magnetic inclination, we calculate the increasing rate of the magnetic inclination for each pulsar. We find a possible relation between the rotation frequency of each pulsar and the inferred evolution of the magnetic inclination. Due to the model-dependent fit of the magnetic inclination and other effects, more observational indicators for the change rate of magnetic inclination are needed to test the relation.

  7. Relativistic MHD modeling of magnetized neutron stars, pulsar winds, and their nebulae

    Science.gov (United States)

    Del Zanna, L.; Pili, A. G.; Olmi, B.; Bucciantini, N.; Amato, E.

    2018-01-01

    Neutron stars are among the most fascinating astrophysical sources, being characterized by strong gravity, densities about the nuclear one or even above, and huge magnetic fields. Their observational signatures can be extremely diverse across the electromagnetic spectrum, ranging from the periodic and low-frequency signals of radio pulsars, up to the abrupt high-energy gamma-ray flares of magnetars, where energies of ∼ {10}46 {erg} are released in a few seconds. Fast-rotating and highly magnetized neutron stars are expected to launch powerful relativistic winds, whose interaction with the supernova remnants gives rise to the non-thermal emission of pulsar wind nebulae, which are known cosmic accelerators of electrons and positrons up to PeV energies. In the extreme cases of proto-magnetars (magnetic fields of ∼ {10}15 G and millisecond periods), a similar mechanism is likely to provide a viable engine for the still mysterious gamma-ray bursts. The key ingredient in all these spectacular manifestations of neutron stars is the presence of strong magnetic fields in their constituent plasma. Here we will present recent updates of a couple of state-of-the-art numerical investigations by the high-energy astrophysics group in Arcetri: a comprehensive modeling of the steady-state axisymmetric structure of rotating magnetized neutron stars in general relativity, and dynamical 3D MHD simulations of relativistic pulsar winds and their associated nebulae.

  8. Crab Flares and Magnetic Reconnection in Pulsar Winds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harding, Alice K.

    2012-01-01

    The striped winds of rotation-powered pulsars are ideal sites for magnetic reconnection. The magnetic fields of the wind near the current sheet outside the light cylinder alternate polarity every pulsar period and eventually encounter a termination shock. Magnetic reconnection in the wind has been proposed as a mechanism for transferring energy from electromagnetic fields to particles upstream of the shock (the "sigma" problem), but it is not clear if, where and how this occurs. Fermi and AGILE have recently observed powerful gamma-ray flares from the Crab nebula, which challenge traditional models of acceleration at the termination shock. New simulations are revealing that magnetic reconnection may be instrumental in understanding the Crab flares and in resolving the "sigma" problem in pulsar wind nebulae.

  9. Strongly interacting matter in magnetic fields

    CERN Document Server

    Landsteiner, Karl; Schmitt, Andreas; Yee, Ho-Ung

    2013-01-01

    The physics of strongly interacting matter in an external magnetic field is presently emerging as a topic of great cross-disciplinary interest for particle, nuclear, astro- and condensed matter physicists. It is known that strong magnetic fields are created in heavy ion collisions, an insight that has made it possible to study a variety of surprising and intriguing phenomena that emerge from the interplay of quantum anomalies, the topology of non-Abelian gauge fields, and the magnetic field. In particular, the non-trivial topological configurations of the gluon field induce a non-dissipative electric current in the presence of a magnetic field. These phenomena have led to an extended formulation of relativistic hydrodynamics, called chiral magnetohydrodynamics. Hitherto unexpected applications in condensed matter physics include graphene and topological insulators. Other fields of application include astrophysics, where strong magnetic fields exist in magnetars and pulsars. Last but not least, an important ne...

  10. Matter and Radiation in Strong Magnetic Fields of Neutron Stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lai, D

    2006-01-01

    Neutron stars are found to possess magnetic fields ranging from 10 8 G to 10 15 G, much larger than achievable in terrestrial laboratories. Understanding the properties of matter and radiative transfer in strong magnetic fields is essential for the proper interpretation of various observations of magnetic neutron stars, including radio pulsars and magnetars. This paper reviews the atomic/molecular physics and condensed matter physics in strong magnetic fields, as well as recent works on modeling radiation from magnetized neutron star atmospheres/surface layers

  11. Pulsars and Acceleration Sites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harding, Alice

    2008-01-01

    Rotation-powered pulsars are excellent laboratories for the studying particle acceleration as well as fundamental physics of strong gravity, strong magnetic fields and relativity. But even forty years after their discovery, we still do not understand their pulsed emission at any wavelength. I will review both the basic physics of pulsars as well as the latest developments in understanding their high-energy emission. Special and general relativistic effects play important roles in pulsar emission, from inertial frame-dragging near the stellar surface to aberration, time-of-flight and retardation of the magnetic field near the light cylinder. Understanding how these effects determine what we observe at different wavelengths is critical to unraveling the emission physics. Fortunately the Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST), with launch in May 2008 will detect many new gamma-ray pulsars and test the predictions of these models with unprecedented sensitivity and energy resolution for gamma-rays in the range of 30 MeV to 300 GeV.

  12. Electromagnetic pulses in a strongly magnetized electron-positron plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu, M.Y.; Rao, N.N.

    1985-01-01

    The conditions for the existence of large-amplitude localized electromagnetic wave pulses in an electron-positron plasma penetrated by a very strong ambient magnetic field are obtained. It is shown that such pulses can exist in pulsar polar magnetospheres. 12 references

  13. Pulsar magnetic alignment. The drifting subpulses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jones, P.B.

    1977-01-01

    According to Ruderman and Sutherland (Ap.J.;196:51 (1975)) the subpulse drift observed in certain pulsars is a consequence of the circulation around the magnetic axis of electron-positron discharges occurring within an acceleration region near the polar cap. The predicted period of circulation P 3 is of the correct order of magnitude, but the sense of circulation and therefore the direction of subpulse drift is not consistent with indirect evidence, from observed integrated pulse widths, on the variation with pulsar age of the angle between the spin and magnetic axes. It is shown that this problem is resolved by a model of the acceleration electric field based on space charge limited ion flow. (author)

  14. Radio pulsar death lines to SGRs/AXPs and white dwarfs pulsars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lobato, Ronaldo V.; Malheiro, M. [Departamento de Física, Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica, ITA - DCTA, Vila das Acácias, São José dos Campos, 12228-900 SP (Brazil); Coelho, J. G. [INPE - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, Divisão de Astrofísica, Av. dos Astronautas 1758, São José dos Campos, 12227-010 SP (Brazil)

    2015-12-17

    Recently, an alternative model based on white dwarfs pulsars has been proposed to explain a class of pulsars known as Soft Gamma Repeaters (SGR) and Anomalus X-Ray Pulsars (AXP) [1], usually named as magnetars. In this model, the magnetized white dwarfs can have surface magnetic field B ∼ 10{sup 7} − 10{sup 10} G and rotate very fast with angular frequencies Ω ∼ 1 rad/s, allowing them to produce large electromagnetic (EM) potentials and generate electron-positron pairs. These EM potentials are comparable with the ones of neutron star pulsars with strong magnetic fields and even larger. In this study we consider two possible processes associated with the particle acceleration, both of them are common used to explain radio emission in neutron star pulsars: in the first process the pair production happens near to the star polar caps, i.e. inside of the light cylinder where magnetic field lines are closed; in the second one the creation of pair happens in the outer magnetosphere, i.e. far away of the star surface where magnetic field lines are open [2]. The analysis of the possibility of radio emission were done for 23 SGRs/AXPs of the McGill Online Magnetar Catalog [3] that contains the current information available on these sources. The results of this work show that the model where the particles production occur in the outer magnetosphere emission “o2” is the process compatible with the astronomical observations of absence of radio emission for almost all SGRs/AXPs when these sources are understood as white dwarf pulsars. Our work is a first attempted to find an explanation for the puzzle why for almost all the SGRs/AXPs was expected radio emission, but it was observed in only four of them. These four sources, as it was suggested recently [4], seem to belong to an high magnetic field neutron star pulsar category, different from all the others SGRs/AXPs that our work indicate to belong to a new class of white dwarf pulsars, very fast and magnetized.

  15. Evolution of the magnetic field structure of the Crab pulsar.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyne, Andrew; Graham-Smith, Francis; Weltevrede, Patrick; Jordan, Christine; Stappers, Ben; Bassa, Cees; Kramer, Michael

    2013-11-01

    Pulsars are highly magnetized rotating neutron stars and are well known for the stability of their signature pulse shapes, allowing high-precision studies of their rotation. However, during the past 22 years, the radio pulse profile of the Crab pulsar has shown a steady increase in the separation of the main pulse and interpulse components at 0.62° ± 0.03° per century. There are also secular changes in the relative strengths of several components of the profile. The changing component separation indicates that the axis of the dipolar magnetic field, embedded in the neutron star, is moving toward the stellar equator. This evolution of the magnetic field could explain why the pulsar does not spin down as expected from simple braking by a rotating dipolar magnetic field.

  16. Gravitational waves from pulsars in the context of magnetic ellipticity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Araujo, Jose C.N. de; Coelho, Jaziel G.; Costa, Cesar A. [Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, Divisao de Astrofisica, Sao Jose dos Campos, SP (Brazil)

    2017-05-15

    In one of our previous articles we have considered the role of a time dependent magnetic ellipticity on the pulsars' braking indices and on the putative gravitational waves these objects can emit. Since only nine of more than 2000 known pulsars have accurately measured braking indices, it is of interest to extend this study to all known pulsars, in particular as regards gravitational wave generation. To do so, as shown in our previous article, we need to know some pulsars' observable quantities such as: periods and their time derivatives, and estimated distances to the Earth. Moreover, we also need to know the pulsars' masses and radii, for which we are adopting current fiducial values. Our results show that the gravitational wave amplitude is at best h ∝ 10{sup -28}. This leads to a pessimistic prospect for the detection of gravitational waves generated by these pulsars, even for Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo, and the planned Einstein Telescope, if the ellipticity has a magnetic origin. (orig.)

  17. Gravitational waves from pulsars in the context of magnetic ellipticity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Araujo, Jose C.N. de; Coelho, Jaziel G.; Costa, Cesar A.

    2017-01-01

    In one of our previous articles we have considered the role of a time dependent magnetic ellipticity on the pulsars' braking indices and on the putative gravitational waves these objects can emit. Since only nine of more than 2000 known pulsars have accurately measured braking indices, it is of interest to extend this study to all known pulsars, in particular as regards gravitational wave generation. To do so, as shown in our previous article, we need to know some pulsars' observable quantities such as: periods and their time derivatives, and estimated distances to the Earth. Moreover, we also need to know the pulsars' masses and radii, for which we are adopting current fiducial values. Our results show that the gravitational wave amplitude is at best h ∝ 10 -28 . This leads to a pessimistic prospect for the detection of gravitational waves generated by these pulsars, even for Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo, and the planned Einstein Telescope, if the ellipticity has a magnetic origin. (orig.)

  18. DEEP X-RAY OBSERVATIONS OF THE YOUNG HIGH-MAGNETIC-FIELD RADIO PULSAR J1119-6127 AND SUPERNOVA REMNANT G292.2-0.5

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ng, C.-Y.; Kaspi, V. M. [Department of Physics, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2T8 (Canada); Ho, W. C. G. [School of Mathematics, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ (United Kingdom); Weltevrede, P. [Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, University of Manchester, Alan Turing Building, Manchester M13 9PL (United Kingdom); Bogdanov, S. [Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027 (United States); Shannon, R. [CSIRO Astronomy and Space Sciences, Australia Telescope National Facility, Marsfield, NSW 2210 (Australia); Gonzalez, M. E., E-mail: ncy@physics.mcgill.ca [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1 (Canada)

    2012-12-10

    High-magnetic-field radio pulsars are important transition objects for understanding the connection between magnetars and conventional radio pulsars. We present a detailed study of the young radio pulsar J1119-6127, which has a characteristic age of 1900 yr and a spin-down-inferred magnetic field of 4.1 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 13} G, and its associated supernova remnant G292.2-0.5, using deep XMM-Newton and Chandra X-ray Observatory exposures of over 120 ks from each telescope. The pulsar emission shows strong modulation below 2.5 keV with a single-peaked profile and a large pulsed fraction of 0.48 {+-} 0.12. Employing a magnetic, partially ionized hydrogen atmosphere model, we find that the observed pulse profile can be produced by a single hot spot of temperature 0.13 keV covering about one-third of the stellar surface, and we place an upper limit of 0.08 keV for an antipodal hot spot with the same area. The non-uniform surface temperature distribution could be the result of anisotropic heat conduction under a strong magnetic field, and a single-peaked profile seems common among high-B radio pulsars. For the associated remnant G292.2-0.5, its large diameter could be attributed to fast expansion in a low-density wind cavity, likely formed by a Wolf-Rayet progenitor, similar to two other high-B radio pulsars.

  19. Pulsar kicks with modified Urca and electrons in Landau levels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Henley, Ernest M.; Johnson, Mikkel B.; Kisslinger, Leonard S.

    2007-01-01

    We derive the energy asymmetry given the protoneutron star during the time when the neutrino sphere is near the surface of the protoneutron star, using the modified Urca process. The electrons produced with the antineutrinos are in Landau levels due to the strong magnetic field, and this leads to asymmetry in the neutrino momentum, and a pulsar kick. The magnetic field must be strong enough for a large fraction of the electrons to be in the lowest Landau level; however, there is no direct dependence of our pulsar velocity on the strength of the magnetic field. Our main prediction is that the large pulsar kicks start at about 10 s and last for about 10 s, with the corresponding neutrinos correlated with the direction of the magnetic field. We predict a pulsar velocity of 1.03x10 -4 (T/10 10 K) 7 km/s, which reaches 1000 km/s if T≅10 11 K

  20. Consequence of total lepton number violation in strongly magnetized iron white dwarfs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Belyaev, V.B. [Bogolyubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna 141980 (Russian Federation); Ricci, P. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Firenze, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Firenze) (Italy); Šimkovic, F. [Department of Nuclear Physics and Biophysics, Comenius University, Mlynská dolina F1, SK-842 15, Bratislava (Slovakia); Bogolyubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna 141980 (Russian Federation); Adam, J.; Tater, M. [Institute of Nuclear Physics ASCR, CZ-250 68 Řež (Czech Republic); Truhlík, E., E-mail: truhlik@ujf.cas.cz [Institute of Nuclear Physics ASCR, CZ-250 68 Řež (Czech Republic)

    2015-05-15

    The influence of a neutrinoless electron to positron conversion on a cooling of strongly magnetized iron white dwarfs is studied. It is shown that they can be good candidates for soft gamma-ray repeaters and anomalous X-ray pulsars.

  1. DEEP X-RAY OBSERVATIONS OF THE YOUNG HIGH-MAGNETIC-FIELD RADIO PULSAR J1119–6127 AND SUPERNOVA REMNANT G292.2–0.5

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ng, C.-Y.; Kaspi, V. M.; Ho, W. C. G.; Weltevrede, P.; Bogdanov, S.; Shannon, R.; Gonzalez, M. E.

    2012-01-01

    High-magnetic-field radio pulsars are important transition objects for understanding the connection between magnetars and conventional radio pulsars. We present a detailed study of the young radio pulsar J1119–6127, which has a characteristic age of 1900 yr and a spin-down-inferred magnetic field of 4.1 × 10 13 G, and its associated supernova remnant G292.2–0.5, using deep XMM-Newton and Chandra X-ray Observatory exposures of over 120 ks from each telescope. The pulsar emission shows strong modulation below 2.5 keV with a single-peaked profile and a large pulsed fraction of 0.48 ± 0.12. Employing a magnetic, partially ionized hydrogen atmosphere model, we find that the observed pulse profile can be produced by a single hot spot of temperature 0.13 keV covering about one-third of the stellar surface, and we place an upper limit of 0.08 keV for an antipodal hot spot with the same area. The non-uniform surface temperature distribution could be the result of anisotropic heat conduction under a strong magnetic field, and a single-peaked profile seems common among high-B radio pulsars. For the associated remnant G292.2–0.5, its large diameter could be attributed to fast expansion in a low-density wind cavity, likely formed by a Wolf-Rayet progenitor, similar to two other high-B radio pulsars.

  2. Toward an Empirical Theory of Pulsar Emission. XII. Exploring the Physical Conditions in Millisecond Pulsar Emission Regions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rankin, Joanna M.; Mitra, Dipanjan; Archibald, Anne; Hessels, Jason; Leeuwen, Joeri van; Ransom, Scott; Stairs, Ingrid; Straten, Willem van; Weisberg, Joel M.

    2017-01-01

    The five-component profile of the 2.7 ms pulsar J0337+1715 appears to exhibit the best example to date of a core/double-cone emission-beam structure in a millisecond pulsar (MSP). Moreover, three other MSPs, the binary pulsars B1913+16, B1953+29, and J1022+1001, seem to exhibit core/single-cone profiles. These configurations are remarkable and important because it has not been clear whether MSPs and slow pulsars exhibit similar emission-beam configurations, given that they have considerably smaller magnetospheric sizes and magnetic field strengths. MSPs thus provide an extreme context for studying pulsar radio emission. Particle currents along the magnetic polar flux tube connect processes just above the polar cap through the radio-emission region to the light-cylinder and the external environment. In slow pulsars, radio-emission heights are typically about 500 km around where the magnetic field is nearly dipolar, and estimates of the physical conditions there point to radiation below the plasma frequency and emission from charged solitons by the curvature process. We are able to estimate emission heights for the four MSPs and carry out a similar estimation of physical conditions in their much lower emission regions. We find strong evidence that MSPs also radiate by curvature emission from charged solitons.

  3. Toward an Empirical Theory of Pulsar Emission. XII. Exploring the Physical Conditions in Millisecond Pulsar Emission Regions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rankin, Joanna M.; Mitra, Dipanjan [Physics Department, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405 (United States); Archibald, Anne; Hessels, Jason; Leeuwen, Joeri van [Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam (Netherlands); Ransom, Scott [National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA 29201 (United States); Stairs, Ingrid [Physics Department, University of British Columbia, V6T 1Z4, BC (Canada); Straten, Willem van [Institute for Radio Astronomy and Space Research, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland 1142 (New Zealand); Weisberg, Joel M., E-mail: Joanna.Rankin@uvm.edu [Physics and Astronomy Department, Carleton College, Northfield, MN 55057 (United States)

    2017-08-10

    The five-component profile of the 2.7 ms pulsar J0337+1715 appears to exhibit the best example to date of a core/double-cone emission-beam structure in a millisecond pulsar (MSP). Moreover, three other MSPs, the binary pulsars B1913+16, B1953+29, and J1022+1001, seem to exhibit core/single-cone profiles. These configurations are remarkable and important because it has not been clear whether MSPs and slow pulsars exhibit similar emission-beam configurations, given that they have considerably smaller magnetospheric sizes and magnetic field strengths. MSPs thus provide an extreme context for studying pulsar radio emission. Particle currents along the magnetic polar flux tube connect processes just above the polar cap through the radio-emission region to the light-cylinder and the external environment. In slow pulsars, radio-emission heights are typically about 500 km around where the magnetic field is nearly dipolar, and estimates of the physical conditions there point to radiation below the plasma frequency and emission from charged solitons by the curvature process. We are able to estimate emission heights for the four MSPs and carry out a similar estimation of physical conditions in their much lower emission regions. We find strong evidence that MSPs also radiate by curvature emission from charged solitons.

  4. Pulsar Polar Cap and Slot Gap Models: Confronting Fermi Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harding, Alice K.

    2012-01-01

    Rotation-powered pulsars are excellent laboratories for studying particle acceleration as well as fundamental physics of strong gravity, strong magnetic fields and relativity. I will review acceleration and gamma-ray emission from the pulsar polar cap and slot gap. Predictions of these models can be tested with the data set on pulsars collected by the Large Area Telescope on the Fermi Gamma-Ray Telescope over the last four years, using both detailed light curve fitting and population synthesis.

  5. Nonlinear QED effects in X-ray emission of pulsars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shakeri, Soroush [Department of Physics, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Haghighat, Mansour [Department of Physics, Shiraz University, Shiraz 71946-84795 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Xue, She-Sheng, E-mail: Soroush.Shakeri@ph.iut.ac.ir, E-mail: m.haghighat@shirazu.ac.ir, E-mail: xue@icra.it [ICRANet, Piazzale della Repubblica 10, 65122, Pescara (Italy)

    2017-10-01

    In the presence of strong magnetic fields near pulsars, the QED vacuum becomes a birefringent medium due to nonlinear QED interactions. Here, we explore the impact of the effective photon-photon interaction on the polarization evolution of photons propagating through the magnetized QED vacuum of a pulsar. We solve the quantum Boltzmann equation within the framework of the Euler-Heisenberg Lagrangian to find the evolution of the Stokes parameters. We find that linearly polarized X-ray photons propagating outward in the magnetosphere of a rotating neutron star can acquire high values for the circular polarization parameter. Meanwhile, it is shown that the polarization characteristics of photons besides photon energy depend strongly on parameters of the pulsars such as magnetic field strength, inclination angle and rotational period. Our results are clear predictions of QED vacuum polarization effects in the near vicinity of magnetic stars which can be tested with the upcoming X-ray polarimetric observations.

  6. Pair plasma in pulsar magnetospheres

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Asseo, Estelle

    2003-01-01

    The main features of radiation received from pulsars imply that they are neutron stars which contain an extremely intense magnetic field and emit coherently in the radio domain. Most recent studies attribute the origin of the coherence to plasma instabilities arising in pulsar magnetospheres; they mainly concern the linear, or the nonlinear, character of the involved unstable waves. We briefly introduce radio pulsars and specify physical conditions in pulsar emission regions: geometrical properties, magnetic field, pair creation processes and repartition of relativistic charged particles. We point to the main ingredients of the linear theory, extensively explored since the 1970s: (i) a dispersion relation specific to the pulsar case; (ii) the characteristics of the waves able to propagate in relativistic pulsar plasmas; (iii) the different ways in which a two-humped distribution of particles may arise in a pulsar magnetosphere and favour the development of a two-stream instability. We sum up recent improvements of the linear theory: (i) the determination of a 'coupling function' responsible for high values of the wave field components and electromagnetic energy available; (ii) the obtention of new dispersion relations for actually anisotropic pulsar plasmas with relativistic motions and temperatures; (iii) the interaction between a plasma and a beam, both with relativistic motions and temperatures; (iv) the interpretation of observed 'coral' and 'conal' features, associated with the presence of boundaries and curved magnetic field lines in the emission region; (v) the detailed topology of the magnetic field in the different parts of the emission region and its relation to models recently proposed to interpret drifting subpulses observed from PSR 0943+10, showing 20 sub-beams of emission. We relate the nonlinear evolution of the two-stream instability and development of strong turbulence in relativistic pulsar plasmas to the emergence of relativistic solitons, able

  7. Dielectric response of a relativistic degenerate electron plasma in a strong magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Delsante, A.E.; Frankel, N.E.

    1979-01-01

    The longitudinal dielectric response of a relativistic ultradegenerate electron plasma in a strong magnetic field is obtained via a relativistic generalization of the Hartree self-consistent field method. Dispersion relations and damping conditions for plasma oscillations both parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field are obtained. Detailed results for the zero-field case, and applications to white dwarf stars and pulsars are given

  8. Turbulent Magnetic Relaxation in Pulsar Wind Nebulae

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zrake, Jonathan; Arons, Jonathan

    2017-09-01

    We present a model for magnetic energy dissipation in a pulsar wind nebula. A better understanding of this process is required to assess the likelihood that certain astrophysical transients may be powered by the spin-down of a “millisecond magnetar.” Examples include superluminous supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, and anticipated electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave detections of binary neutron star coalescence. Our model leverages recent progress in the theory of turbulent magnetic relaxation to specify a dissipative closure of the stationary magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) wind equations, yielding predictions of the magnetic energy dissipation rate throughout the nebula. Synchrotron losses are self-consistently treated. To demonstrate the model’s efficacy, we show that it can reproduce many features of the Crab Nebula, including its expansion speed, radiative efficiency, peak photon energy, and mean magnetic field strength. Unlike ideal MHD models of the Crab (which lead to the so-called σ-problem), our model accounts for the transition from ultra to weakly magnetized plasma flow and for the associated heating of relativistic electrons. We discuss how the predicted heating rates may be utilized to improve upon models of particle transport and acceleration in pulsar wind nebulae. We also discuss implications for the Crab Nebula’s γ-ray flares, and point out potential modifications to models of astrophysical transients invoking the spin-down of a millisecond magnetar.

  9. Turbulent Magnetic Relaxation in Pulsar Wind Nebulae

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zrake, Jonathan [Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (United States); Arons, Jonathan [Astronomy Department and Theoretical Astrophysics Center, University of California, Berkeley, 601 Campbell Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)

    2017-09-20

    We present a model for magnetic energy dissipation in a pulsar wind nebula. A better understanding of this process is required to assess the likelihood that certain astrophysical transients may be powered by the spin-down of a “millisecond magnetar.” Examples include superluminous supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, and anticipated electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave detections of binary neutron star coalescence. Our model leverages recent progress in the theory of turbulent magnetic relaxation to specify a dissipative closure of the stationary magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) wind equations, yielding predictions of the magnetic energy dissipation rate throughout the nebula. Synchrotron losses are self-consistently treated. To demonstrate the model’s efficacy, we show that it can reproduce many features of the Crab Nebula, including its expansion speed, radiative efficiency, peak photon energy, and mean magnetic field strength. Unlike ideal MHD models of the Crab (which lead to the so-called σ -problem), our model accounts for the transition from ultra to weakly magnetized plasma flow and for the associated heating of relativistic electrons. We discuss how the predicted heating rates may be utilized to improve upon models of particle transport and acceleration in pulsar wind nebulae. We also discuss implications for the Crab Nebula’s γ -ray flares, and point out potential modifications to models of astrophysical transients invoking the spin-down of a millisecond magnetar.

  10. CHANDRA OBSERVATIONS OF THE HIGH-MAGNETIC-FIELD RADIO PULSAR J1718-3718

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu, W. W.; Kaspi, V. M.; Ng, C.-Y.; McLaughlin, M. A.; Pavlov, G. G.; Manchester, R. N.; Gaensler, B. M.; Woods, P. M.

    2011-01-01

    High-magnetic-field pulsars represent an important class of objects for studying the relationship between magnetars and radio pulsars. Here we report on four Chandra observations of the high-magnetic-field pulsar J1718-3718 (B = 7.4 x 10 13 G) taken in 2009 as well as a reanalysis of 2002 Chandra observations of the region. We also report an improved radio position for this pulsar based on ATCA observations. We detect X-ray pulsations at the pulsar's period in the 2009 data, with a pulsed fraction of 52% ± 13% in the 0.8-2.0 keV band. We find that the X-ray pulse is aligned with the radio pulse. The data from 2002 and 2009 show consistent spectra and fluxes: a merged overall spectrum is well fit by a blackbody of temperature 186 +19 -18 eV, slightly higher than predicted by standard cooling models; however, the best-fit neutron star atmosphere model is consistent with standard cooling. We find the bolometric luminosity L ∞ bb = 4 +5 -2 x 10 32 erg s -1 ∼0.3 E-dot for a distance of 4.5 kpc. We compile measurements of the temperatures of all X-ray-detected high-B pulsars as well as those of low-B radio pulsars and find evidence for the former being hotter on average than the latter.

  11. Magnetic absorption of VHE photons in the magnetosphere of the Crab pulsar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bogovalov, S. V.; Contopoulos, I.; Prosekin, A.; Tronin, I.; Aharonian, F. A.

    2018-05-01

    The detection of the pulsed ˜1 TeV gamma-ray emission from the Crab pulsar reported by MAGIC and VERITAS collaborations demands a substantial revision of existing models of particle acceleration in the pulsar magnetosphere. In this regard model independent restrictions on the possible production site of the very high energy (VHE) photons become an important issue. In this paper, we consider limitations imposed by the process of conversion of VHE gamma-rays into e± pairs in the magnetic field of the pulsar magnetosphere. Photons with energies exceeding 1 TeV are effectively absorbed even at large distances from the surface of the neutron star. Our calculations of magnetic absorption in the force-free magnetosphere show that the twisting of the magnetic field due to the pulsar rotation makes the magnetosphere more transparent compared to the dipole magnetosphere. The gamma-ray absorption appears stronger for photons emitted in the direction of rotation than in the opposite direction. There is a small angular cone inside which the magnetosphere is relatively transparent and photons with energy 1.5 TeV can escape from distances beyond 0.1 light cylinder radius (Rlc). The emission surface from where photons can be emitted in the observer's direction further restricts the sites of VHE gamma-ray production. For the observation angle 57° relative to the Crab pulsar axis of rotation and the orthogonal rotation, the emission surface in the open field line region is located as close as 0.4 Rlc from the stellar surface for a dipole magnetic field, and 0.1 Rlc for a force-free magnetic field.

  12. Pulsars

    CERN Document Server

    Smith, Francis Graham

    1977-01-01

    The discovery of the pulsars ; techniques for search and for observation ; the identification with rotating neutron stars ; the X-ray pulsars ; the internal structure of neutron stars ; the magnetosphere of neutron stars ; pulse timing ; properties of the integrated radio pulses ; individual radio pulses ; the Crab nebula ; the Crab pulsar ; the interstellar medium as an indicator of pulsar distances ; the interstellar magnetic field ; interstellar scintillation ; radiation processes ; the emission mechanism I : analysis of observed particles ; the emission mechanism II : geometrical considerations ; the emission mechanism : discussion ; supernovae : the origin of the pulsars ; the distribution and the ages of pulsars ; high energies and condensed stars.

  13. A Laminar Model for the Magnetic Field Structure in Bow-Shock Pulsar Wind Nebulae

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bucciantini, N.

    2018-05-01

    Bow Shock Pulsar Wind Nebulae are a class of non-thermal sources, that form when the wind of a pulsar moving at supersonic speed interacts with the ambient medium, either the ISM or in a few cases the cold ejecta of the parent supernova. These systems have attracted attention in recent years, because they allow us to investigate the properties of the pulsar wind in a different environment from that of canonical Pulsar Wind Nebulae in Supernova Remnants. However, due to the complexity of the interaction, a full-fledged multidimensional analysis is still laking. We present here a simplified approach, based on Lagrangian tracers, to model the magnetic field structure in these systems, and use it to compute the magnetic field geometry, for various configurations in terms of relative orientation of the magnetic axis, pulsar speed and observer direction. Based on our solutions we have computed a set of radio emission maps, including polarization, to investigate the variety of possible appearances, and how the observed emission pattern can be used to constrain the orientation of the system, and the possible presence of turbulence.

  14. THE PECULIAR PULSAR POPULATION OF THE CENTRAL PARSEC

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dexter, Jason; O' Leary, Ryan M., E-mail: jdexter@berkeley.edu, E-mail: oleary@berkeley.edu [Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411 (United States)

    2014-03-01

    Pulsars orbiting the Galactic center black hole, Sgr A*, would be potential probes of its mass, distance, and spin, and may even be used to test general relativity. Despite predictions of large populations of both ordinary and millisecond pulsars in the Galactic center, none have been detected within 25 pc by deep radio surveys. One explanation has been that hyperstrong temporal scattering prevents pulsar detections, but the recent discovery of radio pulsations from a highly magnetized neutron star (magnetar) within 0.1 pc shows that the temporal scattering is much weaker than predicted. We argue that an intrinsic deficit in the ordinary pulsar population is the most likely reason for the lack of detections to date: a ''missing pulsar problem'' in the Galactic center. In contrast, we show that the discovery of a single magnetar implies efficient magnetar formation in the region. If the massive stars in the central parsec form magnetars rather than ordinary pulsars, their short lifetimes could explain the missing pulsars. Efficient magnetar formation could be caused by strongly magnetized progenitors, or could be further evidence of a top-heavy initial mass function. Furthermore, current high-frequency surveys should already be able to detect bright millisecond pulsars, given the measured degree of temporal scattering.

  15. Pulsar Pair Cascades in Magnetic Fields with Offset Polar Caps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harding, Alice K.; Muslimov, Alex G.

    2012-01-01

    Neutron star magnetic fields may have polar caps (PC) that are offset from the dipole axis, through field-line sweepback near the light cylinder or non-symmetric currents within the star. The effects of such offsets on electron-positron pair cascades are investigated, using simple models of dipole magnetic fields with small distortions that shift the PCs by different amounts or directions. Using a Monte Carlo pair cascade simulation, we explore the changes in the pair spectrum, multiplicity and energy flux across the PC, as well as the trends in pair flux and pair energy flux with spin-down luminosity, L(sub sd). We also give an estimate of the distribution of heating flux from returning positrons on the PC for different offsets. We find that even modest offsets can produce significant increases in pair multiplicity, especially for pulsars that are near or beyond the pair death lines for centered PCs, primarily because of higher accelerating fields. Pair spectra cover several decades in energy, with the spectral range of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) two orders of magnitude higher than for normal pulsars, and PC offsets allow significant extension of all spectra to lower pair energies. We find that the total PC pair luminosity L(sub pair) is proportional to L(sub sd), with L(sub pair) approximates 10(exp -3) L(sub sd) for normal pulsars and L(sub pair) approximates 10(exp -2) L(sub sd) for MSPs. Remarkably, the total PC heating luminosity for even large offsets increases by less than a factor of two, even though the PC area increases by much larger factors, because most of the heating occurs near the magnetic axis.

  16. Global Current Circuit Structure in a Resistive Pulsar Magnetosphere Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kato, Yugo. E.

    2017-12-01

    Pulsar magnetospheres have strong magnetic fields and large amounts of plasma. The structures of these magnetospheres are studied using force-free electrodynamics. To understand pulsar magnetospheres, discussions must include their outer region. However, force-free electrodynamics is limited in it does not handle dissipation. Therefore, a resistive pulsar magnetic field model is needed. To break the ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) condition E\\cdot B=0, Ohm’s law is used. This work introduces resistivity depending upon the distance from the star and obtain a self-consistent steady state by time integration. Poloidal current circuits form in the magnetosphere while the toroidal magnetic field region expands beyond the light cylinder and the Poynting flux radiation appears. High electric resistivity causes a large space scale poloidal current circuit and the magnetosphere radiates a larger Poynting flux than the linear increase outside of the light cylinder radius. The formed poloidal-current circuit has width, which grows with the electric conductivity. This result contributes to a more concrete dissipative pulsar magnetosphere model.

  17. Not an Oxymoron: Some X-ray Binary Pulsars with Enormous Spinup Rates Reveal Weak Magnetic Fields

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christodoulou, D. M.; Laycock, S. G. T.; Kazanas, D.

    2018-05-01

    Three high-mass X-ray binaries have been discovered recently exhibiting enormous spinup rates. Conventional accretion theory predicts extremely high surface dipolar magnetic fields that we believe are unphysical. Instead, we propose quite the opposite scenario: some of these pulsars exhibit weak magnetic fields, so much so that their magnetospheres are crushed by the weight of inflowing matter. The enormous spinup rate is achieved before inflowing matter reaches the pulsar's surface as the penetrating inner disk transfers its excess angular momentum to the receding magnetosphere which, in turn, applies a powerful spinup torque to the pulsar. This mechanism also works in reverse: it spins a pulsar down when the magnetosphere expands beyond corotation and finds itself rotating faster than the accretion disk which then exerts a powerful retarding torque to the magnetic field and to the pulsar itself. The above scenaria cannot be accommodated within the context of neutron-star accretion processes occurring near spin equilibrium, thus they constitute a step toward a new theory of extreme (far from equilibrium) accretion phenomena.

  18. Pulsar kicks from majoron emission

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Farzan, Yasaman; Gelmini, Graciela; Kusenko, Alexander

    2005-01-01

    We show that majoron emission from a hot nascent neutron star can be anisotropic in the presence of a strong magnetic field. If majorons carry a non-negligible fraction of the supernova energy, the resulting recoil velocity of a neutron star can explain the observed velocities of pulsars

  19. Pulsar Polar Cap and Slot Gap Models: Confronting Fermi Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alice K. Harding

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Rotation-powered pulsars are excellent laboratories for studying particle acceleration as well as fundamental physics of strong gravity, strong magnetic fields and relativity. Particle acceleration and high-energy emission from the polar caps is expected to occur in connection with electron-positron pair cascades. I will review acceleration and gamma-ray emission from the pulsar polar cap and associated slot gap. Predictions of these models can be tested with the data set on pulsars collected by the Large Area Telescope on the Fermi Gamma-Ray Telescope over the last four years, using both detailed light curve fitting, population synthesis and phase-resolved spectroscopy.

  20. REPEATING FAST RADIO BURSTS FROM HIGHLY MAGNETIZED PULSARS TRAVELING THROUGH ASTEROID BELTS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dai, Z. G.; Wang, J. S.; Huang, Y. F.; Wu, X. F.

    2016-01-01

    Very recently, Spitler et al. and Scholz et al. reported their detections of 16 additional bright bursts in the direction of the fast radio burst (FRB) 121102. This repeating FRB is inconsistent with all of the catastrophic event models put forward previously for hypothetically non-repeating FRBs. Here, we propose a different model, in which highly magnetized pulsars travel through the asteroid belts of other stars. We show that a repeating FRB could originate from such a pulsar encountering a large number of asteroids in the belt. During each pulsar-asteroid impact, an electric field induced outside of the asteroid has such a large component parallel to the stellar magnetic field that electrons are torn off the asteroidal surface and accelerated to ultra-relativistic energies instantaneously. The subsequent movement of these electrons along magnetic field lines will cause coherent curvature radiation, which can account for all of the properties of an FRB. In addition, this model can self-consistently explain the typical duration, luminosity, and repetitive rate of the 17 bursts of FRB 121102. The predicted occurrence rate of repeating FRB sources may imply that our model would be testable in the next few years.

  1. REPEATING FAST RADIO BURSTS FROM HIGHLY MAGNETIZED PULSARS TRAVELING THROUGH ASTEROID BELTS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dai, Z. G.; Wang, J. S.; Huang, Y. F. [School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China); Wu, X. F., E-mail: dzg@nju.edu.cn [Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008 (China)

    2016-09-20

    Very recently, Spitler et al. and Scholz et al. reported their detections of 16 additional bright bursts in the direction of the fast radio burst (FRB) 121102. This repeating FRB is inconsistent with all of the catastrophic event models put forward previously for hypothetically non-repeating FRBs. Here, we propose a different model, in which highly magnetized pulsars travel through the asteroid belts of other stars. We show that a repeating FRB could originate from such a pulsar encountering a large number of asteroids in the belt. During each pulsar-asteroid impact, an electric field induced outside of the asteroid has such a large component parallel to the stellar magnetic field that electrons are torn off the asteroidal surface and accelerated to ultra-relativistic energies instantaneously. The subsequent movement of these electrons along magnetic field lines will cause coherent curvature radiation, which can account for all of the properties of an FRB. In addition, this model can self-consistently explain the typical duration, luminosity, and repetitive rate of the 17 bursts of FRB 121102. The predicted occurrence rate of repeating FRB sources may imply that our model would be testable in the next few years.

  2. Confinement of the crab pulsar's wind by its supernova remnant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kennel, C.F.; Coroniti, F.V.

    1984-01-01

    We construct a steady state, spherically symmetric, magnetohydrodynamic model of the Crab nebual. A highly relativistic, positronic pulsar wind is terminated by a strong MHD shock that decelerates the flow and increases its pressure to match boundary conditions imposed by the recently discovered supernova remnant that surrounds the nebula. If the magnetic luminosity of the pulsar wind upsteam of the shock is about 0.3% of its particle luminosity, the pressure and velocity boundary conditions imposed by the remnant place the shock where we infer it to be; near the outer boundary of an underluminous region observed to surround the pulsar. It is necessary to include the weak magnetization of the wind to satisfy the boundary conditions and to calculate the nebular synchrotron radiation self-consistently

  3. Do we see accreting magnetars in X-ray pulsars?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Postnov K.A.

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Strong magnetic field of accreting neutron stars (1014 G is hard to probe by Xray spectroscopy but can be indirectly inferred from spin-up/spin-down measurement in X-ray pulsars. The existing observations of slowly rotating X-ray pulsars are discussed. It is shown that magnetic fields of neutron stars derived from these observations (or lower limits in some cases fall within the standard 1012-1013 G range. Claims about the evidence for accreting magnetars are critically discussed in the light of recent progress in understanding of accretion onto slowly rotating neutron stars in the subsonic regime.

  4. A transient, flat spectrum radio pulsar near the Galactic Centre

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dexter, J.; Degenaar, N.; Kerr, M.; Deller, A.; Deneva, J.; Lazarus, P.; Kramer, M.; Champion, D.; Karuppusamy, R.

    2017-06-01

    Recent studies have shown possible connections between highly magnetized neutron stars ('magnetars'), whose X-ray emission is too bright to be powered by rotational energy, and ordinary radio pulsars. In addition to the magnetar SGR J1745-2900, one of the radio pulsars in the Galactic Centre (GC) region, PSR J1746-2850, had timing properties implying a large magnetic field strength and young age, as well as a flat spectrum. All characteristics are similar to those of rare, transient, radio-loud magnetars. Using several deep non-detections from the literature and two new detections, we show that this pulsar is also transient in the radio. Both the flat spectrum and large amplitude variability are inconsistent with the light curves and spectral indices of three radio pulsars with high magnetic field strengths. We further use frequent, deep archival imaging observations of the GC in the past 15 yr to rule out a possible X-ray outburst with a luminosity exceeding the rotational spin-down rate. This source, either a transient magnetar without any detected X-ray counterpart or a young, strongly magnetized radio pulsar producing magnetar-like radio emission, further blurs the line between the two categories. We discuss the implications of this object for the radio emission mechanism in magnetars and for star and compact object formation in the GC.

  5. Particle acceleration in pulsar magnetospheres

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baker, K.B.

    1978-10-01

    The structure of pulsar magnetospheres and the acceleration mechanism for charged particles in the magnetosphere was studied, using a pulsar model which required large acceleration of the particles near the surface of the star. A theorem was developed which showed that particle acceleration cannot be expected when the angle between the magnetic field lines and the rotation axis is constant (e.g. radial field lines). If this angle is not constant, however, acceleration must occur. The more realistic model of an axisymmetric neutron star with a strong dipole magnetic field aligned with the rotation axis was investigated. In this case, acceleration occurred at large distances from the surface of the star. The magnitude of the current can be determined using the model presented. In the case of nonaxisymmetric systems, the acceleration is expected to occur nearer to the surface of the star

  6. Coherent radiation from pulsars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cox, J.L. Jr.

    1979-01-01

    Interaction between a relativistic electrom stream and a plasma under conditions believed to exist in pulsar magnetospheres is shown to result in the simultaneous emission of coherent curvature radiation at radio wavelengths and incoherent curvature radiation at X-ray wavelengths from the same spatial volume. It is found that such a stream can propagate through a plasma parallel to a very strong magnetic field only if its length is less than a critical length L/sub asterisk/ic. Charge induced in the plasma by the stream co-moves with the stream and has the same limitation in longitudinal extent. The resultant charge bunching is sufficient to cause the relatively low energy plasma particles to radiate at radio wavelengths coherently while the relatively high energy stream particles radiate at X-ray wavelengths incoherently as the stream-plasma system moves along curved magnetic field lines. The effective number of coherently radiating particles per bunch is estimated to be approx.10 14 --10 15 for a tupical pulsar

  7. Propagation of microwaves in pulsar magnetospheres

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bodo, G; Ferrari, A [Turin Univ. (Italy). Ist. di Fisica Generale; Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Turin (Italy). Lab. di Cosmo-Geofisica); Massaglia, S [Turin Univ. (Italy). Ist. di Fisica Generale; Cambridge Univ. (UK). Inst. of Astronomy)

    1981-12-01

    We discuss the dispersion relation of linearly-polarized waves, propagating along a strong background magnetic field embedded in an electron-positron plasma. The results are then applied to the study of the propagation conditions of coherent curvature radio radiation inside neutron stars magnetospheres, as produced by electric discharges following current pulsar models.

  8. An X-ray Pulsar with a Superstrong Magnetic Field in the Soft Gamma-Ray Repeater SGR1806-20

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kouveliotou, C.; Dieters, S.; Strohmayer, T.; vanParadijs, J.; Fishman, G. J.; Meegan, C. A.; Hurley, K.; Kommers, J.; Smith, I.; Frail, D.; hide

    1998-01-01

    Soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) emit multiple, brief (approximately O.1 s) intense outbursts of low-energy gamma-rays. They are extremely rare; three are known in our galaxy and one in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Two SGRs are associated with young supernova remnants (SNRs), and therefore most probably with neutron stars, but it remains a puzzle why SGRs are so different from 'normal' radio pulsars. Here we report the discovery of pulsations in the persistent X-ray flux of SGR1806-20, with a period of 7.47 s and a spindown rate of 2.6 x 10(exp -3) s/yr. We argue that the spindown is due to magnetic dipole emission and find that the pulsar age and (dipolar) magnetic field strength are approximately 1500 years and 8 x 10(exp 14) gauss, respectively. Our observations demonstrate the existence of 'magnetars', neutron stars with magnetic fields about 100 times stronger than those of radio pulsars, and support earlier suggestions that SGR bursts are caused by neutron-star 'crust-quakes' produced by magnetic stresses. The 'magnetar' birth rate is about one per millenium, a substantial fraction of that of radio pulsars. Thus our results may explain why some SNRs have no radio pulsars.

  9. Physical conditions in the reconnection layer in pulsar magnetospheres

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Uzdensky, Dmitri A. [Center for Integrated Plasma Studies, Physics Department, University of Colorado, UCB 390, Boulder, CO 80309-0390 (United States); Spitkovsky, Anatoly, E-mail: uzdensky@colorado.edu, E-mail: anatoly@astro.princeton.edu [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States)

    2014-01-01

    The magnetosphere of a rotating pulsar naturally develops a current sheet (CS) beyond the light cylinder (LC). Magnetic reconnection in this CS inevitably dissipates a nontrivial fraction of the pulsar spin-down power within a few LC radii. We develop a basic physical picture of reconnection in this environment and discuss its implications for the observed pulsed gamma-ray emission. We argue that reconnection proceeds in the plasmoid-dominated regime, via a hierarchical chain of multiple secondary islands/flux ropes. The inter-plasmoid reconnection layers are subject to strong synchrotron cooling, leading to significant plasma compression. Using the conditions of pressure balance across these current layers, the balance between the heating by magnetic energy dissipation and synchrotron cooling, and Ampere's law, we obtain simple estimates for key parameters of the layers—temperature, density, and layer thickness. In the comoving frame of the relativistic pulsar wind just outside of the equatorial CS, these basic parameters are uniquely determined by the strength of the reconnecting upstream magnetic field. For the case of the Crab pulsar, we find them to be of order 10 GeV, 10{sup 13} cm{sup –3}, and 10 cm, respectively. After accounting for the bulk Doppler boosting due to the pulsar wind, the synchrotron and inverse-Compton emission from the reconnecting CS can explain the observed pulsed high-energy (GeV) and very high energy (∼100 GeV) radiation, respectively. Also, we suggest that the rapid relative motions of the secondary plasmoids in the hierarchical chain may contribute to the production of the pulsar radio emission.

  10. The Bursting Pulsar GRO J1744-28: the Slowest Transitional Pulsar?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Court, J. M. C.; Altamirano, D.; Sanna, A.

    2018-04-01

    GRO J1744-28 (the Bursting Pulsar) is a neutron star LMXB which shows highly structured X-ray variability near the end of its X-ray outbursts. In this letter we show that this variability is analogous to that seen in Transitional Millisecond Pulsars such as PSR J1023+0038: `missing link' systems consisting of a pulsar nearing the end of its recycling phase. As such, we show that the Bursting Pulsar may also be associated with this class of objects. We discuss the implications of this scenario; in particular, we discuss the fact that the Bursting Pulsar has a significantly higher spin period and magnetic field than any other known Transitional Pulsar. If the Bursting Pulsar is indeed transitional, then this source opens a new window of oppurtunity to test our understanding of these systems in an entirely unexplored physical regime.

  11. A strong magnetic field around the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Galaxy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eatough, R P; Falcke, H; Karuppusamy, R; Lee, K J; Champion, D J; Keane, E F; Desvignes, G; Schnitzeler, D H F M; Spitler, L G; Kramer, M; Klein, B; Bassa, C; Bower, G C; Brunthaler, A; Cognard, I; Deller, A T; Demorest, P B; Freire, P C C; Kraus, A; Lyne, A G; Noutsos, A; Stappers, B; Wex, N

    2013-09-19

    Earth's nearest candidate supermassive black hole lies at the centre of the Milky Way. Its electromagnetic emission is thought to be powered by radiatively inefficient accretion of gas from its environment, which is a standard mode of energy supply for most galactic nuclei. X-ray measurements have already resolved a tenuous hot gas component from which the black hole can be fed. The magnetization of the gas, however, which is a crucial parameter determining the structure of the accretion flow, remains unknown. Strong magnetic fields can influence the dynamics of accretion, remove angular momentum from the infalling gas, expel matter through relativistic jets and lead to synchrotron emission such as that previously observed. Here we report multi-frequency radio measurements of a newly discovered pulsar close to the Galactic Centre and show that the pulsar's unusually large Faraday rotation (the rotation of the plane of polarization of the emission in the presence of an external magnetic field) indicates that there is a dynamically important magnetic field near the black hole. If this field is accreted down to the event horizon it provides enough magnetic flux to explain the observed emission--from radio to X-ray wavelengths--from the black hole.

  12. Pulsar slow-down epochs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heintzmann, H.; Novello, M.

    1981-01-01

    The relative importance of magnetospheric currents and low frequency waves for pulsar braking is assessed and a model is developed which tries to account for the available pulsar timing data under the unifying aspect that all pulsars have equal masses and magnetic moments and are born as rapid rotators. Four epochs of slow-down are distinguished which are dominated by different braking mechanisms. According to the model no direct relationship exists between 'slow-down age' and true age of a pulsar and leads to a pulsar birth-rate of one event per hundred years. (Author) [pt

  13. Pulsar magnetospheres

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kennel, C.F.; Fujimura, F.S.; Pellat, R.

    1979-01-01

    The structure of both the interior and exterior pulsar magnetospehere depends upon the strength of its plasma source near the surface of the star. We review magnetospheric models in the light of a vacuum pair-production source model proposed by Sturrock, and Ruderman and Sutherland. This model predicts the existence of a cutoff, determined by the neutron star's spin rate and magnetic field strength, beyond which coherent radio emission is no longer possible. The observed distribution of pulsar spin periods and period derivates, and the distribution of pulsars with missing radio pulses, is quantitatively consistent with the pair production threshold, when its variation of neutron star radius and moment of interia with mass is taken into account. All neutron stars observed as pulsars can have relativistic magneto-hydrodynamic wind exterior magnetospheres. The properties of the wind can be directly related to those of the pair production source. Radio pulsars cannot have relativistic plasma wave exterior magnetospheres. On the other hand, most erstwhile pulsars in the galaxy are probably halo objects that emit weak fluxes of energetic photons that can have relativistic wave exterior magnetospheres. Extinct pulsars have not been yet observed. (orig.)

  14. Polarimetric Evidence of the First White Dwarf Pulsar: The Binary System AR Scorpii

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David A.H. Buckley

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The binary star AR Scorpii was recently discovered to exhibit high amplitude coherent variability across the electromagnetic spectrum (ultraviolet to radio at two closely spaced ∼2 min periods, attributed to the spin period of a white dwarf and the beat period. There is strong evidence (low X-ray luminosity, lack of flickering and absense of broad emission lines that AR Sco is a detached non-accreting system whose luminosity is dominated by the spin-down power of a white dwarf, due to magnetohydrodynamical (MHD interactions with its M5 companion. Optical polarimetry has revealed highly pulsed linear polarization on the same periods, reaching a maximum of 40%, consistent with a pulsar-like dipole, with the Stokes Q and U variations reminiscent of the Crab pulsar. These observations, coupled with the spectral energy distribution (SED which is dominated by non-thermal emission, characteristic of synchrotron emission, support the notion that a strongly magnetic (∼200 MG white dwarf is behaving like a pulsar, whose magnetic field interacts with the secondary star’s photosphere and magnetosphere. Radio synchrotron emission is produced from the pumping action of the white dwarf’s magnetic field on coronal loops from the M-star companion, while emission at high frequencies (UV/optical/X-ray comes from the particle wind, driven by large electric potential, again reminiscent of processes seen in neutron star pulsars.

  15. Pulsar wind model for the spin-down behavior of intermittent pulsars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, L.; Tong, H.; Yan, W. M.; Yuan, J. P.; Wang, N. [Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830011 (China); Xu, R. X., E-mail: tonghao@xao.ac.cn [School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing (China)

    2014-06-10

    Intermittent pulsars are part-time radio pulsars. They have higher slow down rates in the on state (radio-loud) than in the off state (radio-quiet). This gives evidence that particle wind may play an important role in pulsar spindown. The effect of particle acceleration is included in modeling the rotational energy loss rate of the neutron star. Applying the pulsar wind model to the three intermittent pulsars (PSR B1931+24, PSR J1841–0500, and PSR J1832+0029) allows their magnetic fields and inclination angles to be calculated simultaneously. The theoretical braking indices of intermittent pulsars are also given. In the pulsar wind model, the density of the particle wind can always be the Goldreich-Julian density. This may ensure that different on states of intermittent pulsars are stable. The duty cycle of particle wind can be determined from timing observations. It is consistent with the duty cycle of the on state. Inclination angle and braking index observations of intermittent pulsars may help to test different models of particle acceleration. At present, the inverse Compton scattering induced space charge limited flow with field saturation model can be ruled out.

  16. Pulsars today

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Graham-Smith, F.

    1990-01-01

    The theory concerning pulsars is reviewed, with particular attention to possible evolution, life cycle, and rejuvenation of these bodies. Quantum liquids, such as neutron superfluids, and evidence for the existence of superfluid vortices and other internal phenomena are considered with particular attention to the Crab pulsar. Rate of change of the rotation rate is measured and analyzed for the Crab pulsar and the implications of deviations in the pulse times from those of a perfect rotator are examined. Glitches, the sudden increase in rotation rate of a pulsar that has previously exhibited a steady slowdown, are discussed and it is suggested that the movement of the superfluid core relative to the crust is responsible for this phenomenon. It is noted that radio waves from pulsars can be used to determine the intensity and structure of interplanetary and interstellar gas turbulence and to provide a direct measure of the strength of the interstellar magnetic field

  17. Dependence of spectrum on period and twist effect of the pulsars magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shitov, Yu.P.

    1983-01-01

    The analysis of flux depsities at 102, 408 and 2700 MHz shows that the mean spectral radio luminosity of pUlsars anti Lsub(ν) depends on their period P. The radio luminosity on the average, decreases with the increasing period at all three freqUercies. The character and power of the period dependence anti Lsub(ν)(P) are different at different freqUencies caUsing the corresponding period dependence of the mean radio spectrUm and, particularly, of the spectral index anti αsub(1-4)(102-408 MHz), anti αsub(1-4)(P) varies as Psup(1.7) for P 408 (P) varies as Psup(-1.3) in the period interval 0.3 408 and the period derivatives P, between αsub(1-4) and P. In this connection, the arthor draws the conclusion that period dependences of the spectral radio luminosity and of the spectrum of pulsars are caused by geometrical factors. Quantitative estimates show that the twist effect of magnetic field lines caused by the reaction of magnetic-dipole radiation may be such a geometrical factor, which increases the field line curvatUre (as compared to the dipole field). The twist curvature rhosub(rot)sup(-1) varies as PsUp(-3)xrsup(2) (r is the radial distance from a star) causes the observed period dependence anti Lsub(ν)(P) owing to the curvature emission mechanism. The twist effect of the magnetic field gives the possibility to estimate height levels r of the radio emission regions in a pulsar from the observed function anti Lsub(π)(P). At 408 MHz for an ''average statistic'' pulsar with P> or approximately 0.3 s the level r 408 =1x10 9 cm

  18. Gamma-ray pulsars and Geminga

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruderman, M.; Halpern, J.P.; Chen, K.; Cheng, K.S.

    1992-01-01

    Observed properties of γ-ray pulsars are related to those of the accelerators which power their radiation. It is argued that the relatively slowly spinning Geminga is a strong γ-ray source only because its magnetic dipole is more inclined than that of the more rapidly spinning Vela. This would also account for special Geminga properties including 180 degrees subpulse separation, soft X-ray spectra and intensities, and suppression of radio emission

  19. Polarized curvature radiation in pulsar magnetosphere

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, P. F.; Wang, C.; Han, J. L.

    2014-07-01

    The propagation of polarized emission in pulsar magnetosphere is investigated in this paper. The polarized waves are generated through curvature radiation from the relativistic particles streaming along curved magnetic field lines and corotating with the pulsar magnetosphere. Within the 1/γ emission cone, the waves can be divided into two natural wave-mode components, the ordinary (O) mode and the extraordinary (X) mode, with comparable intensities. Both components propagate separately in magnetosphere, and are aligned within the cone by adiabatic walking. The refraction of O mode makes the two components separated and incoherent. The detectable emission at a given height and a given rotation phase consists of incoherent X-mode and O-mode components coming from discrete emission regions. For four particle-density models in the form of uniformity, cone, core and patches, we calculate the intensities for each mode numerically within the entire pulsar beam. If the corotation of relativistic particles with magnetosphere is not considered, the intensity distributions for the X-mode and O-mode components are quite similar within the pulsar beam, which causes serious depolarization. However, if the corotation of relativistic particles is considered, the intensity distributions of the two modes are very different, and the net polarization of outcoming emission should be significant. Our numerical results are compared with observations, and can naturally explain the orthogonal polarization modes of some pulsars. Strong linear polarizations of some parts of pulsar profile can be reproduced by curvature radiation and subsequent propagation effect.

  20. Nanosecond radio bursts from strong plasma turbulence in the Crab pulsar.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hankins, T H; Kern, J S; Weatherall, J C; Eilek, J A

    2003-03-13

    The Crab pulsar was discovered by the occasional exceptionally bright radio pulses it emits, subsequently dubbed 'giant' pulses. Only two other pulsars are known to emit giant pulses. There is no satisfactory explanation for the occurrence of giant pulses, nor is there a complete theory of the pulsar emission mechanism in general. Competing models for the radio emission mechanism can be distinguished by the temporal structure of their coherent emission. Here we report the discovery of isolated, highly polarized, two-nanosecond subpulses within the giant radio pulses from the Crab pulsar. The plasma structures responsible for these emissions must be smaller than one metre in size, making them by far the smallest objects ever detected and resolved outside the Solar System, and the brightest transient radio sources in the sky. Only one of the current models--the collapse of plasma-turbulent wave packets in the pulsar magnetosphere--can account for the nanopulses we observe.

  1. Constraining Nonperturbative Strong-Field Effects in Scalar-Tensor Gravity by Combining Pulsar Timing and Laser-Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Detectors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lijing Shao

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Pulsar timing and laser-interferometer gravitational-wave (GW detectors are superb laboratories to study gravity theories in the strong-field regime. Here, we combine these tools to test the mono-scalar-tensor theory of Damour and Esposito-Farèse (DEF, which predicts nonperturbative scalarization phenomena for neutron stars (NSs. First, applying Markov-chain Monte Carlo techniques, we use the absence of dipolar radiation in the pulsar-timing observations of five binary systems composed of a NS and a white dwarf, and eleven equations of state (EOSs for NSs, to derive the most stringent constraints on the two free parameters of the DEF scalar-tensor theory. Since the binary-pulsar bounds depend on the NS mass and the EOS, we find that current pulsar-timing observations leave scalarization windows, i.e., regions of parameter space where scalarization can still be prominent. Then, we investigate if these scalarization windows could be closed and if pulsar-timing constraints could be improved by laser-interferometer GW detectors, when spontaneous (or dynamical scalarization sets in during the early (or late stages of a binary NS (BNS evolution. For the early inspiral of a BNS carrying constant scalar charge, we employ a Fisher-matrix analysis to show that Advanced LIGO can improve pulsar-timing constraints for some EOSs, and next-generation detectors, such as the Cosmic Explorer and Einstein Telescope, will be able to improve those bounds for all eleven EOSs. Using the late inspiral of a BNS, we estimate that for some of the EOSs under consideration, the onset of dynamical scalarization can happen early enough to improve the constraints on the DEF parameters obtained by combining the five binary pulsars. Thus, in the near future, the complementarity of pulsar timing and direct observations of GWs on the ground will be extremely valuable in probing gravity theories in the strong-field regime.

  2. Pulsar velocity observations: Correlations, interpretations, and discussion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Helfand, D.J.; Tademaru, E.

    1977-01-01

    From an examination of the current sample of 12 pulsars with measured proper motions and the z-distribution of the much larger group of over 80 sources with measured period derivatives, we develop a self-consistent picture of pulsar evolution. The apparent tendency of pulsars to move parallel to the galactic plane is explained as the result of various selection effects. A method for calculating the unmeasurable radial velocity of a pulsar is presented; it is shown that the total space velocities thus obtained are consistent with the assumption of an extreme Population I origin for pulsars which subsequently move away from the plane with a large range of velocities. The time scale for pulsar magnetic field decay is derived from dynamical considerations. A strong correlation of the original pulsar field strength with the magnitude of pulsar velocity is discussed. This results in the division of pulsars into two classes: Class A sources characterized by low space velocities, a small scale height, and low values of P 0 P 0 ; and Class B sources with a large range of velocities (up to 1000 km s -1 ), a much greater scale height, and larger values of initial field strength. It is postulated that Class A sources originate in tight binaries where their impulse acceleration at birth is insufficient to remove them from the system, while the Class B sources arise from single stars or loosely bound binaries and are accelerated to high velocities by their asymmetric radiation force. The evolutionary picture which is developed is shown to be consistent with a number of constraints imposed by supernova rates, the relative frequency of massive binaries and Class A sources, theoretical field-decay times, and the overall pulsar galactic distribution

  3. Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Ray Acceleration by Magnetic Reconnection in Newborn Pulsars

    OpenAIRE

    Pino, E. M. de Gouveia Dal; Lazarian, A.

    2000-01-01

    Investigamos la posibilidad de que los rayos c osmicos ultra energ eticos (UHECR) observados arriba del l mite GZK sean protones acelerados en zonas de reconecci on localizadas sobre la magnet osfera de pulsares de milisegundos reci en formados por un colapso inducido por acreci on (AIC).

  4. Movement of the pulsars and neutrino oscillations; Movimiento de los pulsares y oscilaciones de neutrinos

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barkovich, M.A

    2005-07-01

    The astronomical observations show that the pulsars are not in the center of the remainder of the supernovae that gave its origin, but rather are displaced of the same one and moving to a speed of about 500 km/s, which is much bigger that of the progenitor star. This fact constitutes a strong evidence that the pulsars is accelerated in the moment of its birth and by this it is denominated to this phenomenon 'pulsars kick'. They exist numerous and varied mechanisms to explain this effect, but none makes it in way completely satisfactory. In this thesis we will study in detail a mechanism proposed originally by Kusenko and Segre and that is based on an asymmetric emission of the neutrinos flow induced by the oscillations of the same ones when its spread in a magnetized media. For this end we will develop, in first instance, the Eddington model. This is based on the transport of the neutrino flux and it describes in a reasonable way the atmosphere of a neutron protostar, place where take place the oscillations. Next we will study the problem of the emission of a neutrino gas from a resonance volume. These results will be applied to the study of the kick in the cases of oscillations among active neutrinos and actives with sterile to determine the magnetic field and the oscillation parameters (difference of the square of the masses of those neutrinos and mixture angle in vacuum) required. Finally we will analyze those neutrino oscillations induced by a possible violation of the Equivalence principle and it implication in the pulsars dynamics. (Author)

  5. The galactic distribution of pulsars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lyne, A.G.

    1982-01-01

    The galactic distribution of pulsars follows the general form of many population I objects in galactocentric radius, but has a wide distribution above and below the plane due to high space velocities imparted to the pulsars at birth. Statistical studies of the properties of large numbers of pulsars and proper motion measurements demonstrate that the effective magnetic dipole moments decay on a timescale of about 8 million years. This work provides a better knowledge of pulsar evolution and ages and shows that a birthrate of one pulsar every 20 to 50 years is required to sustain the observed galactic population of 300,000. This rate is comparable with most recent estimates of the galactic supernova rate, but requires nearly all supernovae to produce active pulsars. (orig.)

  6. Magnetized Langmuir wave packets excited by a strong beam-plasma interaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pelletier, G.; Sol, H.; Asseo, E.

    1988-01-01

    The physics of beam-plasma interaction, which has been investigated for a long time mostly in relation with solar bursts, is now more widely invoked in various astrophysical contexts such as pulsars, active galactic nuclei, close binaries, cataclysmic variables, γ bursters, and so on. In these situations the interaction is more likely in the spirit of strong Langmuir turbulence rather than in the spirit of quasilinear theory. Many investigations have been done for two opposite extremes, namely, in very weak and in very strong magnetic fields. Very few properties of the strong Langmuir turbulence are known in the most usual astrophysical situation where the magnetic field plays a significant role but is not strong enough to force the electrons into one-dimensional motion. For this case, we analyze the dynamics of Langmuir wave packets and provide new results about the stability of the solitons against transverse perturbations. It turns out that both the averaged Lagrangian method and the adiabatic perturbation method derived from the inverse scattering transform give exactly the same results (which is not obvious in soliton perturbation theory). In particular, they predict the stability of the solitons as long as the electron gyrofrequency is greater than the plasma frequency (strong magnetic field) and their instability against transverse self-modulation in the opposite case (weak magnetic field); moreover, they allow one to deduce the self-similar collapsing oblate cavitons in the latter case. The laws governing the collapse of the wave packets determine the relaxation of the beam in the surrounding medium and we derive a useful formula giving the power loss of the beam. We outline the astrophysical consequences of this investigation

  7. COSMIC-RAY POSITRONS FROM MILLISECOND PULSARS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Venter, C.; Kopp, A.; Büsching, I. [Centre for Space Research, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, Private Bag X6001, Potchefstroom 2520 (South Africa); Harding, A. K. [Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Gonthier, P. L. [Hope College, Department of Physics, Holland, MI (United States)

    2015-07-10

    Observations by the Fermi Large Area Telescope of γ-ray millisecond pulsar (MSP) light curves imply copious pair production in their magnetospheres, and not exclusively in those of younger pulsars. Such pair cascades may be a primary source of Galactic electrons and positrons, contributing to the observed enhancement in positron flux above ∼10 GeV. Fermi has also uncovered many new MSPs, impacting Galactic stellar population models. We investigate the contribution of Galactic MSPs to the flux of terrestrial cosmic-ray electrons and positrons. Our population synthesis code predicts the source properties of present-day MSPs. We simulate their pair spectra invoking an offset-dipole magnetic field. We also consider positrons and electrons that have been further accelerated to energies of several TeV by strong intrabinary shocks in black widow (BW) and redback (RB) systems. Since MSPs are not surrounded by pulsar wind nebulae or supernova shells, we assume that the pairs freely escape and undergo losses only in the intergalactic medium. We compute the transported pair spectra at Earth, following their diffusion and energy loss through the Galaxy. The predicted particle flux increases for non-zero offsets of the magnetic polar caps. Pair cascades from the magnetospheres of MSPs are only modest contributors around a few tens of GeV to the lepton fluxes measured by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, PAMELA, and Fermi, after which this component cuts off. The contribution by BWs and RBs may, however, reach levels of a few tens of percent at tens of TeV, depending on model parameters.

  8. NuSTAR detection of 4s Hard X-ray Lags from the Accreting Pulsar GS 0834-430

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bachetti, Matteo; Miyasaka, Hiromasa; Harrison, Fiona

    2014-01-01

    is consistent with that observed in many other magnetized accreting pulsars. We fail to detect cyclotron resonance scattering features in either phase-averaged nor phase-resolved spectra that would allow us to constrain the pulsar’s magnetic field. We detect a pulse period of ∼ 12.29 s in all energy bands....... The pulse profile can be modeled with a double Gaussian and shows a strong and smooth hard lag of up to 0.3 cycles in phase, or about 4s between the pulse at ∼ 3 and >∼ 30 keV. This is the first report of such a strong lag in high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) pulsars. Previously reported lags have been...

  9. Gravitational waves from pulsars with measured braking index

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Araujo, Jose C.N. de; Coelho, Jaziel G.; Costa, Cesar A. [Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, Divisao de Astrofisica, Sao Jose dos Campos, SP (Brazil)

    2016-09-15

    We study the putative emission of gravitational waves (GWs) in particular for pulsars with measured braking index. We show that the appropriate combination of both GW emission and magnetic dipole brakes can naturally explain the measured braking index, when the surface magnetic field and the angle between the magnetic dipole and rotation axes are time dependent. Then we discuss the detectability of these very pulsars by aLIGO and the Einstein Telescope. We call attention to the realistic possibility that aLIGO can detect the GWs generated by at least some of these pulsars, such as Vela, for example. (orig.)

  10. THE X-RAY COUNTERPART OF THE HIGH-B PULSAR PSR J0726-2612

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Speagle, J. S.; Kaplan, D. L. [Physics Department, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53211 (United States); Van Kerkwijk, M. H., E-mail: kaplan@uwm.edu, E-mail: joshuaspeagle@college.harvard.edu, E-mail: mhvk@astro.utoronto.ca [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 60 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 (Canada)

    2011-12-20

    Middle-aged, cooling neutron stars are observed both as relatively rapidly spinning radio pulsars and as more slowly spinning, strongly magnetized isolated neutron stars (INSs), which stand out by their thermal X-ray spectra. The difference between the two classes may be that the INSs initially had much stronger magnetic fields, which decayed. To test this, we used the Chandra X-ray Observatory to observe 1RXS J072559.8-261229, a possible X-ray counterpart to PSR J0726-2612, which, with its 3.44 s period and 3 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 13} G inferred magnetic field strength, is the nearest and least extincted among the possible slowly spinning, strong-field INS progenitors (it likely is in the Gould Belt, at {approx}1 kpc). We confirm the identification and find that the pulsar has a spectrum consistent with being purely thermal, with blackbody temperature kT = 87 {+-} 5 eV and radius R = 5.7{sup +2.6}{sub -1.3} km at a distance of 1 kpc. We detect sinusoidal pulsations at twice the radio period with a semi-amplitude of 27% {+-} 5%. The properties of PSR J0726-2612 strongly resemble those of the INSs, except for its much shorter characteristic age of 200 kyr (instead of several Myr). We conclude that PSR J0726-2612 is indeed an example of a young INS, one that started with a magnetic field strength on the low end of those inferred for the INSs, and that, therefore, decayed by a relatively small amount. Our results suggest that the long-period, strong-field pulsars and the INSs are members of the same class, and open up new opportunities to understand the puzzling X-ray and optical emission of the INSs through radio observations of PSR J0726-2612.

  11. Magnetic-distortion-induced Ellipticity and Gravitational Wave Radiation of Neutron Stars: Millisecond Magnetars in Short GRBs, Galactic Pulsars, and Magnetars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gao, He; Cao, Zhoujian [Department of Astronomy, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875 (China); Zhang, Bing, E-mail: gaohe@bnu.edu.cn [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nevada Las Vegas, NV 89154 (United States)

    2017-08-01

    Neutron stars may sustain a non-axisymmetric deformation due to magnetic distortion and are potential sources of continuous gravitational waves (GWs) for ground-based interferometric detectors. With decades of searches using available GW detectors, no evidence of a GW signal from any pulsar has been observed. Progressively stringent upper limits of ellipticity have been placed on Galactic pulsars. In this work, we use the ellipticity inferred from the putative millisecond magnetars in short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs) to estimate their detectability by current and future GW detectors. For ∼1 ms magnetars inferred from the SGRB data, the detection horizon is ∼30 Mpc and ∼600 Mpc for the advanced LIGO (aLIGO) and Einstein Telescope (ET), respectively. Using the ellipticity of SGRB millisecond magnetars as calibration, we estimate the ellipticity and GW strain of Galactic pulsars and magnetars assuming that the ellipticity is magnetic-distortion-induced. We find that the results are consistent with the null detection results of Galactic pulsars and magnetars with the aLIGO O1. We further predict that the GW signals from these pulsars/magnetars may not be detectable by the currently designed aLIGO detector. The ET detector may be able to detect some relatively low-frequency signals (<50 Hz) from some of these pulsars. Limited by its design sensitivity, the eLISA detector seems to not be suitable for detecting the signals from Galactic pulsars and magnetars.

  12. Gamma-Ray Pulsars Models and Predictions

    CERN Document Server

    Harding, A K

    2001-01-01

    Pulsed emission from gamma-ray pulsars originates inside the magnetosphere, from radiation by charged particles accelerated near the magnetic poles or in the outer gaps. In polar cap models, the high energy spectrum is cut off by magnetic pair production above an energy that is dependent on the local magnetic field strength. While most young pulsars with surface fields in the range B = 10^{12} - 10^{13} G are expected to have high energy cutoffs around several GeV, the gamma-ray spectra of old pulsars having lower surface fields may extend to 50 GeV. Although the gamma-ray emission of older pulsars is weaker, detecting pulsed emission at high energies from nearby sources would be an important confirmation of polar cap models. Outer gap models predict more gradual high-energy turnovers at around 10 GeV, but also predict an inverse Compton component extending to TeV energies. Detection of pulsed TeV emission, which would not survive attenuation at the polar caps, is thus an important test of outer gap models. N...

  13. Pulsar magnetosphere-wind or wave

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kennel, C.F.

    1979-01-01

    The structure of both the interior and exterior pulsar magnetosphere depends upon the strength of its plasma source near the surface of the star. We review wave models of exterior pulsar magnetospheres in the light of a vacuum pair-production source model proposed by Sturrock, and Ruderman and Sutherland. This model predicts the existence of a cutoff, determined by the neutron star's spin rate and magnetic field strenght, beyond which coherent radio emission is no longer possible. Since the observed distribution of pulsar spin periods and period derivatives, and the distribution of pulsars with missing radio pulses, is consistent with the pair production threshold, those neutron stars observed as radio pulsars can have relativistic magnetohydrodynamic wind exterior magnetospheres, and cannot have relativistic plasma wave exterior magnetospheres. On the other hand, most erstwhile pulsars in the galaxy are probably halo objects that emit weak fluxes of energetic photons that can have relativistic wave exterior magnetospheres. Extinct pulsars have not been yet observed

  14. On the theory of X-ray pulsar radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zheleznyakov, V.V.

    1981-01-01

    The origin of hard X-ray spectrum (continuum and cyclotron lines) of pulsars in binary systems is discussed. A model of the polar region of a neutron star consisting of a hot spot in a dense plasma atmosphere with a quasi-homogeneous magnetic field and an extended accreting column in an inhomogeneous dipolar field is investigated. In the hot spot bremsstrahlung and Thomson scattering form continuum radiation, while bremsstrahlung and cyclotron scattering produce the absorption cyclotron lines. By the observed continuum intensity one can estimate the maximum distances to pulsars. Cyclotron scattering in gyro-resonant layers localized in the accreting column leads to a general attenuation of the radiation of a hot spot, but is unable to ensure the formation of cyclotron lines. For strong accretion the hot spot radiation becomes insignificant, the lines disappear and the pulsating component of an X-ray pulsar is produced by the accreting column bremsstrahlung transformed by Thomson scattering. (orig.)

  15. Radio emission region exposed: courtesy of the double pulsar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lomiashvili, David; Lyutikov, Maxim

    2014-06-01

    The double pulsar system PSR J0737-3039A/B offers exceptional possibilities for detailed probes of the structure of the pulsar magnetosphere, pulsar winds and relativistic reconnection. We numerically model the distortions of the magnetosphere of pulsar B by the magnetized wind from pulsar A, including effects of magnetic reconnection and of the geodetic precession. Geodetic precession leads to secular evolution of the geometric parameters and effectively allows a 3D view of the magnetosphere. Using the two complimentary models of pulsar B's magnetosphere, adapted from the Earth's magnetosphere models by Tsyganenko (ideal pressure confinement) and Dungey (highly resistive limit), we determine the precise location and shape of the coherent radio emission generation region within pulsar B's magnetosphere. We successfully reproduce orbital variations and secular evolution of the profile of B, as well as subpulse drift (due to reconnection between the magnetospheric and wind magnetic fields), and determine the location and the shape of the emission region. The emission region is located at about 3750 stellar radii and has a horseshoe-like shape, which is centred on the polar magnetic field lines. The best-fitting angular parameters of the emission region indicate that radio emission is generated on the field lines which, according to the theoretical models, originate close to the poles and carry the maximum current. We resolved all but one degeneracy in pulsar B's geometry. When considered together, the results of the two models converge and can explain why the modulation of B's radio emission at A's period is observed only within a certain orbital phase region. Our results imply that the wind of pulsar A has a striped structure only 1000 light-cylinder radii away. We discuss the implications of these results for pulsar magnetospheric models, mechanisms of coherent radio emission generation and reconnection rates in relativistic plasma.

  16. Pulsars: gigantic nuclei

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu, Renxin

    2011-01-01

    What is the real nature of pulsars? This is essentially a question of the fundamental strong interaction between quarks at low-energy scale and hence of the non-perturbative quantum chromo-dynamics, the solution of which would certainly be meaningful for us to understand one of the seven millennium prize problems (i.e., "Yang-Mills Theory") named by the Clay Mathematical Institute. After a historical note, it is argued here that a pulsar is very similar to an extremely big nucleus, but is a little bit different from the gigantic nucleus speculated 80 years ago by L. Landau. The paper demonstrates the similarity between pulsars and gigantic nuclei from both points of view: the different manifestations of compact stars and the general behavior of the strong interaction. (author)

  17. A novel look at the pulsar force-free magnetosphere

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petrova, S. A.; Flanchik, A. B.

    2018-03-01

    The stationary axisymmetric force-free magnetosphere of a pulsar is considered. We present an exact dipolar solution of the pulsar equation, construct the magnetospheric model on its basis and examine its observational support. The new model has toroidal rather than common cylindrical geometry, in line with that of the plasma outflow observed directly as the pulsar wind nebula at much larger spatial scale. In its new configuration, the axisymmetric magnetosphere consumes the neutron star rotational energy much more efficiently, implying re-estimation of the stellar magnetic field, B_{new}0=3.3×10^{-4}B/P, where P is the pulsar period. Then the 7-order scatter of the magnetic field derived from the rotational characteristics of the pulsars observed appears consistent with the \\cotχ-law, where χ is a random quantity uniformly distributed in the interval [0,π/2]. Our result is suggestive of a unique actual magnetic field strength of the neutron stars along with a random angle between the magnetic and rotational axes and gives insight into the neutron star unification on the geometrical basis.

  18. Aspects of pulsar evolution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fujimura, F.S.; Kennel, C.F.

    1980-01-01

    We consider pulsar statistics from the point of view of generalized evolutionary equations that assume that pulsar torques diminish exponentially with a decay-time constant T, to be determined empirically. Decay or alignment of the neutron-star magnetic moment, or a combination, may cause the torque to diminish with time. The Sturrock-Ruderman-Sutherland pair-production model provides a quantitative way to calculate pulsar lifetimes. Different test, which use th data in partially independent ways and involve differnt assumptions, consistently suggest that T is less than a million years and may be as short as several hundred thousand years

  19. HAWC Observations Strongly Favor Pulsar Interpretations of the Cosmic-Ray Positron Excess

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hooper, Dan [Fermilab; Cholis, Ilias [Johns Hopkins U.; Linden, Tim [Ohio State U., CCAPP; Fang, Ke [Maryland U.

    2017-11-17

    Recent measurements of the Geminga and B0656+14 pulsars by the gamma-ray telescope HAWC (along with earlier measurements by Milagro) indicate that these objects generate significant fluxes of very high-energy electrons. In this paper, we use the very high-energy gamma-ray intensity and spectrum of these pulsars to calculate and constrain their expected contributions to the local cosmic-ray positron spectrum. Among models that are capable of reproducing the observed characteristics of the gamma-ray emission, we find that pulsars invariably produce a flux of high-energy positrons that is similar in spectrum and magnitude to the positron fraction measured by PAMELA and AMS-02. In light of this result, we conclude that it is very likely that pulsars provide the dominant contribution to the long perplexing cosmic-ray positron excess.

  20. THE X-RAY COUNTERPART OF THE HIGH-B PULSAR PSR J0726–2612

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Speagle, J. S.; Kaplan, D. L.; Van Kerkwijk, M. H.

    2011-01-01

    Middle-aged, cooling neutron stars are observed both as relatively rapidly spinning radio pulsars and as more slowly spinning, strongly magnetized isolated neutron stars (INSs), which stand out by their thermal X-ray spectra. The difference between the two classes may be that the INSs initially had much stronger magnetic fields, which decayed. To test this, we used the Chandra X-ray Observatory to observe 1RXS J072559.8–261229, a possible X-ray counterpart to PSR J0726–2612, which, with its 3.44 s period and 3 × 10 13 G inferred magnetic field strength, is the nearest and least extincted among the possible slowly spinning, strong-field INS progenitors (it likely is in the Gould Belt, at ∼1 kpc). We confirm the identification and find that the pulsar has a spectrum consistent with being purely thermal, with blackbody temperature kT = 87 ± 5 eV and radius R = 5.7 +2.6 –1.3 km at a distance of 1 kpc. We detect sinusoidal pulsations at twice the radio period with a semi-amplitude of 27% ± 5%. The properties of PSR J0726–2612 strongly resemble those of the INSs, except for its much shorter characteristic age of 200 kyr (instead of several Myr). We conclude that PSR J0726–2612 is indeed an example of a young INS, one that started with a magnetic field strength on the low end of those inferred for the INSs, and that, therefore, decayed by a relatively small amount. Our results suggest that the long-period, strong-field pulsars and the INSs are members of the same class, and open up new opportunities to understand the puzzling X-ray and optical emission of the INSs through radio observations of PSR J0726–2612.

  1. Strong binary pulsar constraints on Lorentz violation in gravity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yagi, Kent; Blas, Diego; Yunes, Nicolás; Barausse, Enrico

    2014-04-25

    Binary pulsars are excellent laboratories to test the building blocks of Einstein's theory of general relativity. One of these is Lorentz symmetry, which states that physical phenomena appear the same for all inertially moving observers. We study the effect of violations of Lorentz symmetry in the orbital evolution of binary pulsars and find that it induces a much more rapid decay of the binary's orbital period due to the emission of dipolar radiation. The absence of such behavior in recent observations allows us to place the most stringent constraints on Lorentz violation in gravity, thus verifying one of the cornerstones of Einstein's theory much more accurately than any previous gravitational observation.

  2. Strong Binary Pulsar Constraints on Lorentz Violation in Gravity

    CERN Document Server

    Yagi, Kent; Yunes, Nicolas; Barausse, Enrico

    2014-01-01

    Binary pulsars are excellent laboratories to test the building blocks of Einstein's theory of General Relativity. One of these is Lorentz symmetry which states that physical phenomena appear the same for all inertially moving observers. We study the effect of violations of Lorentz symmetry in the orbital evolution of binary pulsars and find that it induces a much more rapid decay of the binary's orbital period due to the emission of dipolar radiation. The absence of such behavior in recent observations allows us to place the most stringent constraints on Lorentz violation in gravity, thus verifying one of the cornerstones of Einstein's theory much more accurately than any previous gravitational observation.

  3. Rotation and Accretion Powered Pulsars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kaspi, V M [Department of Physics, McGill University, 3600 University St, Montreal, QC H3A 2T8 (Canada)

    2008-03-07

    Pulsar astrophysics has come a long way in the 40 years since the discovery of the first pulsar by Bell and Hewish. From humble beginnings as bits of 'scruff' on the Cambridge University group's chart recorder paper, the field of pulsars has blossomed into a major area of mainstream astrophysics, with an unparalleled diversity of astrophysical applications. These range from Nobel-celebrated testing of general relativity in the strong-field regime to constraining the equation-of-state of ultradense matter; from probing the winds of massive stars to globular cluster evolution. Previous notable books on the subject of pulsars have tended to focus on some particular topic in the field. The classic text Pulsars by Manchester and Taylor (1977 San Francisco, CA: Freeman) targeted almost exclusively rotation-powered radio pulsars, while the Meszaros book High-Energy Radiation from Magnetized Neutron Stars (1992 Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press) considered both rotation- and accretion-powered neutron stars, but focused on their radiation at x-ray energies and above. The recent book Neutron Stars 1 by Haensel et al (2007 Berlin: Springer) considers only the equation of state and neutron-star structure. Into this context appears Rotation and Accretion Powered Pulsars, by Pranab Ghosh. In contrast to other books, here the author takes an encyclopedic approach and attempts to synthesize practically all of the major aspects of the two main types of neutron star. This is ambitious. The only comparable undertaking is the useful but more elementary Lyne and Graham-Smith text Pulsar Astronomy (1998 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), or Compact Stellar X-ray Sources (eds Lewin and van der Klis, 2006 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), an anthology of technical review articles that also includes black hole topics. Rotation and Accretion Powered Pulsars thus fills a clear void in the field, providing a readable, graduate-level book that covers nearly

  4. Rotation and Accretion Powered Pulsars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaspi, V M

    2008-01-01

    Pulsar astrophysics has come a long way in the 40 years since the discovery of the first pulsar by Bell and Hewish. From humble beginnings as bits of 'scruff' on the Cambridge University group's chart recorder paper, the field of pulsars has blossomed into a major area of mainstream astrophysics, with an unparalleled diversity of astrophysical applications. These range from Nobel-celebrated testing of general relativity in the strong-field regime to constraining the equation-of-state of ultradense matter; from probing the winds of massive stars to globular cluster evolution. Previous notable books on the subject of pulsars have tended to focus on some particular topic in the field. The classic text Pulsars by Manchester and Taylor (1977 San Francisco, CA: Freeman) targeted almost exclusively rotation-powered radio pulsars, while the Meszaros book High-Energy Radiation from Magnetized Neutron Stars (1992 Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press) considered both rotation- and accretion-powered neutron stars, but focused on their radiation at x-ray energies and above. The recent book Neutron Stars 1 by Haensel et al (2007 Berlin: Springer) considers only the equation of state and neutron-star structure. Into this context appears Rotation and Accretion Powered Pulsars, by Pranab Ghosh. In contrast to other books, here the author takes an encyclopedic approach and attempts to synthesize practically all of the major aspects of the two main types of neutron star. This is ambitious. The only comparable undertaking is the useful but more elementary Lyne and Graham-Smith text Pulsar Astronomy (1998 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), or Compact Stellar X-ray Sources (eds Lewin and van der Klis, 2006 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), an anthology of technical review articles that also includes black hole topics. Rotation and Accretion Powered Pulsars thus fills a clear void in the field, providing a readable, graduate-level book that covers nearly everything you

  5. Movement of the pulsars and neutrino oscillations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barkovich, M.A.

    2005-01-01

    The astronomical observations show that the pulsars are not in the center of the remainder of the supernovae that gave its origin, but rather are displaced of the same one and moving to a speed of about 500 km/s, which is much bigger that of the progenitor star. This fact constitutes a strong evidence that the pulsars is accelerated in the moment of its birth and by this it is denominated to this phenomenon 'pulsars kick'. They exist numerous and varied mechanisms to explain this effect, but none makes it in way completely satisfactory. In this thesis we will study in detail a mechanism proposed originally by Kusenko and Segre and that is based on an asymmetric emission of the neutrinos flow induced by the oscillations of the same ones when its spread in a magnetized media. For this end we will develop, in first instance, the Eddington model. This is based on the transport of the neutrino flux and it describes in a reasonable way the atmosphere of a neutron protostar, place where take place the oscillations. Next we will study the problem of the emission of a neutrino gas from a resonance volume. These results will be applied to the study of the kick in the cases of oscillations among active neutrinos and actives with sterile to determine the magnetic field and the oscillation parameters (difference of the square of the masses of those neutrinos and mixture angle in vacuum) required. Finally we will analyze those neutrino oscillations induced by a possible violation of the Equivalence principle and it implication in the pulsars dynamics. (Author)

  6. The influence of hyperons and strong magnetic field in neutron star properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lopes, L.L.; Menezes, D.P.

    2012-01-01

    Neutron stars are among the most exotic objects in the universe and constitute a unique laboratory to study nuclear matter above the nuclear saturation density. In this work, we study the equation of state (EoS) of the nuclear matter within a relativistic model subject to a strong magnetic field. We then apply this EoS to study and describe some of the physical characteristics of neutron stars, especially the massradius relation and chemical compositions. To study the influence of the magnetic field and the hyperons in the stellar interior, we consider altogether four solutions: two different magnetic fields to obtain a weak and a strong influence; and two configurations: a family of neutron stars formed only by protons, electrons, and neutrons and a family formed by protons, electrons, neutrons, muons, and hyperons. The limit and the validity of the results found are discussed with some care. In all cases, the particles that constitute the neutron star are in ,B equilibrium and zero total net charge. Our work indicates that the effect of a strong magnetic field has to be taken into account in the description of magnetars, mainly if we believe that there are hyperons in their interior, in which case the influence of the magnetic field can increase the mass by more than 10 %. We have also seen that although a magnetar can reach 2.48 M0, a natural explanation of why we do not know pulsars with masses above 2.0 Mo arises. We also discuss how the magnetic field affects the strangeness fraction in some standard neutron star masses, and to conclude our paper, we revisit the direct Urca process related to the cooling of the neutron stars and show how it is affected by the hyperons and the magnetic field. (author)

  7. Pulsar discovery by global volunteer computing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knispel, B; Allen, B; Cordes, J M; Deneva, J S; Anderson, D; Aulbert, C; Bhat, N D R; Bock, O; Bogdanov, S; Brazier, A; Camilo, F; Champion, D J; Chatterjee, S; Crawford, F; Demorest, P B; Fehrmann, H; Freire, P C C; Gonzalez, M E; Hammer, D; Hessels, J W T; Jenet, F A; Kasian, L; Kaspi, V M; Kramer, M; Lazarus, P; van Leeuwen, J; Lorimer, D R; Lyne, A G; Machenschalk, B; McLaughlin, M A; Messenger, C; Nice, D J; Papa, M A; Pletsch, H J; Prix, R; Ransom, S M; Siemens, X; Stairs, I H; Stappers, B W; Stovall, K; Venkataraman, A

    2010-09-10

    Einstein@Home aggregates the computer power of hundreds of thousands of volunteers from 192 countries to mine large data sets. It has now found a 40.8-hertz isolated pulsar in radio survey data from the Arecibo Observatory taken in February 2007. Additional timing observations indicate that this pulsar is likely a disrupted recycled pulsar. PSR J2007+2722's pulse profile is remarkably wide with emission over almost the entire spin period; the pulsar likely has closely aligned magnetic and spin axes. The massive computing power provided by volunteers should enable many more such discoveries.

  8. A Highly Ordered Magnetic Field in a Crushed Pulsar Wind Nebula in G327.1-1.1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Yik Ki; Ng, Chi-Yung; Bucciantini, Niccolò; Gaensler, Bryan M.; Slane, Patrick O.; Temim, Tea

    2015-01-01

    A significant fraction of a pulsar's spin-down luminosity is in the form of a relativistic magnetized particle outflow known as a pulsar wind. Confinement of the wind by the ambient medium creates a synchrotron-emitting bubble called a pulsar wind nebula (PWN). Studies of PWNe is important for understanding the physics of relativistic shocks and particle acceleration. Simulations suggest that a PWN will be crushed by the reverse shock of its surrounding supernova remnant at an age of ~10^4 yr, resulting in a turbulent environment. However, given the short timescale of the interaction stage, only a few such systems are observed.We present radio polarization observations of the PWN in supernova remnant G327.1-1.1, taken with the Australia Telescope Compact Array. Previous works suggest that this system has recently interacted with the supernova reverse shock, providing a rare example for the study of magnetic field in a crushed PWN. We found a highly ordered magnetic field in the PWN, which is unexpected given the presumed turbulent interior of the nebula. This suggests that the magnetic pressure in the PWN could play an important role in the interaction with supernova reverse shock.The Australia Telescope Compact Array is part of the Australia Telescope National Facility which is funded by the Commonwealth of Australia for operation as a National Facility managed by CSIRO.YKM and CYN are supported by a ECS grant of the Hong Kong Government under HKU 709713P

  9. The Fastest Rotating Pulsar: a Strange Star?

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    徐仁新; 徐轩彬; 吴鑫基

    2001-01-01

    According to the observational limits on the radius and mass, the fastest rotating pulsar (PSR 1937+21) is probably a strange star, or at least some neutron star equations of state should be ruled out, if we suggest that a dipole magnetic field is relevant to its radio emission. We presume that the millisecond pulsar is a strange star with much low mass, small radius and weak magnetic moment.

  10. The prospects of pulsar timing with new-generation radio telescopes and the Square Kilometre Array

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stappers, B. W.; Keane, E. F.; Kramer, M.; Possenti, A.; Stairs, I. H.

    2018-05-01

    Pulsars are highly magnetized and rapidly rotating neutron stars. As they spin, the lighthouse-like beam of radio emission from their magnetic poles sweeps across the Earth with a regularity approaching that of the most precise clocks known. This precision combined with the extreme environments in which they are found, often in compact orbits with other neutron stars and white dwarfs, makes them excellent tools for studying gravity. Present and near-future pulsar surveys, especially those using the new generation of telescopes, will find more extreme binary systems and pulsars that are more precise `clocks'. These telescopes will also greatly improve the precision to which we can measure the arrival times of the pulses. The Square Kilometre Array will revolutionize pulsar searches and timing precision. The increased number of sources will reveal rare sources, including possibly a pulsar-black hole binary, which can provide the most stringent tests of strong-field gravity. The improved timing precision will reveal new phenomena and also allow us to make a detection of gravitational waves in the nanohertz frequency regime. It is here where we expect to see the signature of the binary black holes that are formed as galaxies merge throughout cosmological history. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue `The promises of gravitational-wave astronomy'.

  11. A Pulsar and a Disk

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kohler, Susanna

    2016-07-01

    Recent, unusual X-ray observations from our galactic neighbor, the Small Magellanic Cloud, have led to an interesting model for SXP 214, a pulsar in a binary star system.Artists illustration of the magnetic field lines of a pulsar, a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star. [NASA]An Intriguing BinaryAn X-ray pulsar is a magnetized, rotating neutron star in a binary system with a stellar companion. Material is fed from the companion onto the neutron star, channeled by the objects magnetic fields onto a hotspot thats millions of degrees. This hotspot rotating past our line of sight is what produces the pulsations that we observe from X-ray pulsars.Located in the Small Magellanic Cloud, SXP 214 is a transient X-ray pulsar in a binary with a Be-type star. This star is spinning so quickly that material is thrown off of it to form a circumstellar disk.Recently, a team of authors led by JaeSub Hong (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) have presented new Chandra X-ray observations of SXP 214, tracking it for 50 ks (~14 hours) in January 2013. These observations reveal some very unexpected behavior for this pulsar.X-ray PuzzleThe energy distribution of the X-ray emission from SXP 214 over time. Dark shades or blue colors indicate high counts, and light shades or yellow colors indicate low counts. Lower-energy X-ray emission appeared only later, after about 20 ks. [Hong et al. 2016]Three interesting pieces of information came from the Chandra observations:SXP 214s rotation period was measured to be 211.5 s an increase in the spin rate since the discovery measurement of a 214-second period. Pulsars usually spin down as they lose angular momentum over time so what caused this one to spin up?Its overall X-ray luminosity steadily increased over the 50 ks of observations.Its spectrum became gradually softer (lower energy) over time; in the first 20 ks, the spectrum only consisted of hard X-ray photons above 3 keV, but after 20 ks, softer X-ray photons below 2 ke

  12. Binary system containing the pulsar PSR 1913 + 16 and ultra-violet and x-radiation from accreting magnetic white dwarfs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Masters, A.R.

    1978-01-01

    Part I of the thesis deals with the binary system containing the pulsar PSR 1913 + 16. The system has been touted as a laboratory for testing relativistic theories of gravity, and is also a challenge for theories of stellar evolution. However, proposed uses of the system rely on assumptions about the nature of the pulsar's unobserved companion. Ways of determining the nature of the companion from observation of the pulsar are discussed. Geometrical constraints on the size of the pulsar's orbit and the observed slow rate of the orbit's precession require that the companion be a black hole, a neutron star, a white dwarf or a helium main-sequence star. Observable second-order relativistic effects may or may not further restrict the list of candidates. The discussion summarizes Masters and Roberts, 1975 Ap.J. (Letters), 195, L107, and Roberts, Masters and Arnett, 1976, Ap. J., 203, 196. Part II of the thesis treats ultra-violet and X-radiation from accreting magnetic white dwarfs. Matter from a companion star falling onto a white dwarf is shock-heated near the stellar surface and radiatively cooled. The post-shock region is approximated by a uniform, geometrically thin slab and determine the physical conditions behind the shock and the emitted spectrum for a range of stellar masses, magnetic fields and accretion rates. At low magnetic fields and high accretion rates, bremsstrahlung is the dominant cooling mechanism and the post-shock material is a single fluid (the electrons and ions have a common temperature). As the magnetic field increases or the accretion rate decreases, cyclotron emission becomes more important than bremsstrahlung

  13. Pulsar glitch dynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morley, P. D.

    2018-01-01

    We discuss pulsar glitch dynamics from three different viewpoints: statistical description, neutron star equation of state description and finally an electromagnetic field description. For the latter, the pulsar glitch recovery times are the dissipation time constants of sheet surface currents created in response to the glitch-induced crustal magnetic field disruption. We mathematically derive these glitch time constants (Ohmic time constant and Hall sheet current time constant) from a perturbation analysis of the electromagnetic induction equation. Different crustal channels will carry the sheet surface current and their different electron densities determine the time constants.

  14. Two-stream instability in pulsar magnetospheres

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Usov, V.V.

    1987-01-01

    If the electron-positron plasma flow from the pulsar environment is stationary, the two-stream instability does not have enough time to develop in the pulsar magnetosphere. In that case the outflowing electron-positron plasma gathers into separate clouds. The clouds move along magnetic field lines and disperse as they go farther from the pulsar. At a distance of about 10 to the 8th cm from the pulsar surface, the high-energy particles of a given cloud catch up with the low-energy particles that belong to the cloud going ahead of it. In this region of a pulsar magnetosphere, the energy distribution of plasma particles is two-humped, and a two-stream instability may develop. The growth rate of the instability is quite sufficient for its development. 17 references

  15. Radio Emission from Pulsar Wind Nebulae without Surrounding Supernova Ejecta: Application to FRB 121102

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dai, Z. G.; Wang, J. S. [School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China); Yu, Y. W., E-mail: dzg@nju.edu.cn [Institute of Astrophysics, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079 (China)

    2017-03-20

    In this paper, we propose a new scenario in which a rapidly rotating strongly magnetized pulsar without any surrounding supernova ejecta repeatedly produces fast radio bursts (FRBs) via a range of possible mechanisms; simultaneously, an ultra-relativistic electron/positron pair wind from the pulsar sweeps up its ambient dense interstellar medium, giving rise to a non-relativistic pulsar wind nebula (PWN). We show that the synchrotron radio emission from such a PWN is bright enough to account for the recently discovered persistent radio source associated with the repeating FRB 121102 within reasonable ranges of the model parameters. Our PWN scenario is consistent with the non-evolution of the dispersion measure inferred from all of the repeating bursts observed in four years.

  16. Radio Emission from Pulsar Wind Nebulae without Surrounding Supernova Ejecta: Application to FRB 121102

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dai, Z. G.; Wang, J. S.; Yu, Y. W.

    2017-01-01

    In this paper, we propose a new scenario in which a rapidly rotating strongly magnetized pulsar without any surrounding supernova ejecta repeatedly produces fast radio bursts (FRBs) via a range of possible mechanisms; simultaneously, an ultra-relativistic electron/positron pair wind from the pulsar sweeps up its ambient dense interstellar medium, giving rise to a non-relativistic pulsar wind nebula (PWN). We show that the synchrotron radio emission from such a PWN is bright enough to account for the recently discovered persistent radio source associated with the repeating FRB 121102 within reasonable ranges of the model parameters. Our PWN scenario is consistent with the non-evolution of the dispersion measure inferred from all of the repeating bursts observed in four years.

  17. WHY ARE PULSAR PLANETS RARE?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Martin, Rebecca G.; Livio, Mario; Palaniswamy, Divya [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 South Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89154 (United States)

    2016-12-01

    Pulsar timing observations have revealed planets around only a few pulsars. We suggest that the rarity of these planets is due mainly to two effects. First, we show that the most likely formation mechanism requires the destruction of a companion star. Only pulsars with a suitable companion (with an extreme mass ratio) are able to form planets. Second, while a dead zone (a region of low turbulence) in the disk is generally thought to be essential for planet formation, it is most probably rare in disks around pulsars, because of the irradiation from the pulsar. The irradiation strongly heats the inner parts of the disk, thus pushing the inner boundary of the dead zone out. We suggest that the rarity of pulsar planets can be explained by the low probability for these two requirements to be satisfied: a very low-mass companion and a dead zone.

  18. Constraining Gamma-Ray Pulsar Gap Models with a Simulated Pulsar Population

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pierbattista, Marco; Grenier, I. A.; Harding, A. K.; Gonthier, P. L.

    2012-01-01

    With the large sample of young gamma-ray pulsars discovered by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT), population synthesis has become a powerful tool for comparing their collective properties with model predictions. We synthesised a pulsar population based on a radio emission model and four gamma-ray gap models (Polar Cap, Slot Gap, Outer Gap, and One Pole Caustic). Applying gamma-ray and radio visibility criteria, we normalise the simulation to the number of detected radio pulsars by a select group of ten radio surveys. The luminosity and the wide beams from the outer gaps can easily account for the number of Fermi detections in 2 years of observations. The wide slot-gap beam requires an increase by a factor of 10 of the predicted luminosity to produce a reasonable number of gamma-ray pulsars. Such large increases in the luminosity may be accommodated by implementing offset polar caps. The narrow polar-cap beams contribute at most only a handful of LAT pulsars. Using standard distributions in birth location and pulsar spin-down power (E), we skew the initial magnetic field and period distributions in a an attempt to account for the high E Fermi pulsars. While we compromise the agreement between simulated and detected distributions of radio pulsars, the simulations fail to reproduce the LAT findings: all models under-predict the number of LAT pulsars with high E , and they cannot explain the high probability of detecting both the radio and gamma-ray beams at high E. The beaming factor remains close to 1.0 over 4 decades in E evolution for the slot gap whereas it significantly decreases with increasing age for the outer gaps. The evolution of the enhanced slot-gap luminosity with E is compatible with the large dispersion of gamma-ray luminosity seen in the LAT data. The stronger evolution predicted for the outer gap, which is linked to the polar cap heating by the return current, is apparently not supported by the LAT data. The LAT sample of gamma-ray pulsars

  19. Particle acceleration by pulsars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arons, Jonathan.

    1980-06-01

    The evidence that pulsars accelerate relativistic particles is reviewed, with emphasis on the γ-ray observations. The current state of knowledge of acceleration in strong waves is summarized, with emphasis on the inability of consistent theories to accelerate very high energy particles without converting too much energy into high energy photons. The state of viable models for pair creation by pulsars is summarized, with the conclusion that pulsars very likely lose rotational energy in winds instead of in superluminous strong waves. The relation of the pair creation models to γ-ray observations and to soft X-ray observations of pulsars is outlined, with the conclusion that energetically viable models may exist, but none have yet yielded useful agreement with the extant data. Some paths for overcoming present problems are discussed. The relation of the favored models to cosmic rays is discussed. It is pointed out that the pairs made by the models may have observable consequences for observation of positrons in the local cosmic ray flux and for observations of the 511 keV line from the interstellar medium. Another new point is that asymmetry of plasma supply from at least one of the models may qualitatively explain the gross asymmetry of the X-ray emission from the Crab nebula. It is also argued that acceleration of cosmic ray nuclei by pulsars, while energetically possible, can occur only at the boundary of the bubbles blown by the pulsars, if the cosmic ray composition is to be anything like that of the known source spectrum

  20. Effects of neutrino emissivity on the cooling of neutron stars in the presence of a strong magnetic field

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Coelho, Eduardo Lenho, E-mail: eduardo.coelho@uva.br [Universidade Veiga de Almeida, 108 Ibituruna St., 20271-020, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Chiapparini, Marcelo [Instituto de Física, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, 524 São Francisco Xavier St., 20271-020, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Negreiros, Rodrigo Picanço [Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Gal. Milton Tavares de Souza Ave., 24210-346, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

    2015-12-17

    One of the most interesting kind of neutron stars are the pulsars, which are highly magnetized neutron stars with fields up to 10{sup 14} G at the surface. The strength of magnetic field in the center of a neutron star remains unknown. According to the scalar virial theorem, magnetic field in the core could be as large as 10{sup 18} G. In this work we study the influence of strong magnetic fields on the cooling of neutron stars coming from direct Urca process. Direct Urca process is an extremely efficient mechanism for cooling a neutron star after its formation. The matter is described using a relativistic mean-field model at zero temperature with eight baryons (baryon octet), electrons and muons. We obtain the relative population of each species of particles as function of baryon density for different magnetic fields. We calculate numerically the cooling of neutron stars for a parametrized magnetic field and compare the results for the case without a magnetic field.

  1. Chandra Phase-resolved Spectroscopy of the High Magnetic Field Pulsar B1509−58

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hu, Chin-Ping; Ng, C.-Y. [Department of Physics, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road (Hong Kong); Takata, J. [School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei (China); Shannon, R. M. [International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102 (Australia); Johnston, S., E-mail: cphu@hku.hk, E-mail: ncy@bohr.physics.hku.hk [CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Australia Telescope National Facility, Box 76, Epping, NSW 1710 (Australia)

    2017-04-01

    We report on a timing and spectral analysis of the young, high magnetic field rotation-powered pulsar (RPP) B1509−58 using Chandra continuous-clocking mode observation. The pulsar’s X-ray light curve can be fit by the two Gaussian components and the pulsed fraction shows moderate energy dependence over the Chandra band. The pulsed X-ray spectrum is well described by a power law with a photon index 1.16(4), which is harder than the values measured with RXTE /PCA and NuSTAR . This result supports the log-parabolic model for the broadband X-ray spectrum. With the unprecedented angular resolution of Chandra , we clearly identified off-pulse X-ray emission from the pulsar, and its spectrum is best fit by a power law plus blackbody model. The latter component has a temperature of ∼0.14 keV with a bolometric luminosity comparable to the luminosities of other young and high magnetic field RPPs, and it lies between the temperature of magnetars and typical RPPs. In addition, we found that the nonthermal X-ray emission of PSR B1509−58 is significantly softer in the off-pulse phase than in the pulsed phase, with the photon index varying between 1.0 and 1.8 and anticorrelated with the flux. This is similar to the behavior of three other young pulsars. We interpreted it as different contributions of pair-creation processes at different altitudes from the neutron star surface according to the outer-gap model.

  2. Geriatric Pulsar Still Kicking

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-02-01

    's clearly fading as it ages, it is still more than holding its own with the younger generations." It's likely that two forms of X-ray emission are produced in J0108: emission from particles spiraling around magnetic fields, and emission from heated areas around the neutron star's magnetic poles. Measuring the temperature and size of these heated regions can provide valuable insight into the extraordinary properties of the neutron star surface and the process by which charged particles are accelerated by the pulsar. The younger, bright pulsars commonly detected by radio and X-ray telescopes are not representative of the full population of objects, so observing objects like J0108 helps astronomers see a more complete range of behavior. At its advanced age, J0108 is close to the so-called "pulsar death line," where its pulsed radiation is expected to switch off and it will become much harder, if not impossible, to observe. "We can now explore the properties of this pulsar in a regime where no other pulsar has been detected outside the radio range," said co-author Oleg Kargaltsev of the University of Florida. "To understand the properties of 'dying pulsars,' it is important to study their radiation in X-rays. Our finding that a very old pulsar can be such an efficient X-ray emitter gives us hope to discover new nearby pulsars of this class via their X-ray emission." The Chandra observations were reported by Pavlov and colleagues in the January 20, 2009, issue of The Astrophysical Journal. However, the extreme nature of J0108 was not fully apparent until a new distance to it was reported on February 6 in the PhD thesis of Adam Deller from Swinburne University in Australia. The new distance is both larger and more accurate than the distance used in the Chandra paper, showing that J0108 was brighter in X-rays than previously thought. "Suddenly this pulsar became the record holder for its ability to make X-rays," said Pavlov, "and our result became even more interesting without us

  3. Theory of quasi-spherical accretion in X-ray pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shakura, N.; Postnov, K.; Kochetkova, A.; Hjalmarsdotter, L.

    2012-02-01

    A theoretical model for quasi-spherical subsonic accretion on to slowly rotating magnetized neutron stars is constructed. In this model, the accreting matter subsonically settles down on to the rotating magnetosphere forming an extended quasi-static shell. This shell mediates the angular momentum removal from the rotating neutron star magnetosphere during spin-down episodes by large-scale convective motions. The accretion rate through the shell is determined by the ability of the plasma to enter the magnetosphere. The settling regime of accretion can be realized for moderate accretion rates ? g s-1. At higher accretion rates, a free-fall gap above the neutron star magnetosphere appears due to rapid Compton cooling, and accretion becomes highly non-stationary. From observations of the spin-up/spin-down rates (the angular rotation frequency derivative ?, and ? near the torque reversal) of X-ray pulsars with known orbital periods, it is possible to determine the main dimensionless parameters of the model, as well as to estimate the magnetic field of the neutron star. We illustrate the model by determining these parameters for three wind-fed X-ray pulsars GX 301-2, Vela X-1 and GX 1+4. The model explains both the spin-up/spin-down of the pulsar frequency on large time-scales and the irregular short-term frequency fluctuations, which can correlate or anticorrelate with the X-ray flux fluctuations in different systems. It is shown that in real pulsars an almost iso-angular-momentum rotation law with ω˜ 1/R2, due to strongly anisotropic radial turbulent motions sustained by large-scale convection, is preferred.

  4. Phase-resolved X-ray polarimetry of the Crab pulsar with the AstroSat CZT Imager

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vadawale, S. V.; Chattopadhyay, T.; Mithun, N. P. S.; Rao, A. R.; Bhattacharya, D.; Vibhute, A.; Bhalerao, V. B.; Dewangan, G. C.; Misra, R.; Paul, B.; Basu, A.; Joshi, B. C.; Sreekumar, S.; Samuel, E.; Priya, P.; Vinod, P.; Seetha, S.

    2018-01-01

    The Crab pulsar is a typical example of a young, rapidly spinning, strongly magnetized neutron star that generates broadband electromagnetic radiation by accelerating charged particles to near light speeds in its magnetosphere1. Details of this emission process so far remain poorly understood. Measurement of polarization in X-rays, particularly as a function of pulse phase, is thought to be a key element necessary to unravel the mystery of pulsar radiation2-4. Such measurements are extremely difficult, however: to date, Crab is the only pulsar to have been detected in polarized X-rays5-8 and the measurements have not been sensitive enough to adequately reveal the variation of polarization characteristics across the pulse7. Here, we present the most sensitive measurement to date of polarized hard X-ray emission from the Crab pulsar and nebula in the 100-380 keV band, using the Cadmium-Zinc-Telluride Imager9 instrument on-board the Indian astronomy satellite AstroSat10. We confirm with high significance the earlier indication6,7 of a strongly polarized off-pulse emission. However, we also find a variation in polarization properties within the off-pulse region. In addition, our data hint at a swing of the polarization angle across the pulse peaks. This behaviour cannot be fully explained by the existing theoretical models of high-energy emission from pulsars.

  5. ON THE POLAR CAP CASCADE PAIR MULTIPLICITY OF YOUNG PULSARS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Timokhin, A. N.; Harding, A. K., E-mail: andrey.timokhin@nasa.gov [Astrophysics Science Division, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)

    2015-09-10

    We study the efficiency of pair production in polar caps of young pulsars under a variety of conditions to estimate the maximum possible multiplicity of pair plasma in pulsar magnetospheres. We develop a semi-analytic model for calculation of cascade multiplicity which allows efficient exploration of the parameter space and corroborate it with direct numerical simulations. Pair creation processes are considered separately from particle acceleration in order to assess different factors affecting cascade efficiency, with acceleration of primary particles described by recent self-consistent non-stationary model of pair cascades. We argue that the most efficient cascades operate in the curvature radiation/synchrotron regime, the maximum multiplicity of pair plasma in pulsar magnetospheres is ∼few × 10{sup 5}. The multiplicity of pair plasma in magnetospheres of young energetic pulsars weakly depends on the strength of the magnetic field and the radius of curvature of magnetic field lines and has a stronger dependence on pulsar inclination angle. This result questions assumptions about very high pair plasma multiplicity in theories of pulsar wind nebulae.

  6. Evidence for free precession in a pulsar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stairs; Lyne; Shemar

    2000-08-03

    Pulsars are rotating neutron stars that produce lighthouse-like beams of radio emission from their magnetic poles. The observed pulse of emission enables their rotation rates to be measured with great precision. For some young pulsars, this provides a means of studying the interior structure of neutron stars. Most pulsars have stable pulse shapes, and slow down steadily (for example, see ref. 20). Here we report the discovery of long-term, highly periodic and correlated variations in both the pulse shape and the rate of slow-down of the pulsar PSR B1828-11. The variations are best described as harmonically related sinusoids, with periods of approximately 1,000, 500 and 250 days, probably resulting from precession of the spin axis caused by an asymmetry in the shape of the pulsar. This is difficult to understand theoretically, because torque-free precession of a solitary pulsar should be damped out by the vortices in its superfluid interior.

  7. Pulsar searching and timing with the Parkes telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ng, C. W. Y.

    2014-11-01

    Pulsars are highly magnetised, rapidly rotating neutron stars that radiate a beam of coherent radio emission from their magnetic poles. An introduction to the pulsar phenomenology is presented in Chapter 1 of this thesis. The extreme conditions found in and around such compact objects make pulsars fantastic natural laboratories, as their strong gravitational fields provide exclusive insights to a rich variety of fundamental physics and astronomy. The discovery of pulsars is therefore a gateway to new science. An overview of the standard pulsar searching technique is described in Chapter 2, as well as a discussion on notable pulsar searching efforts undertaken thus far with various telescopes. The High Time Resolution Universe (HTRU) Pulsar Survey conducted with the 64-m Parkes radio telescope in Australia forms the bulk of this PhD. In particular, the author has led the search effort of the HTRU low-latitude Galactic plane project part which is introduced in Chapter 3. We discuss the computational challenges arising from the processing of the petabyte-sized survey data. Two new radio interference mitigation techniques are introduced, as well as a partially-coherent segmented acceleration search algorithm which aims to increase our chances of discovering highly-relativistic short-orbit binary systems, covering a parameter space including the potential pulsar-black hole binaries. We show that under a linear acceleration approximation, a ratio of ~0.1 of data length over orbital period results in the highest effectiveness for this search algorithm. Chapter 4 presents the initial results from the HTRU low-latitude Galactic plane survey. From the 37 per cent of data processed thus far, we have re-detected 348 previously known pulsars and discovered a further 47 pulsars. Two of which are fast-spinning pulsars with periods less than 30 ms. PSR J1101-6424 is a millisecond pulsar (MSP) with a heavy white dwarf companion while its short spin period of 5 ms indicates

  8. Nonlinear temporal modulation of pulsar radioemission

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chian, A.C.-L.

    1984-01-01

    A nonlinear theory is discussed for self-modulation of pulsar radio pulses. A nonlinear Schroedinger equation is derived for strong electromagnetic waves propagating in an electron-positron plasma. The nonlinearities arising from wave intensity induced relativistic particle mass variation may excite the modulational instability of circularly and linearly polarized pulsar radiation. The resulting wave envelopes can take the form of periodic wave trains or solitons. These nonlinear stationary wave forms may account for the formation of pulsar microstructures. (Author) [pt

  9. Relativistic spin precession in the double pulsar.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breton, Rene P; Kaspi, Victoria M; Kramer, Michael; McLaughlin, Maura A; Lyutikov, Maxim; Ransom, Scott M; Stairs, Ingrid H; Ferdman, Robert D; Camilo, Fernando; Possenti, Andrea

    2008-07-04

    The double pulsar PSR J0737-3039A/B consists of two neutron stars in a highly relativistic orbit that displays a roughly 30-second eclipse when pulsar A passes behind pulsar B. Describing this eclipse of pulsar A as due to absorption occurring in the magnetosphere of pulsar B, we successfully used a simple geometric model to characterize the observed changing eclipse morphology and to measure the relativistic precession of pulsar B's spin axis around the total orbital angular momentum. This provides a test of general relativity and alternative theories of gravity in the strong-field regime. Our measured relativistic spin precession rate of 4.77 degrees (-0 degrees .65)(+0 degrees .66) per year (68% confidence level) is consistent with that predicted by general relativity within an uncertainty of 13%.

  10. How young the accretion-powered pulsars could be?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kostina, M. V.; Ikhsanov, N. R.

    2017-12-01

    A question about the age of accretion-powered X-ray pulsars has recently been reopened by a discovery of the X-ray pulsar SXP 1062 in the SMC. This High Mass X-ray Binary (HMXB) contains a neutron star rotating with the period of 1062 s and is associated with a supernova remnant of the age ∼ 104 yr. An attempt to explain the origin of this young long-period X-ray pulsar within the traditional scenario of three basic states (ejector, propeller and accretor) encounters difficulties. Even if this pulsar were born as a magnetar the spin-down time during the propeller stage would exceed 104 yr. Here we explore a more circuitous way of the pulsar spin evolution in HMXBs, in which the propeller stage in the evolutionary track is avoided. We find this way to be possible if the stellar wind of the massive companion to the neutron star is magnetized. The geometry of plasma flow captured by the neutron star in this case differs from spherically symmetrical and the magnetospheric radius of the neutron star is smaller than that evaluated in the convention accretion scenarios. We show that the age of an accretion-powered pulsar in this case can be as small as ∼ 104 years without the need of invoking initial magnetic field in excess of 1013 G.

  11. Fast pulsars, strange stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Glendenning, N.K.

    1990-02-01

    The initial motivation for this work was the reported discovery in January 1989 of a 1/2 millisecond pulsar in the remnant of the spectacular supernova, 1987A. The status of this discovery has come into grave doubt as of data taken by the same group in February, 1990. At this time we must consider that the millisecond signal does not belong to the pulsar. The existence of a neutron star in remnant of the supernova is suspected because of recent observations on the light curve of the remnant, and of course by the neutrino burst that announced the supernova. However its frequency is unknown. I can make a strong case that a pulsar rotation period of about 1 ms divides those that can be understood quite comfortably as neutron stars, and those that cannot. What we will soon learn is whether there is an invisible boundary below which pulsar periods do not fall, in which case, all are presumable neutron stars, or whether there exist sub- millisecond pulsars, which almost certainly cannot be neutron stars. Their most plausible structure is that of a self-bound star, a strange-quark-matter star. The existence of such stars would imply that the ground state of the strong interaction is not, as we usually assume, hadronic matter, but rather strange quark matter. Let us look respectively at stars that are bound only by gravity, and hypothetical stars that are self-bound, for which gravity is so to speak, icing on the cake

  12. Handbook of pulsar astronomy

    CERN Document Server

    Lorimer, Duncan

    2005-01-01

    Radio pulsars are rapidly rotating highly magnetized neutron stars. Studies of these fascinating objects have provided applications in solid-state physics, general relativity, galactic astronomy, astrometry, planetary physics and even cosmology. Most of these applications and much of what we know about neutron stars are derived from single-dish radio observations using state-of-the-art receivers and data acquisition systems. This comprehensive 2004 book is a unique resource that brings together the key observational techniques, background information and a review of results, including the discovery of a double pulsar system. Useful software tools are provided which can be used to analyse example data, made available on a related website. This work will be of great value not only to graduate students but also to researchers wishing to carry out and interpret a wide variety of radio pulsar observations.

  13. Magnetar-like X-Ray Bursts Suppress Pulsar Radio Emission

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Archibald, R. F.; Lyutikov, M.; Kaspi, V. M.; Tendulkar, S. P. [Department of Physics and McGill Space Institute, McGill University, 3600 University Street, Montreal, QC H3A 2T8 (Canada); Burgay, M.; Possenti, A. [INAF–Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari, Via della Scienza 5, I-09047 Selargius (Italy); Esposito, P.; Rea, N. [Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Postbus 94249, 1090 GE Amsterdam (Netherlands); Israel, G. [INAF–Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, via Frascati 33, I-00040 Monteporzio Catone, Roma (Italy); Kerr, M. [Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375-5352 (United States); Sarkissian, J. [CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Parkes Observatory, P.O. Box 276, Parkes, NSW 2870 (Australia); Scholz, P., E-mail: archibald@astro.utoronto.ca [National Research Council of Canada, Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics, Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, P.O. Box 248, Penticton, BC V2A 6J9 (Canada)

    2017-11-10

    Rotation-powered pulsars and magnetars are two different observational manifestations of neutron stars: rotation-powered pulsars are rapidly spinning objects that are mostly observed as pulsating radio sources, while magnetars, neutron stars with the highest known magnetic fields, often emit short-duration X-ray bursts. Here, we report simultaneous observations of the high-magnetic-field radio pulsar PSR J1119−6127 at X-ray, with XMM-Newton and NuSTAR , and at radio energies with the Parkes radio telescope, during a period of magnetar-like bursts. The rotationally powered radio emission shuts off coincident with the occurrence of multiple X-ray bursts and recovers on a timescale of ∼70 s. These observations of related radio and X-ray phenomena further solidify the connection between radio pulsars and magnetars and suggest that the pair plasma produced in bursts can disrupt the acceleration mechanism of radio-emitting particles.

  14. Pulsar signals from relativistic electron beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elsaesser, K.; Kirk, J.

    1976-01-01

    The possibility of the radio emission from pulsars originating in a beam-plasma system is discussed. We calculate the curvature radiation which arises if this system is placed in a very strong curved magnetic field. Numerical experiments show that the beam instability evolves into a rather stationary wave pattern whose Fourier components are concentrated near the most unstable mode. This result leads us to estimates of the radiation intensity of its autocorrelation function in time, and its bandwidth. The results are compared with measurements of the micro-structure of pulses, and the constraints imposed on radiation mechanisms by longer time-scale properties are shown to be satisfied. (orig.) [de

  15. Modifications to the pulsar kick velocity due to magnetic interactions in dense plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adhya, S P; Roy, P K; Dutt-Mazumder, A K

    2014-01-01

    In this work we calculate the pulsar kick velocity of a magnetized neutron star (NS) composed of a degenerate quark matter core with non-Fermi liquid (NFL) correction. Both the leading order (LO) and next to LO (NLO) corrections to the kick velocity have been incorporated. In addition, the NFL corrections to the specific heat of magnetized quark matter have been presented. This has been taken into account to calculate the kick velocity of the NS. The results show a significant departure from the normal Fermi liquid estimates. The relation between radius and temperature has been shown with a kick velocity of 100 km s −1 with and without NFL corrections. (paper)

  16. Pulsar current sheet C̆erenkov radiation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Fan

    2018-04-01

    Plasma-filled pulsar magnetospheres contain thin current sheets wherein the charged particles are accelerated by magnetic reconnections to travel at ultra-relativistic speeds. On the other hand, the plasma frequency of the more regular force-free regions of the magnetosphere rests almost precisely on the upper limit of radio frequencies, with the cyclotron frequency being far higher due to the strong magnetic field. This combination produces a peculiar situation, whereby radio-frequency waves can travel at subluminal speeds without becoming evanescent. The conditions are thus conducive to C̆erenkov radiation originating from current sheets, which could plausibly serve as a coherent radio emission mechanism. In this paper we aim to provide a portrait of the relevant processes involved, and show that this mechanism can possibly account for some of the most salient features of the observed radio signals.

  17. A New Standard Pulsar Magnetosphere

    Science.gov (United States)

    Contopoulos, Ioannis; Kalapotharakos, Constantinos; Kazanas, Demosthenes

    2014-01-01

    In view of recent efforts to probe the physical conditions in the pulsar current sheet, we revisit the standard solution that describes the main elements of the ideal force-free pulsar magnetosphere. The simple physical requirement that the electric current contained in the current layer consists of the local electric charge moving outward at close to the speed of light yields a new solution for the pulsar magnetosphere everywhere that is ideal force-free except in the current layer. The main elements of the new solution are as follows: (1) the pulsar spindown rate of the aligned rotator is 23% larger than that of the orthogonal vacuum rotator; (2) only 60% of the magnetic flux that crosses the light cylinder opens up to infinity; (3) the electric current closes along the other 40%, which gradually converges to the equator; (4) this transfers 40% of the total pulsar spindown energy flux in the equatorial current sheet, which is then dissipated in the acceleration of particles and in high-energy electromagnetic radiation; and (5) there is no separatrix current layer. Our solution is a minimum free-parameter solution in that the equatorial current layer is electrostatically supported against collapse and thus does not require a thermal particle population. In this respect, it is one more step toward the development of a new standard solution. We discuss the implications for intermittent pulsars and long-duration gamma-ray bursts. We conclude that the physical conditions in the equatorial current layer determine the global structure of the pulsar magnetosphere.

  18. A MODEL FOR THE ELECTRICALLY CHARGED CURRENT SHEET OF A PULSAR

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    DeVore, C. R.; Antiochos, S. K.; Black, C. E. [Heliophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Harding, A. K.; Kalapotharakos, C.; Kazanas, D.; Timokhin, A. N., E-mail: c.richard.devore@nasa.gov [Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)

    2015-03-10

    Global-scale solutions for the magnetosphere of a pulsar consist of a region of low-lying, closed magnetic field near the star, bounded by opposite-polarity regions of open magnetic field along which the pulsar wind flows into space. Separating these open-field regions is a magnetic discontinuity—an electric current sheet—consisting of generally nonneutral plasma. We have developed a self-consistent model for the internal equilibrium structure of the sheet by generalizing the charge-neutral Vlasov/Maxwell equilibria of Harris and Hoh to allow for net electric charge. The resulting equations for the electromagnetic field are solved analytically and numerically. Our results show that the internal thermal pressure needed to establish equilibrium force balance, and the associated effective current-sheet thickness and magnetization, can differ by orders of magnitude from the Harris/Hoh charge-neutral limit. The new model provides a starting point for kinetic or fluid investigations of instabilities that can cause magnetic reconnection and flaring in pulsar magnetospheres.

  19. Hidden slow pulsars in binaries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tavani, Marco; Brookshaw, Leigh

    1993-01-01

    The recent discovery of the binary containing the slow pulsar PSR 1718-19 orbiting around a low-mass companion star adds new light on the characteristics of binary pulsars. The properties of the radio eclipses of PSR 1718-19 are the most striking observational characteristics of this system. The surface of the companion star produces a mass outflow which leaves only a small 'window' in orbital phase for the detection of PSR 1718-19 around 400 MHz. At this observing frequency, PSR 1718-19 is clearly observable only for about 1 hr out of the total 6.2 hr orbital period. The aim of this Letter is twofold: (1) to model the hydrodynamical behavior of the eclipsing material from the companion star of PSR 1718-19 and (2) to argue that a population of binary slow pulsars might have escaped detection in pulsar surveys carried out at 400 MHz. The possible existence of a population of partially or totally hidden slow pulsars in binaries will have a strong impact on current theories of binary evolution of neutron stars.

  20. Spectral properties of 441 radio pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jankowski, F.; van Straten, W.; Keane, E. F.; Bailes, M.; Barr, E. D.; Johnston, S.; Kerr, M.

    2018-02-01

    We present a study of the spectral properties of 441 pulsars observed with the Parkes radio telescope near the centre frequencies of 728, 1382 and 3100 MHz. The observations at 728 and 3100 MHz were conducted simultaneously using the dual-band 10-50 cm receiver. These high-sensitivity, multifrequency observations provide a systematic and uniform sample of pulsar flux densities. We combine our measurements with spectral data from the literature in order to derive the spectral properties of these pulsars. Using techniques from robust regression and information theory, we classify the observed spectra in an objective, robust and unbiased way into five morphological classes: simple or broken power law, power law with either low- or high-frequency cut-off and log-parabolic spectrum. While about 79 per cent of the pulsars that could be classified have simple power-law spectra, we find significant deviations in 73 pulsars, 35 of which have curved spectra, 25 with a spectral break and 10 with a low-frequency turn-over. We identify 11 gigahertz-peaked spectrum (GPS) pulsars, with 3 newly identified in this work and 8 confirmations of known GPS pulsars; 3 others show tentative evidence of GPS, but require further low-frequency measurements to support this classification. The weighted mean spectral index of all pulsars with simple power-law spectra is -1.60 ± 0.03. The observed spectral indices are well described by a shifted log-normal distribution. The strongest correlations of spectral index are with spin-down luminosity, magnetic field at the light-cylinder and spin-down rate. We also investigate the physical origin of the observed spectral features and determine emission altitudes for three pulsars.

  1. GAMMA-RAY SIGNAL FROM THE PULSAR WIND IN THE BINARY PULSAR SYSTEM PSR B1259-63/LS 2883

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Khangulyan, Dmitry [Institute of Space and Astronautical Science/JAXA, 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Chuo-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-5210 (Japan); Aharonian, Felix A. [Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 31 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2 (Ireland); Bogovalov, Sergey V. [National Research Nuclear University-MEPHI, Kashirskoe Shosse 31, Moscow 115409 (Russian Federation); Ribo, Marc, E-mail: khangul@astro.isas.jaxa.jp, E-mail: felix.aharonian@dias.ie, E-mail: svbogovalov@mephi.ru, E-mail: mribo@am.ub.es [Departament d' Astronomia i Meteorologia, Institut de Ciences del Cosmos (ICC), Universitat de Barcelona (IEEC-UB), Marti i Franques 1, E-08028 Barcelona (Spain)

    2011-12-01

    Binary pulsar systems emit potentially detectable components of gamma-ray emission due to Comptonization of the optical radiation of the companion star by relativistic electrons of the pulsar wind, both before and after termination of the wind. The recent optical observations of binary pulsar system PSR B1259-63/LS 2883 revealed radiation properties of the companion star which differ significantly from previous measurements. In this paper, we study the implications of these observations for the interaction rate of the unshocked pulsar wind with the stellar photons and the related consequences for fluxes of high energy and very high energy (VHE) gamma rays. We show that the signal should be strong enough to be detected with Fermi close to the periastron passage, unless the pulsar wind is strongly anisotropic or the Lorentz factor of the wind is smaller than 10{sup 3} or larger than 10{sup 5}. The higher luminosity of the optical star also has two important implications: (1) attenuation of gamma rays due to photon-photon pair production and (2) Compton drag of the unshocked wind. While the first effect has an impact on the light curve of VHE gamma rays, the second effect may significantly decrease the energy available for particle acceleration after termination of the wind.

  2. Pulsar Wind Nebulae Created by Fast-Moving Pulsars

    OpenAIRE

    Kargaltsev, Oleg; Pavlov, George G.; Klingler, Noel; Rangelov, Blagoy

    2017-01-01

    We review multiwavelength properties of pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) created by supersonically moving pulsars and the effects of pulsar motion on the PWN morphologies and the ambient medium. Supersonic pulsar wind nebulae (SPWNe) are characterized by bow-shaped shocks around the pulsar and/or cometary tails filled with the shocked pulsar wind. In the past several years significant advances in SPWN studies have been made in deep observations with the Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray Observatories as...

  3. Vacuum nonlinear electrodynamic polarization effects in hard emission of pulsars and magnetars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Denisov, V.I.; Sokolov, V.A.; Svertilov, S.I., E-mail: vid.msu@yandex.ru, E-mail: sokolov.sev@inbox.ru, E-mail: sis@coronas.ru [Physics Department, Moscow State University, Moscow (Russian Federation)

    2017-09-01

    The nonlinear electrodynamics influence of pulsar magnetic field on the electromagnetic pulse polarization is discussed from the point of observation interpretation. The calculations of pulsar magnetic field impact on the electromagnetic pulse polarization are made in such a way to make it easier to interpret these effects in space experiments. The law of hard emission pulse propagation in the pulsar magnetic field according to the vacuum (nonlinear electrodynamics is obtained. It has been shown, that due to the birefringence in the vacuum the front part of any hard emission pulse coming from a pulsar should be linearly polarized and the rest of pulse can have arbitrary polarization. The observational possibilities of vacuum birefringence are discussed. In this paper we give the estimations of detector parameters such as effective area, exposure time and necessity of polarization measurements with high accuracy. The combination of large area and extremely long exposure time gives the good opportunity to search the fine polarization effects like vacuum nonlinear electrodynamics birefringence.

  4. Prospects for Probing Strong Gravity with a Pulsar-Black Hole System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wex, N.; Liu, K.; Eatough, R. P.; Kramer, M.; Cordes, J. M.; Lazio, T. J. W.

    2012-01-01

    The discovery of a pulsar (PSR) in orbit around a black hole (BH) is expected to provide a superb new probe of relativistic gravity and BH properties. Apart from a precise mass measurement for the BH, one could expect a clean verification of the dragging of space-time caused by the BH spin. In order to measure the quadrupole moment of the BH for testing the no-hair theorem of general relativity (GR), one has to hope for a sufficiently massive BH. In this respect, a PSR orbiting the super-massive BH in the center of our Galaxy would be the ultimate laboratory for gravity tests with PSRs. But even for gravity theories that predict the same properties for BHs as GR, a PSR-BH system would constitute an excellent test system, due to the high grade of asymmetry in the strong field properties of these two components. Here we highlight some of the potential gravity tests that one could expect from different PSR-BH systems.

  5. Implications of the Discovery of Millisecond Pulsar in SN 1987A

    OpenAIRE

    Nagataki, S.; Sato, K.

    2000-01-01

    From the observation of a millisecond pulsar in SN 1987A, the following implications are obtained. 1) The pulsar spindown in SN 1987A is caused by radiating gravitational waves rather than by magnetic dipole radiation and/or relativistic pulsar winds. 2) A mildly deformed shock wave would be formed at the core-collapse and explosion in SN 1987A, which is consistent with the conclusion given in Nagataki (2000). 3) The gravitational waves from the pulsar should be detected in several years usin...

  6. An x-ray nebula associated with the millisecond pulsar B1957+20.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stappers, B W; Gaensler, B M; Kaspi, V M; van der Klis, M; Lewin, W H G

    2003-02-28

    We have detected an x-ray nebula around the binary millisecond pulsar B1957+20. A narrow tail, corresponding to the shocked pulsar wind, is seen interior to the known Halpha bow shock and proves the long-held assumption that the rotational energy of millisecond pulsars is dissipated through relativistic winds. Unresolved x-ray emission likely represents the shock where the winds of the pulsar and its companion collide. This emission indicates that the efficiency with which relativistic particles are accelerated in the postshock flow is similar to that for young pulsars, despite the shock proximity and much weaker surface magnetic field of this millisecond pulsar.

  7. On the Magnetic Field of the Ultraluminous X-Ray Pulsar M82 X-2

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xu, Kun; Li, Xiang-Dong, E-mail: lixd@nju.edu.cn [Department of Astronomy, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023 (China)

    2017-04-01

    The discovery of the ultraluminous X-ray pulsar M82 X-2 has stimulated lively discussion on the nature of the accreting neutron star. In most of the previous studies the magnetic field of the neutron star was derived from the observed spin-up/down rates based on the standard thin, magnetized accretion disk model. However, under super-Eddington accretion the inner part of the accretion disk becomes geometrically thick. In this work we consider both radiation feedback from the neutron star and the sub-Keplerian rotation in a thick disk and calculate the magnetic moment–mass accretion rate relations for the measured rates of spin change. We find that the derived neutron star's dipole magnetic field depends on the maximum accretion rate adopted, but is likely ≲10{sup 13} G. The predicted accretion rate change can be used to test the proposed models by comparison with observations.

  8. Pulsar Magnetospheres and Pulsar Winds

    OpenAIRE

    Beskin, Vasily S.

    2016-01-01

    Surprisingly, the chronology of nearly 50 years of the pulsar magnetosphere and pulsar wind research is quite similar to the history of our civilization. Using this analogy, I have tried to outline the main results obtained in this field. In addition to my talk, the possibility of particle acceleration due to different processes in the pulsar magnetosphere is discussed in more detail.

  9. Coherent amplification and pulsar phenomena

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Casperson, L.W.

    1977-01-01

    A modification of the rotating-star model has been developed to interpret the periodic energy bursts from pulsars. This new configuration involves theta-directed oscillation modes in the stellar atmosphere or magnetosphere, and most aspects of the typical pulse characteristics are well accounted for. Gain is provided by resonant interactions with particles trapped in the stellar magnetic field. The most significant feature is the fact that highly directional beaming of the output energy results as a natural consequence of coherence between the radiation fields emerging from various locations about the pulsar; and a localized radiation origin is not required. (Auth.)

  10. Electrodynamic coupling between pulsars and surrounding nebulae

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dobrowolny, M [Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Frascati (Italy). Lab. per il Plasma nello Spazio; L' Aquila Univ. (Italy). Istituto di Fisica); Ferrari, A [Cambridge Univ. (UK). Inst. of Astronomy; Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Turin (Italy). Lab. di Cosmo-Geofisica; Turin Univ. (Italy). Istituto di Fisica)

    1976-02-01

    In this work a study is presented of collective plasma processes by which pulsars can energetically support young supernova remnants. We show that many of the observed features of the Crab Nebula can be adequately interpreted in terms of a parametric interaction between the low-frequency electromagnetic wave emitted by the pulsar in the oblique rotator model and a relativistic wind of charged particle leaking from the pulsar's inner magnetosphere. In particular we show that there is a relativistic parametric resonant coupling of the strong wave with electrostatic and electromagnetic modes.

  11. Two possible approaches to form sub-millisecond pulsars

    OpenAIRE

    Du, Yuanjie; Xu, R. X.; Qiao, G. J.; Han, J. L.

    2008-01-01

    Pulsars have been recognized as normal neutron stars or quark stars. Sub-millisecond pulsars, if detected, would play an essential and important role in distinguishing quark stars from neutron stars. A key question is how sub-millisecond pulsars could form. Both sub-Keplerian (for neutron and quark stars) and super-Keplerian cases (only for quark stars, which are bound additionally by strong interaction) have been discussed in this paper in order to investigate possible ways of forming sub-mi...

  12. Listening in on Baby - Monitoring the Youngest Known Pulsar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gotthelf, Eric

    We have discovered a most remarkable young pulsar, PSR J1846-0258, in the core of a Crab-like pulsar wind nebula at the center of the bright shell-type SNR Kes 75. Based on its spin-down rate and X-ray spectrum, PSR J1846-0258 is likely the youngest known rotation-powered pulsar. Compared to the Crab pulsar, however, its period, spin-down rate, and X-ray conversion efficiency are each an order of magnitude greater, likely the result of its extreme magnetic field, above the quantum critical threshold. We propose to continue our monitoring campaign of PSR~J1846-0258 to measure the braking index, characterize its timing noise, and search for evidence of timing glitches. Furthermore, an X- ray ephemeris contemporal with GLAST is critical to detecting the pulsar at higher energies.

  13. Monitoring Baby - Listening in on the Youngest Known Pulsar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gotthelf, Eric

    We have discovered a most remarkable young pulsar, PSR J1846-0258, in the core of a Crab-like pulsar wind nebula at the center of the bright shell-type supernova remnant Kes 75. Based on its spin-down rate and X- ray spectrum, PSR J1846-0258 is likely the youngest known rotation- powered pulsar. Compared to the Crab pulsar, however, its period, spin- down rate, and spin-down to X-ray luminosity conversion efficiency are each an order of magnitude greater, likely the result of its extreme magnetic field, above the quantum critical threshold. We propose to continue our monitoring campaign of PSR J1846-0258 to measure the braking index, characterize its timing noise, and search for evidence of glitches. This pulsar provides important insight into the evolution of the youngest NS-SNR systems.

  14. Axion mass limits from pulsar x rays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morris, D.E.

    1984-12-01

    Axions thermally emitted by a neutron star would be converted into x rays in the strong magnetic field surrounding the star. An improvement in the observational upper limit of pulsed x rays from the Vela pulsar (PSR 0833-45) by a factor of 12 would constrain the axion mass M/sub a/ -3 eV if the core is non-superfluid and at temperature T/sub c/ greater than or equal to 2 x 10 8 K. If the core is superfluid throughout, an improvement factor of 240 would be needed to provide the same constraint on the axion mass, while in the absence of superfluidity, an improvement factor of 200 could constrain M/sub a/ -4 eV. A search for modulated hard x rays from PSR 1509-58 or other young pulsars at presently attainable sensitivities may enable the setting of an upper limit for the axion mass. Observation of hard x rays from a very young hot pulsar with T/sub c/ greater than or equal to 7 x 10 8 K could set a firm bound on the axion mass, since neutron superfluidity is not expected above this temperature. The remaining axion mass range 6 x 10 -4 eV > M/sub a/ > 10 -5 eV (the cosmological lower bound) can be covered by an improved Sikivie type laboratory cavity detector for relic axions constituting the galactic halo. 48 refs

  15. Galactic distribution and evolution of pulsars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taylor, J.H.; Manchester, R.N.

    1977-01-01

    The distribution of pulsars with respect to period, z-distance, luminosity, and galactocentric radius has been investigated using data from three extensive pulsar surveys. It is shown that selection effects only slightly modify the observed period and z-distributions but strongly affect the observed luminosity function and galactic distribution. These latter two distributions are computed from the Jodrell Bank and Arecibo data, using an iterative procedure. The largest uncertainties in our results are the result of uncertainty in the adopted distance scale. Therefore, where relevant, separate calculations have been made for two values of the average interstellar electron density, , 0.02 cm -3 and 0.03 cm -3 .The derived luminosity function is closely represented by a power law with index (for logarithmic luminosity intervals) close to -1. For =0.03 cm -3 , the density of potentially observable pulsars is about 90 kpc -2 in the local region and increases with decreasing galactocentric radius. These distributions imply that the total number of pulsars in the Galaxy is about 10 5 . If only a fraction of all pulsars are observable because of beaming effects, then the total number in the Galaxy is correspondingly greater.Recent observations of pulsar proper motions show that pulsars are generally high-velocity objects. The observed z-distribution of pulsars implies that the mean age of observable pulsars does not exceed 2 x 10 6 years. With this mean age the pulsar birthrate required to maintain the observed galactic distribution is 10 -4 yr -1 kpc -2 in the local region and one pulsar birth every 6 years in the Galaxy as a whole. For =0.02 cm -3 , the corresponding rate is one birth every 40 years. These rates exceed most estimates of supernova occurrence rates and may require that all stars with mass greater than approx.2.5 Msun form pulsars at the end of their evolutionary life

  16. Monitoring Baby - Listening in on the Youngest Known Pulsar (XTEAO11)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gotthelf, Eric

    We have discovered a most remarkable young pulsar, PSR~J1846-0258, in the core of a Crab-like pulsar wind nebula at the center of the bright shell-type supernova remnant Kes~75. Based on its spin-down rate and X- ray spectrum, PSR~J1846-0258 is likely the youngest known rotation- powered pulsar. Compared to the Crab pulsar, however, its period, spin- down rate, and spin-down to X-ray luminosity conversion efficiency are each an order of magnitude greater, likely the result of its extreme magnetic field, above the quantum critical threshold. We propose to continue our monitoring campaign to measure the pulsar's braking index, characterize its timing noise, and search for evidence of timing glitches. This pulsar provides important insight into the evolution of the youngest NS-SNR systems.

  17. WHY DO THE BRAKING INDICES OF PULSARS SPAN A RANGE OF MORE THAN 100 MILLIONS?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Shuangnan; Xie Yi

    2012-01-01

    Here we report that the observed braking indices of the 366 pulsars in the sample of Hobbs et al. range from about –10 8 to about +10 8 and are significantly correlated with their characteristic ages. Using the model of magnetic field evolution we developed previously based on the same data, we derive an analytical expression for the braking index which agrees with all the observed statistical properties of the braking indices of the pulsars in the sample of Hobbs et al. Our model is, however, incompatible with the previous interpretation that magnetic field growth is responsible for the small values of braking indices ( 3 yr. We find that the ''instantaneous'' braking index of a pulsar may be different from the ''averaged'' braking index obtained from fitting the data over a certain time span. The close match between our model-predicted ''instantaneous'' braking indices and the observed ''averaged'' braking indices suggests that the time spans used previously are usually smaller than or comparable to their magnetic field oscillation periods. Our model can be tested with the existing data by calculating the braking index as a function of the time span for each pulsar. In doing so, one can obtain for each pulsar all the parameters in our magnetic field evolution model, and may be able to improve the sensitivity of using pulsars to detect gravitational waves.

  18. THE BRAKING INDEX OF A RADIO-QUIET GAMMA-RAY PULSAR

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Clark, C. J.; Pletsch, H. J.; Allen, B.; Aulbert, C.; Beer, C.; Bock, O.; Cuéllar, A.; Eggenstein, H. B.; Fehrmann, H.; Machenschalk, B.; Nieder, L. [Albert-Einstein-Institut, Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik, D-30167 Hannover (Germany); Wu, J.; Guillemot, L.; Kramer, M. [Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn (Germany); Camilo, F. [SKA South Africa, Pinelands, 7405 (South Africa); Johnson, T. J. [College of Science, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030 (United States); Kerr, M., E-mail: colin.clark@aei.mpg.de [CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Australia Telescope National Facility, Epping, NSW 1710 (Australia)

    2016-11-20

    We report the discovery and timing measurements of PSR J1208−6238, a young and highly magnetized gamma-ray pulsar, with a spin period of 440 ms. The pulsar was discovered in gamma-ray photon data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) during a blind-search survey of unidentified LAT sources, running on the distributed volunteer computing system Einstein@Home . No radio pulsations were detected in dedicated follow-up searches with the Parkes radio telescope, with a flux density upper limit at 1369 MHz of 30 μ Jy. By timing this pulsar’s gamma-ray pulsations, we measure its braking index over five years of LAT observations to be n = 2.598 ± 0.001 ± 0.1, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second estimates the bias due to timing noise. Assuming its braking index has been similar since birth, the pulsar has an estimated age of around 2700 years, making it the youngest pulsar to be found in a blind search of gamma-ray data and the youngest known radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsar. Despite its young age, the pulsar is not associated with any known supernova remnant or pulsar wind nebula. The pulsar’s inferred dipolar surface magnetic field strength is 3.8 × 10{sup 13} G, almost 90% of the quantum-critical level. We investigate some potential physical causes of the braking index deviating from the simple dipole model but find that LAT data covering a longer time interval will be necessary to distinguish between these.

  19. THE BRAKING INDEX OF A RADIO-QUIET GAMMA-RAY PULSAR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clark, C. J.; Pletsch, H. J.; Allen, B.; Aulbert, C.; Beer, C.; Bock, O.; Cuéllar, A.; Eggenstein, H. B.; Fehrmann, H.; Machenschalk, B.; Nieder, L.; Wu, J.; Guillemot, L.; Kramer, M.; Camilo, F.; Johnson, T. J.; Kerr, M.

    2016-01-01

    We report the discovery and timing measurements of PSR J1208−6238, a young and highly magnetized gamma-ray pulsar, with a spin period of 440 ms. The pulsar was discovered in gamma-ray photon data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) during a blind-search survey of unidentified LAT sources, running on the distributed volunteer computing system Einstein@Home . No radio pulsations were detected in dedicated follow-up searches with the Parkes radio telescope, with a flux density upper limit at 1369 MHz of 30 μ Jy. By timing this pulsar’s gamma-ray pulsations, we measure its braking index over five years of LAT observations to be n = 2.598 ± 0.001 ± 0.1, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second estimates the bias due to timing noise. Assuming its braking index has been similar since birth, the pulsar has an estimated age of around 2700 years, making it the youngest pulsar to be found in a blind search of gamma-ray data and the youngest known radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsar. Despite its young age, the pulsar is not associated with any known supernova remnant or pulsar wind nebula. The pulsar’s inferred dipolar surface magnetic field strength is 3.8 × 10 13 G, almost 90% of the quantum-critical level. We investigate some potential physical causes of the braking index deviating from the simple dipole model but find that LAT data covering a longer time interval will be necessary to distinguish between these.

  20. Gamma-Ray Pulsar Light Curves as Probes of Magnetospheric Structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harding, A. K.

    2016-01-01

    The large number of gamma-ray pulsars discovered by the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope since its launch in 2008 dwarfs the handful that were previously known. The variety of observed light curves makes possible a tomography of both the ensemble-averaged field structure and the high-energy emission regions of a pulsar magnetosphere. Fitting the gamma-ray pulsar light curves with model magnetospheres and emission models has revealed that most of the high-energy emission, and the particles acceleration, takes place near or beyond the light cylinder, near the current sheet. As pulsar magnetosphere models become more sophisticated, it is possible to probe magnetic field structure and emission that are self-consistently determined. Light curve modeling will continue to be a powerful tool for constraining the pulsar magnetosphere physics.

  1. Gigahertz-peaked Spectra Pulsars and Thermal Absorption Model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kijak, J.; Basu, R.; Lewandowski, W.; Rożko, K. [Janusz Gil Institute of Astronomy, University of Zielona Góra, ul. Z. Szafrana 2, PL-65-516 Zielona Góra (Poland); Dembska, M., E-mail: jkijak@astro.ia.uz.zgora.pl [DLR Institute of Space Systems, Robert-Hooke-Str. 7 D-28359 Bremen (Germany)

    2017-05-10

    We present the results of our radio interferometric observations of pulsars at 325 and 610 MHz using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope. We used the imaging method to estimate the flux densities of several pulsars at these radio frequencies. The analysis of the shapes of the pulsar spectra allowed us to identify five new gigahertz-peaked spectra (GPS) pulsars. Using the hypothesis that the spectral turnovers are caused by thermal free–free absorption in the interstellar medium, we modeled the spectra of all known objects of this kind. Using the model, we were able to put some observational constraints on the physical parameters of the absorbing matter, which allows us to distinguish between the possible sources of absorption. We also discuss the possible effects of the existence of GPS pulsars on future search surveys, showing that the optimal frequency range for finding such objects would be from a few GHz (for regular GPS sources) to possibly 10 GHz for pulsars and radio magnetars exhibiting very strong absorption.

  2. Crustal entrainment and pulsar glitches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chamel, N

    2013-01-04

    Large pulsar frequency glitches are generally interpreted as sudden transfers of angular momentum between the neutron superfluid permeating the inner crust and the rest of the star. Despite the absence of viscous drag, the neutron superfluid is strongly coupled to the crust due to nondissipative entrainment effects. These effects are shown to severely limit the maximum amount of angular momentum that can possibly be transferred during glitches. In particular, it is found that the glitches observed in the Vela pulsar require an additional reservoir of angular momentum.

  3. Development of Pulsar Detection Methods for a Galactic Center Search

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thornton, Stephen; Wharton, Robert; Cordes, James; Chatterjee, Shami

    2018-01-01

    Finding pulsars within the inner parsec of the galactic center would be incredibly beneficial: for pulsars sufficiently close to Sagittarius A*, extremely precise tests of general relativity in the strong field regime could be performed through measurement of post-Keplerian parameters. Binary pulsar systems with sufficiently short orbital periods could provide the same laboratories with which to test existing theories. Fast and efficient methods are needed to parse large sets of time-domain data from different telescopes to search for periodicity in signals and differentiate radio frequency interference (RFI) from pulsar signals. Here we demonstrate several techniques to reduce red noise (low-frequency interference), generate signals from pulsars in binary orbits, and create plots that allow for fast detection of both RFI and pulsars.

  4. Testing General Relativity with Pulsar Timing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stairs Ingrid H.

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available Pulsars of very different types, including isolated objects and binaries (with short- and long-period orbits, and white-dwarf and neutron-star companions provide the means to test both the predictions of general relativity and the viability of alternate theories of gravity. This article presents an overview of pulsars, then discusses the current status of and future prospects for tests of equivalence-principle violations and strong-field gravitational experiments.

  5. High-Energy Emission from Rotation-Powered Pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harding, Alice K.

    2007-01-01

    Thirty-five years after the discovery of rotation-powered pulsars, we still do not understand their pulsed emission at any wavelength. In the last few years there have been some fundamental developments in acceleration and emission models. I will review both the basic physics of the models as well as the latest developments in understanding the high-energy emission of rotation-powered pulsars. Special and general relativistic effects play important roles in pulsar emission, from inertial frame-dragging near the stellar surface to aberration, time-of-flight and retardation of the magnetic field near the light cylinder. Understanding how these effects determine what we observe at different wavelengths is critical to unraveling the emission physics. Fortunately two new gamma-ray telescopes, AGILE and GLAST, with launches expected this year will detect many new gamma-ray pulsars and test the predictions of these models with unprecedented sensitivity and energy resolution for gamma-rays in the range of 30 MeV to 300 GeV.

  6. Summary of the PULSAR and ARIES studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Najmabadi, F.; Conn, R.W.

    1994-01-01

    The PULSAR research program is a multi-institutional effort to investigate the feasibility and potential features of fusion power plants based on pulsed, inductively driven tokamak operation. In order to provide a sensible assessment of pulsed tokamak operation, a comparison with the ARIES steady-state power plant designs has been made. Two PULSAR designs have been considered: PULSAR-I uses He coolant, a solid tritium-breeding material, and SiC composite structure; PULSAR-II uses liquid Li as the coolant and tritium breeder, and a V-alloy structure material. This paper focuses on the PULSAR design and the comparison with steady-state ARIES designs. The 1000-MWe PULSAR design has an aspect ratio of 4, a plasma major radius of 8.6m, a plasma minor radius of 2.2m, and a neutron wall loading of l.3MW/m 2 . The toroidal field on axis is 7T, plasma β is 2.8%, plasma current is 14MA, and the bootstrap fraction is 37%. Because of cyclic fatigue, the allowable stress in the TF coils is lower, and, therefore, for the same magnet technology, the maximum toroidal field on the coil is 12T in the PULSAR design (corresponding to 16T in a steady-state device). This decrease in the toroidal-field strength more than offsets the gains in plasma β values for a pulsed device, resulting in a lower fusion-power density and a larger tokamak relative to a steady-state design

  7. ON THE GLOBAL STRUCTURE OF PULSAR FORCE-FREE MAGNETOSPHERE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Petrova, S. A.

    2013-01-01

    The dipolar magnetic field structure of a neutron star is modified by the plasma originating in the pulsar magnetosphere. In the simplest case of a stationary axisymmetric force-free magnetosphere, a self-consistent description of the fields and currents is given by the well-known pulsar equation. Here we revise the commonly used boundary conditions of the problem in order to incorporate the plasma-producing gaps and to provide a framework for a truly self-consistent treatment of the pulsar magnetosphere. A generalized multipolar solution of the pulsar equation is found, which, as compared to the customary split monopole solution, is suggested to better represent the character of the dipolar force-free field at large distances. In particular, the outer gap location entirely inside the light cylinder implies that beyond the light cylinder the null and critical lines should be aligned and become parallel to the equator at a certain altitude. Our scheme of the pulsar force-free magnetosphere, which will hopefully be followed by extensive analytic and numerical studies, may have numerous implications for different fields of pulsar research.

  8. FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS OF THE VELA-X PULSAR WIND NEBULA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Allafort, A.; Bechtol, K.; Berenji, B.; Blandford, R. D.; Bloom, E. D.; Borgland, A. W.; Bouvier, A.; Baldini, L.; Bellazzini, R.; Bregeon, J.; Brez, A.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G.; Bastieri, D.; Bonamente, E.; Brigida, M.; Bruel, P.

    2010-01-01

    We report on gamma-ray observations in the off-pulse window of the Vela pulsar PSR B0833-45 using 11 months of survey data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). This pulsar is located in the 8 deg. diameter Vela supernova remnant, which contains several regions of non-thermal emission detected in the radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray bands. The gamma-ray emission detected by the LAT lies within one of these regions, the 2 deg. x 3 deg. area south of the pulsar known as Vela-X. The LAT flux is significantly spatially extended with a best-fit radius of 0. 0 88 ± 0. 0 12 for an assumed radially symmetric uniform disk. The 200 MeV to 20 GeV LAT spectrum of this source is well described by a power law with a spectral index of 2.41 ± 0.09 ± 0.15 and integral flux above 100 MeV of (4.73 ± 0.63 ± 1.32) x 10 -7 cm -2 s -1 . The first errors represent the statistical error on the fit parameters, while the second ones are the systematic uncertainties. Detailed morphological and spectral analyses give strong constraints on the energetics and magnetic field of the pulsar wind nebula system and favor a scenario with two distinct electron populations.

  9. Relativistic solitons and pulsars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Karpman, V I [Inst. of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere, and Radio-Wave Propagation, Moscow; Norman, C A; ter Haar, D; Tsytovich, V N

    1975-05-01

    A production mechanism for stable electron bunches or sheets of localized electric fields is investigated which may account for pulsar radio emission. Possible soliton phenomena in a one-dimensional relativistic plasma are analyzed, and it is suggested that the motion of a relativistic soliton, or ''relaton'', along a curved magnetic-field line may produce radio emission with the correct polarization properties. A general MHD solution is obtained for relatons, the radiation produced by a relativistic particle colliding with a soliton is evaluated, and the emission by a soliton moving along a curved field line is estimated. It is noted that due to a number of severe physical restrictions, curvature radiation is not a very likely solution to the problem of pulsar radio emission. (IAA)

  10. TOWARD AN EMPIRICAL THEORY OF PULSAR EMISSION. X. ON THE PRECURSOR AND POSTCURSOR EMISSION

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Basu, Rahul; Mitra, Dipanjan; Rankin, Joanna M.

    2015-01-01

    Precursors and postcursors (PPCs) are rare emission components, which appear beyond the main pulse emission, in some cases far away from it, and are detected in a handful of pulsar. In this paper we attempt to characterize the PPC emission in relation to the pulsar main pulse geometry. In our analysis we find that PPC components have properties very different from that of outer conal emission. The separation of the PPC components from the main pulse center remains constant with frequency. In addition the beam opening angles corresponding to the separation of PPC components from the pulsar center are much larger than the largest encountered in conal emission. Pulsar radio emission is believed to originate within the magnetic polar flux tubes due to the growth of instabilities in the outflowing relativistic plasma. Observationally, there is strong evidence that the main pulse emission originates at altitudes of about 50 neutron star radii for a canonical pulsar. Currently, the most plausible radio emission model that can explain main pulse emission is the coherent curvature radiation mechanism, wherein relativistic charged solitons are formed in a non-stationary electron-positron-pair plasma. The wider beam opening angles of PPC require the emission to emanate from larger altitudes as compared to the main pulse, if both these components originate by the same emission mechanism. We explore this possibility and find that this emission mechanism is probably inapplicable at the height of the PPC emission. We propose that the PPC emission represents a new type of radiation from pulsars with a mechanism different from that of the main pulse

  11. Using low-frequency pulsar observations to study the 3-D structure of the Galactic magnetic field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sobey, C.; LOFAR Collaboration; MWA Collaboration

    2018-05-01

    The Galactic magnetic field (GMF) plays a role in many astrophysical processes and is a significant foreground to cosmological signals, such as the Epoch of Reionization (EoR), but is not yet well understood. Dispersion and Faraday rotation measurements (DMs and RMs, respectively) towards a large number of pulsars provide an efficient method to probe the three-dimensional structure of the GMF. Low-frequency polarisation observations with large fractional bandwidth can be used to measure precise DMs and RMs. This is demonstrated by a catalogue of RMs (corrected for ionospheric Faraday rotation) from the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), with a growing complementary catalogue in the southern hemisphere from the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). These data further our knowledge of the three-dimensional GMF, particularly towards the Galactic halo. Recently constructed or upgraded pathfinder and precursor telescopes, such as LOFAR and the MWA, have reinvigorated low-frequency science and represent progress towards the construction of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), which will make significant advancements in studies of astrophysical magnetic fields in the future. A key science driver for the SKA-Low is to study the EoR, for which pulsar and polarisation data can provide valuable insights in terms of Galactic foreground conditions.

  12. Current Sheets in Pulsar Magnetospheres and Winds: Particle Acceleration and Pulsed Gamma Ray Emission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arons, Jonathan

    The research proposed addresses understanding of the origin of non-thermal energy in the Universe, a subject beginning with the discovery of Cosmic Rays and continues, including the study of relativistic compact objects - neutron stars and black holes. Observed Rotation Powered Pulsars (RPPs) have rotational energy loss implying they have TeraGauss magnetic fields and electric potentials as large as 40 PetaVolts. The rotational energy lost is reprocessed into particles which manifest themselves in high energy gamma ray photon emission (GeV to TeV). Observations of pulsars from the FERMI Gamma Ray Observatory, launched into orbit in 2008, have revealed 130 of these stars (and still counting), thus demonstrating the presence of efficient cosmic accelerators within the strongly magnetized regions surrounding the rotating neutron stars. Understanding the physics of these and other Cosmic Accelerators is a major goal of astrophysical research. A new model for particle acceleration in the current sheets separating the closed and open field line regions of pulsars' magnetospheres, and separating regions of opposite magnetization in the relativistic winds emerging from those magnetopsheres, will be developed. The currents established in recent global models of the magnetosphere will be used as input to a magnetic field aligned acceleration model that takes account of the current carrying particles' inertia, generalizing models of the terrestrial aurora to the relativistic regime. The results will be applied to the spectacular new results from the FERMI gamma ray observatory on gamma ray pulsars, to probe the physics of the generation of the relativistic wind that carries rotational energy away from the compact stars, illuminating the whole problem of how compact objects can energize their surroundings. The work to be performed if this proposal is funded involves extending and developing concepts from plasma physics on dissipation of magnetic energy in thin sheets of

  13. Efficiency of Synchrotron Radiation from Rotation-powered Pulsars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kisaka, Shota [Department of Physics and Mathematics, Aoyama Gakuin University, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, 252-5258 (Japan); Tanaka, Shuta J., E-mail: kisaka@phys.aoyama.ac.jp, E-mail: sjtanaka@center.konan-u.ac.jp [Department of Physics, Konan University, Kobe, Hyogo, 658-8501 (Japan)

    2017-03-01

    Synchrotron radiation is widely considered to be the origin of the pulsed non-thermal emissions from rotation-powered pulsars in optical and X-ray bands. In this paper, we study the synchrotron radiation emitted by the created electron and positron pairs in the pulsar magnetosphere to constrain the energy conversion efficiency from the Poynting flux to the particle energy flux. We model two pair creation processes, two-photon collision, which efficiently works in young γ -ray pulsars (≲10{sup 6} year), and magnetic pair creation, which is the dominant process to supply pairs in old pulsars (≳10{sup 6} year). Using the analytical model, we derive the maximum synchrotron luminosity as a function of the energy conversion efficiency. From the comparison with observations, we find that the energy conversion efficiency to the accelerated particles should be an order of unity in the magnetosphere, even though we make a number of the optimistic assumptions to enlarge the synchrotron luminosity. In order to explain the luminosity of the non-thermal X-ray/optical emission from pulsars with low spin-down luminosity L {sub sd} ≲ 10{sup 34} erg s{sup −1}, non-dipole magnetic field components should be dominant at the emission region. For the γ -ray pulsars with L {sub sd} ≲ 10{sup 35} erg s{sup −1}, observed γ -ray to X-ray and optical flux ratios are much higher than the flux ratio between curvature and the synchrotron radiations. We discuss some possibilities such as the coexistence of multiple accelerators in the magnetosphere as suggested from the recent numerical simulation results. The obtained maximum luminosity would be useful to select observational targets in X-ray and optical bands.

  14. Particle Acceleration in Dissipative Pulsar Magnetospheres

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kazanas, Z.; Kalapotharakos, C.; Harding, A.; Contopoulos, I.

    2012-01-01

    Pulsar magnetospheres represent unipolar inductor-type electrical circuits at which an EM potential across the polar cap (due to the rotation of their magnetic field) drives currents that run in and out of the polar cap and close at infinity. An estimate ofthe magnitude of this current can be obtained by dividing the potential induced across the polar cap V approx = B(sub O) R(sub O)(Omega R(sub O)/c)(exp 2) by the impedance of free space Z approx eq 4 pi/c; the resulting polar cap current density is close to $n {GJ} c$ where $n_{GJ}$ is the Goldreich-Julian (GJ) charge density. This argument suggests that even at current densities close to the GJ one, pulsar magnetospheres have a significant component of electric field $E_{parallel}$, parallel to the magnetic field, a condition necessary for particle acceleration and the production of radiation. We present the magnetic and electric field structures as well as the currents, charge densities, spin down rates and potential drops along the magnetic field lines of pulsar magnetospheres which do not obey the ideal MHD condition $E cdot B = 0$. By relating the current density along the poloidal field lines to the parallel electric field via a kind of Ohm's law $J = sigma E_{parallel}$ we study the structure of these magnetospheres as a function of the conductivity $sigma$. We find that for $sigma gg OmegaS the solution tends to the (ideal) Force-Free one and to the Vacuum one for $sigma 11 OmegaS. Finally, we present dissipative magnetospheric solutions with spatially variable $sigma$ that supports various microphysical properties and are compatible with the observations.

  15. Electron-positron plasma generation in a pulsar magnetosphere

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gurevich, A.V.; Istomin, Ya.N.

    1985-01-01

    The generation of an electron-positron plasma in vacuum (vacuum ''breakdown'') in the presence of an inhomogeneous electric field and strong curvilinear magnetic field is considered. A situation of this type may occur in the magnetosphere of a rotating neutron star. A general set of kinetic equations for electrons, positrons and γ quanta in a curvilinear magnetic field is derived by taking into account electron-positron pair production and emission of curvicur and synchrotron photons. The conditions for appearance of ''breakdown'' are determined and the threshold value of the elec tric field discontinuity at the surface of the star is found. Multiplication of particles in the magnetosphere is investigated and the electron, positron and γ quantum distribution functions are found. The extinction limit of pulsars is determined. The theory is shown to be in accordance with the observation results

  16. A Physical Model of Pulsars as Gravitational Shielding and Oscillating Neutron Stars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhang T. X.

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Pulsars are thought to be fast rotating neutron stars, synchronously emitting periodic Dirac-delta-shape radio-frequency pulses and Lorentzian-shape oscillating X-rays. The acceleration of charged particles along the magnetic field lines of neutron stars above the magnetic poles that deviate from the rotating axis initiates coherent beams of ra- dio emissions, which are viewed as pulses of radiation whenever the magnetic poles sweep the viewers. However, the conventional lighthouse model of pulsars is only con- ceptual. The mechanism through which particles are accelerated to produce coherent beams is still not fully understood. The process for periodically oscillating X-rays to emit from hot spots at the inner edge of accretion disks remains a mystery. In addition, a lack of reflecting X-rays of the pulsar by the Crab Nebula in the OFF phase does not support the lighthouse model as expected. In this study, we develop a physical model of pulsars to quantitatively interpret the emission characteristics of pulsars, in accor- dance with the author’s well-developed five-dimensional fully covariant Kaluza-Klein gravitational shielding theory and the physics of thermal and accelerating charged par- ticle radiation. The results obtained from this study indicate that, with the significant gravitational shielding by scalar field, a neutron star nonlinearly oscillates and produces synchronous periodically Dirac-delta-shape radio-frequency pulses (emitted by the os- cillating or accelerating charged particles as well as periodically Lorentzian-shape os- cillating X-rays (as the thermal radiation of neutron stars whose temperature varies due to the oscillation. This physical model of pulsars broadens our understanding of neu- tron stars and develops an innovative mechanism to model the emissions of pulsars.

  17. An extremely bright gamma-ray pulsar in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-11-13

    Pulsars are rapidly spinning, highly magnetized neutron stars, created in the gravitational collapse of massive stars. We report the detection of pulsed giga-electron volt gamma rays from the young pulsar PSR J0540-6919 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. This is the first gamma-ray pulsar detected in another galaxy. It has the most luminous pulsed gamma-ray emission yet observed, exceeding the Crab pulsar's by a factor of 20. PSR J0540-6919 presents an extreme test case for understanding the structure and evolution of neutron star magnetospheres. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  18. Inclined Pulsar Magnetospheres in General Relativity: Polar Caps for the Dipole, Quadrudipole, and Beyond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gralla, Samuel E.; Lupsasca, Alexandru; Philippov, Alexander

    2017-12-01

    In the canonical model of a pulsar, rotational energy is transmitted through the surrounding plasma via two electrical circuits, each connecting to the star over a small region known as a “polar cap.” For a dipole-magnetized star, the polar caps coincide with the magnetic poles (hence the name), but in general, they can occur at any place and take any shape. In light of their crucial importance to most models of pulsar emission (from radio to X-ray to wind), we develop a general technique for determining polar cap properties. We consider a perfectly conducting star surrounded by a force-free magnetosphere and include the effects of general relativity. Using a combined numerical-analytical technique that leverages the rotation rate as a small parameter, we derive a general analytic formula for the polar cap shape and charge-current distribution as a function of the stellar mass, radius, rotation rate, moment of inertia, and magnetic field. We present results for dipole and quadrudipole fields (superposed dipole and quadrupole) inclined relative to the axis of rotation. The inclined dipole polar cap results are the first to include general relativity, and they confirm its essential role in the pulsar problem. The quadrudipole pulsar illustrates the phenomenon of thin annular polar caps. More generally, our method lays a foundation for detailed modeling of pulsar emission with realistic magnetic fields.

  19. General Relativistic Radiation MHD Simulations of Supercritical Accretion onto a Magnetized Neutron Star: Modeling of Ultraluminous X-Ray Pulsars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Takahashi, Hiroyuki R. [Center for Computational Astrophysics, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan); Ohsuga, Ken, E-mail: takahashi@cfca.jp, E-mail: ken.ohsuga@nao.ac.jp [Division of Theoretical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan)

    2017-08-10

    By performing 2.5-dimensional general relativistic radiation magnetohydrodynamic simulations, we demonstrate supercritical accretion onto a non-rotating, magnetized neutron star, where the magnetic field strength of dipole fields is 10{sup 10} G on the star surface. We found the supercritical accretion flow consists of two parts: the accretion columns and the truncated accretion disk. The supercritical accretion disk, which appears far from the neutron star, is truncated at around ≃3 R {sub *} ( R {sub *} = 10{sup 6} cm is the neutron star radius), where the magnetic pressure via the dipole magnetic fields balances with the radiation pressure of the disks. The angular momentum of the disk around the truncation radius is effectively transported inward through magnetic torque by dipole fields, inducing the spin up of a neutron star. The evaluated spin-up rate, ∼−10{sup −11} s s{sup −1}, is consistent with the recent observations of the ultraluminous X-ray pulsars. Within the truncation radius, the gas falls onto a neutron star along the dipole fields, which results in a formation of accretion columns onto the northern and southern hemispheres. The net accretion rate and the luminosity of the column are ≃66 L {sub Edd}/ c {sup 2} and ≲10 L {sub Edd}, where L {sub Edd} is the Eddington luminosity and c is the light speed. Our simulations support a hypothesis whereby the ultraluminous X-ray pulsars are powered by the supercritical accretion onto the magnetized neutron stars.

  20. Gigahertz-peaked spectra pulsars in Pulsar Wind Nebulae

    Science.gov (United States)

    Basu, R.; RoŻko, K.; Kijak, J.; Lewandowski, W.

    2018-04-01

    We have carried out a detailed study of the spectral nature of six pulsars surrounded by pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe). The pulsar flux density was estimated using the interferometric imaging technique of the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope at three frequencies 325, 610, and 1280 MHz. The spectra showed a turnover around gigahertz frequency in four out of six pulsars. It has been suggested that the gigahertz-peaked spectrum (GPS) in pulsars arises due to thermal absorption of the pulsar emission in surrounding medium like PWNe, H II regions, supernova remnants, etc. The relatively high incidence of GPS behaviour in pulsars surrounded by PWNe imparts further credence to this view. The pulsar J1747-2958 associated with the well-known Mouse nebula was also observed in our sample and exhibited GPS behaviour. The pulsar was detected as a point source in the high-resolution images. However, the pulsed emission was not seen in the phased-array mode. It is possible that the pulsed emission was affected by extreme scattering causing considerable smearing of the emission at low radio frequencies. The GPS spectra were modelled using the thermal free-free absorption and the estimated absorber properties were largely consistent with PWNe. The spatial resolution of the images made it unlikely that the point source associated with J1747-2958 was the compact head of the PWNe, but the synchrotron self-absorption seen in such sources was a better fit to the estimated spectral shape.

  1. The past, present and future of pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bell Burnell, Jocelyn

    2017-12-01

    On the 50th anniversary of the accidental discovery of pulsars (pulsating radio stars, also known as neutron stars) I reflect on the process of their detection and how our understanding of these stars gradually grew. Fifty years on, we have a much better (but still incomplete) understanding of these extreme objects, which I summarize here. The study of pulsars is advancing several areas of fundamental physics, including general relativity, particle physics, condensed-matter physics, and radiation processes in extreme electric and magnetic fields. New observational facilities coming online in the radio regime (such as the Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope and the Square Kilometre Array precursors) will revolutionize the search for pulsars by accessing thousands more, thus ushering in a new era of discovery for the field.

  2. An Accretion Model for Anomalous X-Ray Pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chatterjee, Pinaki; Hernquist, Lars; Narayan, Ramesh

    2000-05-01

    We present a model for the anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) in which the emission is powered by accretion from a fossil disk, established from matter falling back onto the neutron star following its birth. The time-dependent accretion drives the neutron star toward a ``tracking'' solution in which the rotation period of the star increases slowly, in tandem with the declining accretion rate. For appropriate choices of disk mass, neutron star magnetic field strength, and initial spin period, we demonstrate that a rapidly rotating neutron star can be spun down to periods characteristic of AXPs on timescales comparable to the estimated ages of these sources. In other cases, accretion onto the neutron star switches off after a short time and the star becomes an ordinary radio pulsar. Thus, in our picture, radio pulsars and AXPs are drawn from the same underlying population, in contrast to the situation in models involving neutron stars with ultrastrong magnetic fields, which require a new population of stars with very different properties.

  3. X-RAY OBSERVATIONS OF THE YOUNG PULSAR J1357—6429 AND ITS PULSAR WIND NEBULA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang, Chulhoon; Pavlov, George G.; Kargaltsev, Oleg; Shibanov, Yurii A.

    2012-01-01

    We observed the young pulsar J1357—6429 with the Chandra and XMM-Newton observatories. The pulsar spectrum fits well a combination of an absorbed power-law model (Γ = 1.7 ± 0.6) and a blackbody model (kT = 140 +60 –40 eV, R ∼ 2 km at the distance of 2.5 kpc). Strong pulsations with pulsed fraction of 42% ± 5%, apparently associated with the thermal component, were detected in 0.3-1.1 keV. Surprisingly, the pulsed fraction at higher energies, 1.1-10 keV, appears to be smaller, 23% ± 4%. The small emitting area of the thermal component either corresponds to a hotter fraction of the neutron star surface or indicates inapplicability of the simplistic blackbody description. The X-ray images also reveal a pulsar wind nebula (PWN) with complex, asymmetric morphology comprised of a brighter, compact PWN surrounded by the fainter, much more extended PWN whose spectral slopes are Γ = 1.3 ± 0.3 and Γ = 1.7 ± 0.2, respectively. The extended PWN with the observed flux of ∼7.5 × 10 –13 erg s –1 cm –2 is a factor of 10 more luminous then the compact PWN. The pulsar and its PWN are located close to the center of the extended TeV source HESS J1356-645, which strongly suggests that the very high energy emission is powered by electrons injected by the pulsar long ago. The X-ray to TeV flux ratio, ∼0.1, is similar to those of other relic PWNe. We found no other viable candidates to power the TeV source. A region of diffuse radio emission, offset from the pulsar toward the center of the TeV source, could be synchrotron emission from the same relic PWN rather than from the supernova remnant.

  4. Ab-initio Pulsar Magnetosphere: Particle Acceleration in Oblique Rotators and High-energy Emission Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Philippov, Alexander A.; Spitkovsky, Anatoly

    2018-03-01

    We perform global particle-in-cell simulations of pulsar magnetospheres, including pair production, ion extraction from the surface, frame-dragging corrections, and high-energy photon emission and propagation. In the case of oblique rotators, the effects of general relativity increase the fraction of the open field lines that support active pair discharge. We find that the plasma density and particle energy flux in the pulsar wind are highly non-uniform with latitude. A significant fraction of the outgoing particle energy flux is carried by energetic ions, which are extracted from the stellar surface. Their energies may extend up to a large fraction of the open field line voltage, making them interesting candidates for ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. We show that pulsar gamma-ray radiation is dominated by synchrotron emission, produced by particles that are energized by relativistic magnetic reconnection close to the Y-point and in the equatorial current sheet. In most cases, the calculated light curves contain two strong peaks, which is in general agreement with Fermi observations. The radiative efficiency decreases with increasing pulsar inclination and increasing efficiency of pair production in the current sheet, which explains the observed scatter in L γ versus \\dot{E}. We find that the high-frequency cutoff in the spectra is regulated by the pair-loading of the current sheet. Our findings lay the foundation for quantitative interpretation of Fermi observations of gamma-ray pulsars.

  5. Detection of 16 Gamma-Ray Pulsars Through Blind Frequency Searches Using the Fermi LAT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderson, B.; Atwood, W.B.; Dormody, M.; Johnson, R.P.; Porter, T.A.; Primack, J.R.; Sadrozinski, H.F.W.; Parkinson, P.M.S.; Ziegler, M.; Abdo, A.A.; Dermer, C.D.; Grove, J.E.; Gwon, C.; Johnson, W.N.; Lovellette, M.N.; Makeev, A.; Ray, P.S.; Strickman, M.S.; Wolff, M.T.; Wood, K.S.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Bechtol, K.; Berenji, B.; Blandford, R.D.; Borgland, A.W.; Cameron, R.A.; Chiang, J.; Claus, R.; Digel, S.W.; Silva, E.D.E.; Drell, P.S.; Dubois, R.; Funk, S.; Glanzman, T.; Godfrey, G.; Hayashida, M.; Johannesson, G.; Kamae, T.; Kocian, M.L.; Lande, J.; Madejski, G.M.; Michelson, P.F.; Mitthumsiri, W.; Monzani, M.E.; Moskalenko, I.V.; Murgia, S.; Nolan, P.L.; Paneque, D.; Reimer, A.; Reimer, O.; Rochester, L.S.; Romani, R.W.; Tajima, H.; Tanaka, T.; Thayer, J.G.; Tramacere, A.; Uchiyama, Y.; Usher, T.L.; Van Etten, A.; Waite, A.P.; Wang, P.; Watters, K.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Bechtol, K.; Berenji, B.; Bloom, E.D.; Borgland, A.W.; Cameron, R.A.; Chiang, J.; Claus, R.; Digel, S.W.; Silva, E.D.E.; Drell, P.S.; Dubois, R.; Glanzman, T.; Godfrey, G.; Hayashida, M.; Johannesson, G.; Kamae, T.; Kocian, M.L.; Lande, J.; Madejski, G.M.; Michelson, P.F.; Mitthumsiri, W.; Monzani, M.E.; Moskalenko, I.V.; Murgia, S.; Nolan, P.L.; Paneque, D.; Reimer, A.; Reimer, O.; Rochester, L.S.; Romani, R.W.; Tajima, H.; Tanaka, T.; Thayer, J.G.; Tramacere, A.; Uchiyama, Y.; Usher, T.L.; Van Etten, A.; Waite, A.P.; Wang, P.; Watters, K.; Axelsson, M.; Conrad, J.; Meurer, C.; Ryde, F.; Ylinen, T.; Axelsson, M.; Baldini, L.; Bellazzini, R.; Bregeon, J.; Brez, A.; Kuss, M.; Latronico, L.; Omodei, N.; Pesce-Rollins, M.; Razzano, M.; Sgro, C.; Spandre, G.; Ballet, J.; Casandjian, J.M.; Grenier, I.A.; Pierbattista, M.; Starck, J.L.

    2009-01-01

    Pulsars are rapidly rotating, highly magnetized neutron stars emitting radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum. Although there are more than 1800 known radio pulsars, until recently only seven were observed to pulse in gamma rays, and these were all discovered at other wavelengths. The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) makes it possible to pinpoint neutron stars through their gamma-ray pulsations. We report the detection of 16 gamma-ray pulsars in blind frequency searches using the LAT. Most of these pulsars are coincident with previously unidentified gamma-ray sources, and many are associated with supernova remnants. Direct detection of gamma-ray pulsars enables studies of emission mechanisms, population statistics, and the energetics of pulsar wind nebulae and supernova remnants. (authors)

  6. On the adiabatic walking of plasma waves in a pulsar magnetosphere

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Melikidze, George I.; Gil, Janusz; Mitra, Dipanjan

    2014-01-01

    The pulsar radio emission is generated in the near magnetosphere of the neutron star, and it must propagate through the rest of it to emerge into the interstellar medium. An important issue is whether this propagation affects the planes of polarization of the generated radiation. Observationally, there is sufficient evidence that the emerging radiation is polarized parallel or perpendicular to the magnetic field line planes that should be associated with the ordinary (O) and extraordinary (X) plasma modes, respectively, excited by some radiative process. This strongly suggests that the excited X and O modes are not affected by the so-called adiabatic walking that causes a slow rotation of polarization vectors. In this paper, we demonstrate that the conditions for adiabatic walking are not fulfilled within the soliton model of pulsar radio emission, in which the coherent curvature radiation occurs at frequencies much lower than the characteristic plasma frequency, The X mode propagates freely and observationally represents the primary polarization mode. The O mode has difficulty escaping from the pulsar plasma; however, it is sporadically observed as a weaker secondary polarization mode. We discuss a possible scenario under which the O mode can also escape from the plasma and reach an observer.

  7. THE LIGHT CURVE AND INTERNAL MAGNETIC FIELD OF THE MODE-SWITCHING PULSAR PSR B0943+10

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Storch, Natalia I.; Lai, Dong [Center for Space Research, Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States); Ho, Wynn C. G. [Mathematical Sciences and STAG Research Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ (United Kingdom); Bogdanov, Slavko [Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027 (United States); Heinke, Craig O. [Department of Physics, University of Alberta, CCIS 4-181, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E1 (Canada)

    2014-07-10

    A number of radio pulsars exhibit intriguing mode-switching behavior. Recent observations of PSR B0943+10 revealed correlated radio and X-ray mode switches, providing a new avenue for understanding this class of objects. The large X-ray pulse fraction observed during the radio-quiet phase (Q-mode) was previously interpreted as a result of changing obscuration of X-rays by dense magnetosphere plasma. We show that the large X-ray pulse fraction can be explained by including the beaming effect of a magnetic atmosphere, while remaining consistent with the dipole field geometry constrained by radio observations. We also explore a more extreme magnetic field configuration, where a magnetic dipole displaced from the center of the star produces two magnetic polar caps of different sizes and magnetic field strengths. These models are currently consistent with data in radio and X-rays and can be tested or constrained by future X-ray observations.

  8. Pulsar astronomy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lyne, A.G.; Graham-Smith, F.

    1990-01-01

    This account of the properties of pulsars tells an exciting story of discovery in modern astronomy. Pulsars, discovered in 1967, now take their place in a very wide range of astrophysics. They are one of the endpoints of stellar evolution, in which the core of a star collapses to a rapidly spinning neutron star a few kilometres in size. This book is an introductory account for those entering the field. It introduces the circumstances of the discovery and gives an overview of pulsar astrophysics. There are chapters on search techniques, distances, pulse timing, the galactic population of pulsars, binary and millisecond pulsars, geometry and physics of the emission regions, and applications to the interstellar medium. An important feature of this book is the inclusion of an up-to-date catalogue of all known pulsars. (author)

  9. Gamma-ray pulsars: Emission zones and viewing geometries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romani, Roger W.; Yadigaroglu, I.-A.

    1995-01-01

    There are now a half-dozen young pulsars detected in high-energy photons by the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (CGRO), showing a variety of emission efficiencies and pulse profiles. We present here a calculation of the pattern of high-energy emission on the sky in a model which posits gamma-ray production by charge-depleted gaps in the outer magnetosphere. This model accounts for the radio to gamma-ray pulse offsets of the known pulsars, as well as the shape of the high-energy pulse profiles. We also show that about one-third of emitting young radio pulsars will not be detected due to beaming effects, while approximately 2.5 times the number of radio-selected gamma-ray pulsars will be viewed only high energies. Finally we compute the polarization angle variation and find that the previously misunderstood optical polarization sweep of the Crab pulsar arises naturally in this picture. These results strongly support an outer magnetosphere location for the gamma-ray emission.

  10. NuSTAR DETECTION OF HARD X-RAY PHASE LAGS FROM THE ACCRETING PULSAR GS 0834–430

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Miyasaka, Hiromasa; Harrison, Fiona A.; Fürst, Felix; Bellm, Eric C.; Grefenstette, Brian W.; Madsen, Kristin K.; Walton, Dominic J. [Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Bachetti, Matteo; Barret, Didier [Université de Toulouse, UPS-OMP, IRAP, F-31400 Toulouse (France); Boggs, Steven E.; Craig, William W.; Tomsick, John A. [Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Chakrabarty, Deepto [Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Chenevez, Jerome; Christensen, Finn E. [DTU Space, National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Elektrovej 327, DK-2800 Lyngby (Denmark); Hailey, Charles J. [Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (United States); Natalucci, Lorenzo [Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, INAF, Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, Roma I-00133 (Italy); Pottschmidt, Katja [CRESST, UMBC, and NASA GSFC, Code 661, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Stern, Daniel [Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States); Wilms, Jörn, E-mail: miyasaka@srl.caltech.edu [Dr. Karl-Remeis-Sternwarte and ECAP, Sternwartstr. 7, D-96049 Bamberg (Germany); and others

    2013-09-20

    The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array hard X-ray telescope observed the transient Be/X-ray binary GS 0834–430 during its 2012 outburst—the first active state of this system observed in the past 19 yr. We performed timing and spectral analysis and measured the X-ray spectrum between 3-79 keV with high statistical significance. We find the phase-averaged spectrum to be consistent with that observed in many other magnetized, accreting pulsars. We fail to detect cyclotron resonance scattering features that would allow us to constrain the pulsar's magnetic field in either phase-averaged or phase-resolved spectra. Timing analysis shows a clearly detected pulse period of ∼12.29 s in all energy bands. The pulse profiles show a strong, energy-dependent hard phase lag of up to 0.3 cycles in phase, or about 4 s. Such dramatic energy-dependent lags in the pulse profile have never before been reported in high-mass X-ray binary pulsars. Previously reported lags have been significantly smaller in phase and restricted to low energies (E < 10 keV). We investigate the possible mechanisms that might produce this energy-dependent pulse phase shift. We find the most likely explanation for this effect is a complex beam geometry.

  11. Tests of general relativity from timing the double pulsar.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kramer, M; Stairs, I H; Manchester, R N; McLaughlin, M A; Lyne, A G; Ferdman, R D; Burgay, M; Lorimer, D R; Possenti, A; D'Amico, N; Sarkissian, J M; Hobbs, G B; Reynolds, J E; Freire, P C C; Camilo, F

    2006-10-06

    The double pulsar system PSR J0737-3039A/B is unique in that both neutron stars are detectable as radio pulsars. They are also known to have much higher mean orbital velocities and accelerations than those of other binary pulsars. The system is therefore a good candidate for testing Einstein's theory of general relativity and alternative theories of gravity in the strong-field regime. We report on precision timing observations taken over the 2.5 years since its discovery and present four independent strong-field tests of general relativity. These tests use the theory-independent mass ratio of the two stars. By measuring relativistic corrections to the Keplerian description of the orbital motion, we find that the "post-Keplerian" parameter s agrees with the value predicted by general relativity within an uncertainty of 0.05%, the most precise test yet obtained. We also show that the transverse velocity of the system's center of mass is extremely small. Combined with the system's location near the Sun, this result suggests that future tests of gravitational theories with the double pulsar will supersede the best current solar system tests. It also implies that the second-born pulsar may not have formed through the core collapse of a helium star, as is usually assumed.

  12. Strong Support for the Millisecond Pulsar Origin of the Galactic Center GeV Excess.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bartels, Richard; Krishnamurthy, Suraj; Weniger, Christoph

    2016-02-05

    Using γ-ray data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope, various groups have identified a clear excess emission in the Inner Galaxy, at energies around a few GeV. This excess resembles remarkably well a signal from dark-matter annihilation. One of the most compelling astrophysical interpretations is that the excess is caused by the combined effect of a previously undetected population of dim γ-ray sources. Because of their spectral similarity, the best candidates are millisecond pulsars. Here, we search for this hypothetical source population, using a novel approach based on wavelet decomposition of the γ-ray sky and the statistics of Gaussian random fields. Using almost seven years of Fermi-LAT data, we detect a clustering of photons as predicted for the hypothetical population of millisecond pulsar, with a statistical significance of 10.0σ. For plausible values of the luminosity function, this population explains 100% of the observed excess emission. We argue that other extragalactic or Galactic sources, a mismodeling of Galactic diffuse emission, or the thick-disk population of pulsars are unlikely to account for this observation.

  13. Listening in on Baby - Monitoring the Youngest Known Pulsar (core Program)

    Science.gov (United States)

    We have discovered a most remarkable young pulsar, PSR J1846-0258, in the core of a Crab-like pulsar wind nebula at the center of the bright shell-type SNR Kes 75. Based on its spin-down rate and X-ray spectrum, PSR J1846-0258 is likely the youngest known rotation-powered pulsar. Compared to the Crab pulsar, however, its period, spin-down rate, and X-ray conversion efficiency are each an order of magnitude greater, likely the result of its extreme magnetic field, above the quantum critical threshold. We propose to continue our monitoring campaign of PSR~J1846-0258 to measure the braking index, characterize its timing noise, and search for evidence of timing glitches. Furthermore, an X- ray ephemeris contemporal with GLAST is critical to detecting the pulsar at higher energies.

  14. Radio emissions from pulsar companions: a refutable explanation for galactic transients and fast radio bursts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mottez, F.; Zarka, P.

    2014-09-01

    Context. The six known highly dispersed fast radio bursts are attributed to extragalactic radio sources that are of unknown origin but extremely energetic. We propose here a new explanation that does not require an extreme release of energy and involves a body (planet, asteroid, white dwarf) orbiting an extragalactic pulsar. Aims: We investigate a theory of radio waves associated with such pulsar-orbiting bodies. We focus our analysis on the waves emitted from the magnetic wake of the body in the pulsar wind. After deriving their properties, we compare them with the observations of various transient radio signals to determine whether they could originate from pulsar-orbiting bodies. Methods: The analysis is based on the theory of Alfvén wings: for a body immersed in a pulsar wind, a system of two stationary Alfvén waves is attached to the body, provided that the wind is highly magnetised. When they are destabilised through plasma instabilities, Alfvén wings can be the locus of strong radio sources that are convected with the pulsar wind. By assuming a cyclotron maser instability operating in the Alfvén wings, we make predictions about the shape, frequencies, and brightness of the resulting radio emissions. Results: Because of the beaming by relativistic aberration, the signal is seen only when the companion is perfectly aligned between its parent pulsar and the observer, as is the case for occultations. For pulsar winds with a high Lorentz factor (≥104), the whole duration of the radio event does not exceed a few seconds, and it is composed of one to four peaks that last a few milliseconds each and are detectable up to distances of several Mpc. The Lorimer burst, the three isolated pulses of PSR J1928+15, and the recently detected fast radio bursts are all compatible with our model. According to it, these transient signals should repeat periodically with the companion's orbital period. Conclusions: The search of pulsar-orbiting bodies could be an exploration

  15. Is the apparent dichotomy between bursting activity of magnetars and radio pulsars real ?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pons, J A; Perna, R

    2012-01-01

    Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) and Soft Gamma-Ray Repeaters (SGRs) are a class of young neutron stars (NSs) characterized by high X-ray quiescent luminosities, short X-ray bursts, and giant flares (for SGRs). They are believed to be magnetars, i.e. NSs with magnetic fields ∼ 10 14 – 10 15 G. The discovery of magnetar-like X-ray bursts from the young pulsar PSR J1846-0258 [1], with an inferred surface dipolar magnetic field of B p = 4.9 × 10 13 G, lower than the traditionally considered magnetar range, and, more recently, by the discovery of SGR 0418+5729 with an even lower B p = 7.5 × 10 12 G [2], well within the range of the rotation powered pulsars which do not display any bursting behaviour, has raised the obvious question: why some 'high-B' pulsars (PSR J1119-6127 and PSR J1814-1744, with B ∼ 4 – 5 × 10 13 G) do not display any burst, while at least one case of 'low-B' NSs (SGR 0418+5729) does, if the magnetic field is their driving force ?

  16. Strong and superstrong pulsed magnetic fields generation

    CERN Document Server

    Shneerson, German A; Krivosheev, Sergey I

    2014-01-01

    Strong pulsed magnetic fields are important for several fields in physics and engineering, such as power generation and accelerator facilities. Basic aspects of the generation of strong and superstrong pulsed magnetic fields technique are given, including the physics and hydrodynamics of the conductors interacting with the field as well as an account of the significant progress in generation of strong magnetic fields using the magnetic accumulation technique. Results of computer simulations as well as a survey of available field technology are completing the volume.

  17. DETECTING GRAVITATIONAL WAVE MEMORY WITH PULSAR TIMING

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cordes, J. M.; Jenet, F. A.

    2012-01-01

    We compare the detectability of gravitational bursts passing through the solar system with those passing near each millisecond pulsar in an N-pulsar timing array. The sensitivity to Earth-passing bursts can exploit the correlation expected in pulse arrival times while pulsar-passing bursts, though uncorrelated between objects, provide an N-fold increase in overall time baseline that can compensate for the lower sensitivity. Bursts with memory from mergers of supermassive black holes produce step functions in apparent spin frequency that are the easiest to detect in pulsar timing. We show that the burst rate and amplitude distribution, while strongly dependent on inadequately known cosmological evolution, may favor detection in the pulsar terms rather than the Earth timing perturbations. Any contamination of timing data by red spin noise makes burst detection more difficult because both signals grow with the length of the time data span T. Furthermore, the different bursts that could appear in one or more data sets of length T ≈ 10 yr also affect the detectability of the gravitational wave stochastic background that, like spin noise, has a red power spectrum. A burst with memory is a worthwhile target in the timing of multiple pulsars in a globular cluster because it should produce a correlated signal with a time delay of less than about 10 years in some cases.

  18. Detecting Gravitational Wave Memory with Pulsar Timing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cordes, J. M.; Jenet, F. A.

    2012-06-01

    We compare the detectability of gravitational bursts passing through the solar system with those passing near each millisecond pulsar in an N-pulsar timing array. The sensitivity to Earth-passing bursts can exploit the correlation expected in pulse arrival times while pulsar-passing bursts, though uncorrelated between objects, provide an N-fold increase in overall time baseline that can compensate for the lower sensitivity. Bursts with memory from mergers of supermassive black holes produce step functions in apparent spin frequency that are the easiest to detect in pulsar timing. We show that the burst rate and amplitude distribution, while strongly dependent on inadequately known cosmological evolution, may favor detection in the pulsar terms rather than the Earth timing perturbations. Any contamination of timing data by red spin noise makes burst detection more difficult because both signals grow with the length of the time data span T. Furthermore, the different bursts that could appear in one or more data sets of length T ≈ 10 yr also affect the detectability of the gravitational wave stochastic background that, like spin noise, has a red power spectrum. A burst with memory is a worthwhile target in the timing of multiple pulsars in a globular cluster because it should produce a correlated signal with a time delay of less than about 10 years in some cases.

  19. Pulsars as the sources of high energy cosmic ray positrons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hooper, Dan; Blasi, Pasquale; Serpico, Pasquale Dario

    2009-01-01

    Recent results from the PAMELA satellite indicate the presence of a large flux of positrons (relative to electrons) in the cosmic ray spectrum between approximately 10 and 100 GeV. As annihilating dark matter particles in many models are predicted to contribute to the cosmic ray positron spectrum in this energy range, a great deal of interest has resulted from this observation. Here, we consider pulsars (rapidly spinning, magnetized neutron stars) as an alternative source of this signal. After calculating the contribution to the cosmic ray positron and electron spectra from pulsars, we find that the spectrum observed by PAMELA could plausibly originate from such sources. In particular, a significant contribution is expected from the sum of all mature pulsars throughout the Milky Way, as well as from the most nearby mature pulsars (such as Geminga and B0656+14). The signal from nearby pulsars is expected to generate a small but significant dipole anisotropy in the cosmic ray electron spectrum, potentially providing a method by which the Fermi gamma-ray space telescope would be capable of discriminating between the pulsar and dark matter origins of the observed high energy positrons

  20. THE GALACTIC POPULATION OF YOUNG γ-RAY PULSARS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Watters, Kyle P.; Romani, Roger W.

    2011-01-01

    We have simulated a Galactic population of young pulsars and compared with the Fermi LAT sample, constraining the birth properties, beaming and evolution of these spin-powered objects. Using quantitative tests of agreement with the distributions of observed spin and pulse properties, we find that short birth periods P 0 ∼ 50 ms and γ-ray beams arising in the outer magnetosphere, dominated by a single pole, are strongly preferred. The modeled relative numbers of radio-detected and radio-quiet objects agrees well with the data. Although the sample is local, extrapolation to the full Galaxy implies a γ-ray pulsar birthrate 1/(59 yr). This is shown to be in good agreement with the estimated Galactic core collapse rate and with the local density of OB star progenitors. We give predictions for the numbers of expected young pulsar detections if Fermi LAT observations continue 10 years. In contrast to the potentially significant contribution of unresolved millisecond pulsars, we find that young pulsars should contribute little to the Galactic γ-ray background.

  1. Pulsars at Parkes

    OpenAIRE

    Manchester, R. N.

    2012-01-01

    The first pulsar observations were made at Parkes on March 8, 1968, just 13 days after the publication of the discovery paper by Hewish and Bell. Since then, Parkes has become the world's most successful pulsar search machine, discovering nearly two thirds of the known pulsars, among them many highly significant objects. It has also led the world in pulsar polarisation and timing studies. In this talk I will review the highlights of pulsar work at Parkes from those 1968 observations to about ...

  2. ngVLA Key Science Goal 4: Using Pulsars in the Galactic Center as Fundamental Tests of Gravity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bower, Geoffrey C.; Chatterjee, Shami; Cordes, James; Demorest, Paul; Dexter, Jason; Kramer, Michael; Lazio, Joseph; Ransom, Scott; Wharton, Robert; ngVLA Science Working Group 4

    2018-01-01

    Pulsars in the Galactic Center (GC) are important probes of general relativity (GR), star formation, stellar dynamics, stellar evolution, and the interstellar medium. A pulsar in orbit around the massive black hole in the GC, Sgr A*, has the power to provide a high-precision measurement of the black hole mass and spin in a unique regime of GR. It is sufficient to find and time a normal, slowly rotating pulsar in a reasonable orbit, in order to measure the mass of Sgr A* with a precision of 1 solar mass, to test the cosmic censorship conjecture to a precision of 0.1%, and to test the no-hair theorem to a precision of 1%. The pulsar population in the GC on scales from the inner parsec to the edge of the Central Molecular Zone (250 parsecs in diameter) can provide fresh insight into the complex processes at work in this region: the characteristic age distribution of the discovered pulsars will give insight into the star formation history; millisecond pulsars can be used as acceleratormeters to probe the local gravitational potential; the observed dispersion and scattering measures (and their variability) will allow us to probe the distribution, clumpiness and other properties of the central interstellar medium, including characterization of the central magnetic field using Faraday rotation. Proper motions of young pulsars can be used to point back to regions of recent star formation and/or supernova remnants.Despite years of searching, only a handful of pulsars in the central 0.5 degrees are known. This is likely the result of strong interstellar scattering along the line of sight, which broadens individual pulses to greater width than the pulse period. Scattering effects decline as wavelength to the fourth power, implying that we require observation at higher frequencies than are typical for typical pulsar searches. The characteristic steep spectrum of pulsars, however, implies the need for greater instrumental sensitivity at higher frequencies in order to detect and

  3. Meter-wavelength VLBI. III. Pulsars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vandenberg, N.R.; Clark, T.A.; Clark, W.C.; Erickson, W.C.; Resch, G.M.; Broderick, J.J.

    1976-01-01

    The results and analysis of observations of pulsars, especially the Crab Nebula pulsar, taken during a series of meter-wavelength very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) experiments are discussed. Based on a crude 144 MHz visibility curve which is consistent with a Gaussian brightness distribution, the measured visibilities at 196, 111, and 74 MHz were interpreted to yield apparent angular diameters (at half-power) of 0 .03 +- 0 .01, 0 .07 +- 0 .01, and 0 .18 +- 0 .01, respectively. These sizes scale approximately as wavelength-squared, and the 74 MHz size agrees with recent observations using interplanetary scintillation techniques.The VLBI-measured total flux densities lie on the extrapolation from higher frequencies of the pulsing flux densities. Variations in the total flux density up to 25 percent were observed. A lack of fine structure other than the pulsar in the nebula is indicated by our simple visibility curves. The pulse shapes observed with the interferometer are similar to single-dish measurements at 196 MHz but reveal a steady, nonpulsing component at 111 MHz. The ratio of pulsing to total power was approximately equal to one-half but varied with time. No pulsing power was detected at 74 MHz. It was found that four strong, low-dispersion pulsars were only slightly resolved

  4. POLARIZATION OBSERVATIONS OF 100 PULSARS AT 774 MHz BY THE GREEN BANK TELESCOPE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Han, J. L.; Demorest, P. B.; Van Straten, W.; Lyne, A. G.

    2009-01-01

    We report on polarimetric observations of 100 pulsars centered on 774 MHz, made using the Green Bank Telescope, presenting their polarization profiles and polarized flux densities and comparing them with previous observations when possible. For 67 pulsars, these are the first such measurements made. Polarization profiles of 8 millisecond-pulsars in our sample show wide profiles and flat position-angle curves. Strong linear polarization, sometimes approaching 100% of the total intensity, has been detected in all or a part of the average pulse profiles of some pulsars. In general, circular polarization is very weak, although it is observed to be extremely strong in the leading component of PSR J1920+2650. Sense reversal of circular polarization as a function of pulse phase has been detected from both core and other components of more than 20 pulsars. Any relationship between the spin-down luminosity and the percentage of linear polarization is not evident in our data at this frequency.

  5. Pulsar Emission: Is It All Relative?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harding, Alice K.

    2004-01-01

    Thirty-five years after the discovery of pulsars, we still do not understand the fundamentals of their pulsed emission at any wavelength. The fact that even detailed pulse profiles cannot identlfy the origin of the emission in a magnetosphere that extends fiom the neutron star surface to plasma moving at relativistic speeds near the light cylinder compounds the problem. I will discuss the role of special and general relativistic effects on pulsar emission, fiom inertial frame-dragging near the stellar surface to aberration, time-of-flight and retardation of the magnetic field near the light cylinder. Understanding how these effects determine what we observe at different wavelengths is critical to unraveling the emission physics.

  6. Detectability of rotation-powered pulsars in future hard X-ray surveys

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Wei

    2009-01-01

    Recent INTEGRAL/IBIS hard X-ray surveys have detected about 10 young pulsars. We show hard X-ray properties of these 10 young pulsars, which have a luminosity of 10 33 -10 37 erg s -1 and a photon index of 1.6-2.1 in the energy range of 20-100 keV. The correlation between X-ray luminosity and spin-down power of L X ∝ L sd 1.31 suggests that the hard X-ray emission in rotation-powered pulsars is dominated by the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) component. Assuming spectral properties are similar in 20-100 keV and 2-10 keV for both the pulsar and PWN components, the hard X-ray luminosity and flux of 39 known young X-ray pulsars and 8 millisecond pulsars are obtained, and a correlation of L X ∝ L sd 1.5 is derived. About 20 known young X-ray pulsars and 1 millisecond pulsars could be detected with future INTEGRAL and HXMT surveys. We also carry out Monte Carlo simulations of hard X-ray pulsars in the Galaxy and the Gould Belt, assuming values for the pulsar birth rate, initial position, proper motion velocity, period, and magnetic field distribution and evolution based on observational statistics and the L X - L sd relations: L X ∝ L sd 1.31 and L X ∝ L sd 1.5 . More than 40 young pulsars (mostly in the Galactic plane) could be detected after ten years of INTEGRAL surveys and the launch of HXMT. So, the young pulsars would be a significant part of the hard X-ray source population in the sky, and will contribute to unidentified hard X-ray sources in present and future hard X-ray surveys by INTEGRAL and HXMT.

  7. Relativistic plasma turbulence and its application to pulsar phenomena

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hinata, S.

    1976-01-01

    A turbulent plasma model of pulsars which has the potential of providing a self-regulatory mechanism for producing an electron-positron plasma over the polar caps, as well as the coherency of the radio wave emission, is analyzed. Turbulent plasma properties including the kinetic and electrostatic energy densities, the wavelength of the most unstable mode, and the effective collision frequency due to the excited electric field, are obtained and applied to the pulsar situation. Since these properties depend on the momentum distribution of the plasma particles, model calculations have been carried out with simple momentum distribution functions. The radio luminosity due to turbulence (bunching or otherwise) turned out to be either insufficient or unclear at the moment for these simple momentum distributions. This indicates that a further investigation of turbulence processes with the self-consistently determined momentum distribution is needed. This is left for future analysis, because entirely different processes (e.g. trapping) are likely to dominate the physics as is demonstrated for one of the model distribution functions. In addition to the above mentioned model, we examine some wave propagation properties in a relativistic electron-positron plasma immersed in a strong magnetic field

  8. NuSTAR detection of 4s Hard X-ray Lags from the Accreting Pulsar GS 0834-430

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bachetti Matteo

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The NuSTAR hard X-ray telescope observed the transient Be/X-ray binary GS 0834–430 during its 2012 outburst. The source is detected between 3 – 79 keV with high statistical significance, and we were able to perform very accurate spectral and timing analysis. The phase-averaged spectrum is consistent with that observed in many other magnetized accreting pulsars. We fail to detect cyclotron resonance scattering features in either phase-averaged nor phase-resolved spectra that would allow us to constrain the pulsar’s magnetic field. We detect a pulse period of ~ 12:29 s in all energy bands. The pulse profile can be modeled with a double Gaussian and shows a strong and smooth hard lag of up to 0.3 cycles in phase, or about 4s between the pulse at ~ 3 and ≳ 30 keV. This is the first report of such a strong lag in high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB pulsars. Previously reported lags have been significantly smaller in phase and restricted to low-energies (E<10 keV. We investigate the possible mechanisms that might produce such lags. We find the most likely explanation for this effect to be a complex beam geometry.

  9. Cooling Curve of Strange Star in Strong Magnetic Field

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    WANG Xiao-Qin; LUO Zhi-Quan

    2008-01-01

    In this paper, firstly, we investigate the neutrino emissivity from quark Urca process in strong magnetic field. Then, we discuss the heat capacity of strange stars in strong magnetic field. Finally, we give the cooling curve in strong magnetic field. In order to make a comparison, we also give the corresponding cooling curve in the case of null magnetic field. It turns out that strange stars cool faster in strong magnetic field than that without magnetic field.

  10. Pulsars in binary systems: probing binary stellar evolution and general relativity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stairs, Ingrid H

    2004-04-23

    Radio pulsars in binary orbits often have short millisecond spin periods as a result of mass transfer from their companion stars. They therefore act as very precise, stable, moving clocks that allow us to investigate a large set of otherwise inaccessible astrophysical problems. The orbital parameters derived from high-precision binary pulsar timing provide constraints on binary evolution, characteristics of the binary pulsar population, and the masses of neutron stars with different mass-transfer histories. These binary systems also test gravitational theories, setting strong limits on deviations from general relativity. Surveys for new pulsars yield new binary systems that increase our understanding of all these fields and may open up whole new areas of physics, as most spectacularly evidenced by the recent discovery of an extremely relativistic double-pulsar system.

  11. Experimental Constraints on γ-Ray Pulsar Gap Models and the Pulsar GeV to Pulsar Wind Nebula TeV Connection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abeysekara, A. U.; Linnemann, J. T.

    2015-05-01

    The pulsar emission mechanism in the gamma ray energy band is poorly understood. Currently, there are several models under discussion in the pulsar community. These models can be constrained by studying the collective properties of a sample of pulsars, which became possible with the large sample of gamma ray pulsars discovered by the Fermi Large Area Telescope. In this paper we develop a new experimental multi-wavelength technique to determine the beaming factor ≤ft( {{f}{Ω }} \\right) dependance on spin-down luminosity of a set of GeV pulsars. This technique requires three input parameters: pulsar spin-down luminosity, pulsar phase-averaged GeV flux, and TeV or X-ray flux from the associated pulsar wind nebula (PWN). The analysis presented in this paper uses the PWN TeV flux measurements to study the correlation between {{f}{Ω }} and \\dot{E}. The measured correlation has some features that favor the Outer Gap model over the Polar Cap, Slot Gap, and One Pole Caustic models for pulsar emission in the energy range of 0.1-100 GeV, but one must keep in mind that these simulated models failed to explain many of the most important pulsar population characteristics. A tight correlation between the pulsar GeV emission and PWN TeV emission was also observed, which suggests the possibility of a linear relationship between the two emission mechanisms. In this paper we also discuss a possible mechanism to explain this correlation.

  12. A millisecond pulsar in a stellar triple system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ransom, S M; Stairs, I H; Archibald, A M; Hessels, J W T; Kaplan, D L; van Kerkwijk, M H; Boyles, J; Deller, A T; Chatterjee, S; Schechtman-Rook, A; Berndsen, A; Lynch, R S; Lorimer, D R; Karako-Argaman, C; Kaspi, V M; Kondratiev, V I; McLaughlin, M A; van Leeuwen, J; Rosen, R; Roberts, M S E; Stovall, K

    2014-01-23

    Gravitationally bound three-body systems have been studied for hundreds of years and are common in our Galaxy. They show complex orbital interactions, which can constrain the compositions, masses and interior structures of the bodies and test theories of gravity, if sufficiently precise measurements are available. A triple system containing a radio pulsar could provide such measurements, but the only previously known such system, PSR B1620-26 (refs 7, 8; with a millisecond pulsar, a white dwarf, and a planetary-mass object in an orbit of several decades), shows only weak interactions. Here we report precision timing and multiwavelength observations of PSR J0337+1715, a millisecond pulsar in a hierarchical triple system with two other stars. Strong gravitational interactions are apparent and provide the masses of the pulsar M[Symbol: see text](1.4378(13), where M[Symbol: see text]is the solar mass and the parentheses contain the uncertainty in the final decimal places) and the two white dwarf companions (0.19751(15)M[Symbol: see text] and 0.4101(3))M[Symbol: see text], as well as the inclinations of the orbits (both about 39.2°). The unexpectedly coplanar and nearly circular orbits indicate a complex and exotic evolutionary past that differs from those of known stellar systems. The gravitational field of the outer white dwarf strongly accelerates the inner binary containing the neutron star, and the system will thus provide an ideal laboratory in which to test the strong equivalence principle of general relativity.

  13. Resonance double magnetic bremsstrahlung in a strong magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fomin, P.I.; Kholodov, R.I.

    2003-01-01

    The possibility of resonance double magnetic bremsstrahlung in the approximation of weakly excited electron states in a strong external magnetic field is analyzed. The differential probability of this process in the Breit-Wigner form is obtained. The probability of double magnetic bremsstrahlung (second-order process of perturbation theory) is compared with the probability of magnetic bremsstrahlung (first-order process of perturbation theory)

  14. Spectral Properties, Generation Order Parameters, and Luminosities for Spin-powered X-Ray Pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Wei; Zhao, Yongheng

    2004-02-01

    We show the spectral properties of 15 spin-powered X-ray pulsars, and the correlation between the average power-law photon index and spin-down rate. Generation order parameters (GOPs) based on polar cap models are introduced to characterize the X-ray pulsars. We calculate three definitions of generation order parameters arising from the different effects of magnetic and electric fields on photon absorption during cascade processes, and study the relations between the GOPs and spectral properties of X-ray pulsars. There exists a possible correlation between the photon index and GOP in our pulsar sample. Furthermore, we present a method stemming from the concept of GOPs to estimate the nonthermal X-ray luminosity for spin-powered pulsars. Then X-ray luminosity is calculated in the context of our polar cap accelerator model, which is consistent with most observed X-ray pulsar data. The ratio between the X-ray luminosity estimated by our method and the pulsar's spin-down power is consistent with the LX~10-3Lsd feature.

  15. Binary and Millisecond Pulsars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lorimer Duncan R.

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available We review the main properties, demographics and applications of binary and millisecond radio pulsars. Our knowledge of these exciting objects has greatly increased in recent years, mainly due to successful surveys which have brought the known pulsar population to over 1800. There are now 83 binary and millisecond pulsars associated with the disk of our Galaxy, and a further 140 pulsars in 26 of the Galactic globular clusters. Recent highlights include the discovery of the young relativistic binary system PSR J1906+0746, a rejuvination in globular cluster pulsar research including growing numbers of pulsars with masses in excess of 1.5M_⊙, a precise measurement of relativistic spin precession in the double pulsar system and a Galactic millisecond pulsar in an eccentric (e = 0.44 orbit around an unevolved companion.

  16. PSR J1755-2550: a young radio pulsar with a massive, compact companion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ng, C.; Kruckow, M. U.; Tauris, T. M.; Lyne, A. G.; Freire, P. C. C.; Ridolfi, A.; Caiazzo, I.; Heyl, J.; Kramer, M.; Cameron, A. D.; Champion, D. J.; Stappers, B.

    2018-06-01

    Radio pulsars found in binary systems with short orbital periods are usually fast spinning as a consequence of recycling via mass transfer from their companion stars; this process is also thought to decrease the magnetic field of the neutron star being recycled. Here, we report on timing observations of the recently discovered binary PSR J1755-2550 and find that this pulsar is an exception: with a characteristic age of 2.1 Myr, it is relatively young; furthermore, with a spin period of 315 ms and a surface magnetic field strength at its poles of 0.88 × 1012 G, the pulsar shows no sign of having been recycled. Based on its timing and orbital characteristics, the pulsar either has a massive white dwarf (WD) or a neutron star (NS) companion. To distinguish between these two cases, we searched radio observations for a potential recycled pulsar companion and analysed archival optical data for a potential WD companion. Neither work returned conclusive detections. We apply population synthesis modelling and find that both solutions are roughly equally probable. Our population synthesis also predicts a minimum mass of 0.90 M⊙ for the companion star to PSR J1755-2550 and we simulate the systemic runaway velocities for the resulting WDNS systems which may merge and possibly produce Ca-rich supernovae. Whether PSR J1755-2550 hosts a WD or a NS companion star, it is certainly a member of a rare subpopulation of binary radio pulsars.

  17. The Crab nebula's ''wisps'' as shocked pulsar wind

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gallant, Y.A.; Arons, J.; Langdon, A.B.

    1992-01-01

    The Crab synchrotron nebula has been successfully modelled as the post-shock region of a relativistic, magnetized wind carrying most of the spindown luminosity from the central pulsar. While the Crab is the best-studied example, most of the highest spindown luminosity pulsars are also surrounded by extended synchrotron nebulae, and several additional supernova remnants with ''plerionic'' morphologies similar to the Crab are known where the central object is not seen. All these objects have nonthermal, power-law spectra attributable to accelerated high-energy particles thought to originate in a Crab-like relativistic pulsar wind. However, proposed models have so far treated the wind shock as an infinitesimally thin discontinuity, with an arbitrarily ascribed particle acceleration efficiency. To make further progress, investigations resolving the shock structure seemed in order. Motivated by these considerations, we have performed ''particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of perpendicularly magnetized shocks in electron-positron and electron-positron-ion plasmas. The shocks in pure electron-positron plasmas were found to produce only thermal distributions downstream, and are thus poor candidates as particle acceleration sites. When the upstream plasma flow also contained a smaller population of positive ions, however, efficient acceleration of positrons, and to a lesser extent of electrons, was observed in the simulations

  18. Radio emission from the X-ray pulsar Her X-1: a jet launched by a strong magnetic field neutron star?

    Science.gov (United States)

    van den Eijnden, J.; Degenaar, N.; Russell, T. D.; Miller-Jones, J. C. A.; Wijnands, R.; Miller, J. M.; King, A. L.; Rupen, M. P.

    2018-01-01

    Her X-1 is an accreting neutron star (NS) in an intermediate-mass X-ray binary. Like low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs), it accretes via Roche lobe overflow, but similar to many high-mass X-ray binaries containing a NS; Her X-1 has a strong magnetic field and slow spin. Here, we present the discovery of radio emission from Her X-1 with the Very Large Array. During the radio observation, the central X-ray source was partially obscured by a warped disc. We measure a radio flux density of 38.7 ± 4.8 μJy at 9 GHz but cannot constrain the spectral shape. We discuss possible origins of the radio emission, and conclude that coherent emission, a stellar wind, shocks and a propeller outflow are all unlikely explanations. A jet, as seen in LMXBs, is consistent with the observed radio properties. We consider the implications of the presence of a jet in Her X-1 on jet formation mechanisms and on the launching of jets by NSs with strong magnetic fields.

  19. High precision pulsar timing and spin frequency second derivatives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, X. J.; Bassa, C. G.; Stappers, B. W.

    2018-05-01

    We investigate the impact of intrinsic, kinematic and gravitational effects on high precision pulsar timing. We present an analytical derivation and a numerical computation of the impact of these effects on the first and second derivative of the pulsar spin frequency. In addition, in the presence of white noise, we derive an expression to determine the expected measurement uncertainty of a second derivative of the spin frequency for a given timing precision, observing cadence and timing baseline and find that it strongly depends on the latter (∝t-7/2). We show that for pulsars with significant proper motion, the spin frequency second derivative is dominated by a term dependent on the radial velocity of the pulsar. Considering the data sets from three Pulsar Timing Arrays, we find that for PSR J0437-4715 a detectable spin frequency second derivative will be present if the absolute value of the radial velocity exceeds 33 km s-1. Similarly, at the current timing precision and cadence, continued timing observations of PSR J1909-3744 for about another eleven years, will allow the measurement of its frequency second derivative and determine the radial velocity with an accuracy better than 14 km s-1. With the ever increasing timing precision and observing baselines, the impact of the, largely unknown, radial velocities of pulsars on high precision pulsar timing can not be neglected.

  20. A 110-ms pulsar, with negative period derivative, in the globular cluster M15

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolszczan, A.; Kulkarni, S. R.; Middleditch, J.; Backer, D. C.; Fruchter, A. S.; Dewey, R. J.

    1989-01-01

    The discovery of a 110-ms pulsar, PSR2127+11, in the globular cluster M15, is reported. The results of nine months of timing measurements place the new pulsar about 2 arcsec from the center of the cluster, and indicate that it is not a member of a close binary system. The measured negative value of the period derivative is probably the result of the pulsar being bodily accelerated in our direction by the gravitational field of the collapsed core of M15. This apparently overwhelms a positive contribution to the period derivative due to magnetic braking. Although the pulsar has an unexpectedly long period, it is argued that it belongs to the class of 'recycled' pulsars, which have been spun up by accretion in a binary system. The subsequent loss of the pulsar's companion is probably due to disruption of the system by close encounters with other stars.

  1. Optimal Frequency Ranges for Sub-Microsecond Precision Pulsar Timing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lam, Michael Timothy; McLaughlin, Maura; Cordes, James; Chatterjee, Shami; Lazio, Joseph

    2018-01-01

    Precision pulsar timing requires optimization against measurement errors and astrophysical variance from the neutron stars themselves and the interstellar medium. We investigate optimization of arrival time precision as a function of radio frequency and bandwidth. We find that increases in bandwidth that reduce the contribution from receiver noise are countered by the strong chromatic dependence of interstellar effects and intrinsic pulse-profile evolution. The resulting optimal frequency range is therefore telescope and pulsar dependent. We demonstrate the results for five pulsars included in current pulsar timing arrays and determine that they are not optimally observed at current center frequencies. We also find that arrival-time precision can be improved by increases in total bandwidth. Wideband receivers centered at high frequencies can reduce required overall integration times and provide significant improvements in arrival time uncertainty by a factor of $\\sim$$\\sqrt{2}$ in most cases, assuming a fixed integration time. We also discuss how timing programs can be extended to pulsars with larger dispersion measures through the use of higher-frequency observations.

  2. Binary and Millisecond Pulsars.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lorimer, Duncan R

    2008-01-01

    We review the main properties, demographics and applications of binary and millisecond radio pulsars. Our knowledge of these exciting objects has greatly increased in recent years, mainly due to successful surveys which have brought the known pulsar population to over 1800. There are now 83 binary and millisecond pulsars associated with the disk of our Galaxy, and a further 140 pulsars in 26 of the Galactic globular clusters. Recent highlights include the discovery of the young relativistic binary system PSR J1906+0746, a rejuvination in globular cluster pulsar research including growing numbers of pulsars with masses in excess of 1.5 M ⊙ , a precise measurement of relativistic spin precession in the double pulsar system and a Galactic millisecond pulsar in an eccentric ( e = 0.44) orbit around an unevolved companion. Supplementary material is available for this article at 10.12942/lrr-2008-8.

  3. A STRONGLY MAGNETIZED PULSAR WITHIN THE GRASP OF THE MILKY WAY'S SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rea, N.; Torres, D. F.; Papitto, A.; Camero-Arranz, A.; Esposito, P.; Mereghetti, S.; Tiengo, A.; Pons, J. A.; Viganò, D.; Turolla, R.; Israel, G. L.; Stella, L.; Possenti, A.; Burgay, M.; Perna, R.; Ponti, G.; Baganoff, F. K.; Haggard, D.; Zane, S.; Minter, A.

    2013-01-01

    The center of our Galaxy hosts a supermassive black hole, Sagittarius (Sgr) A*. Young, massive stars within 0.5 pc of Sgr A* are evidence of an episode of intense star formation near the black hole a few million years ago, which might have left behind a young neutron star traveling deep into Sgr A*'s gravitational potential. On 2013 April 25, a short X-ray burst was observed from the direction of the Galactic center. With a series of observations with the Chandra and the Swift satellites, we pinpoint the associated magnetar at an angular distance of 2.4 ± 0.3 arcsec from Sgr A*, and refine the source spin period and its derivative (P = 3.7635537(2) s and P-dot = 6.61(4)×10 -12 s s –1 ), confirmed by quasi simultaneous radio observations performed with the Green Bank Telescope and Parkes Radio Telescope, which also constrain a dispersion measure of DM = 1750 ± 50 pc cm –3 , the highest ever observed for a radio pulsar. We have found that this X-ray source is a young magnetar at ≈0.07-2 pc from Sgr A*. Simulations of its possible motion around Sgr A* show that it is likely (∼90% probability) in a bound orbit around the black hole. The radiation front produced by the past activity from the magnetar passing through the molecular clouds surrounding the Galactic center region might be responsible for a large fraction of the light echoes observed in the Fe fluorescence features

  4. MEASURING THE MAGNETIC FIELD OF CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS NEAR THE SUN USING PULSARS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Howard, T. A. [Southwest Research Institute, 1050 Walnut Street, Suite 300, Boulder, CO 80302 (United States); Stovall, K.; Dowell, J.; Taylor, G. B. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States); White, S. M., E-mail: howard@boulder.swri.edu [Air Force Research Laboratory, Space Vehicles Directorate, Albuquerque, NM (United States)

    2016-11-10

    The utility of Faraday rotation to measure the magnetic field of the solar corona and large-scale transients within is a small, yet growing field in solar physics. This is largely because it has been recognized as a potentially valuable frontier in space weather studies, because the ability to measure the intrinsic magnetic field within coronal mass ejections (CMEs) when they are close to the Sun is of great interest for understanding a key element of space weather. Such measurements have been attempted over the last few decades using radio signals from artificial sources (i.e., spacecraft on the far side of the Sun), but studies involving natural radio sources are scarce in the literature. We report on a preliminary study involving an attempt to detect the Faraday rotation of a CME that passed in front of a pulsar (PSR B0950+08) in 2015 August. We combine radio measurements with those from a broadband visible light coronagraph, to estimate the upper limit of the magnetic field of the CME when it was in the corona. We find agreement between different approaches for obtaining its density, and values that are consistent with those predicted from prior studies of CME density close to the Sun.

  5. PULSAR: an inductive pulse power source

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cnare, E.C.; Brooks, W.P.; Cowan, M.

    1979-01-01

    The PULSAR concept of inductive pulsed power source uses a flux-compressing metallic or plasma armature rather than a fast opening switch to transfer magnetic flux to a load. The inductive store may be a relatively unsophisticated dc superconducting magnet since no magnetic energy is taken from it, and no large current transients are induced in it. Initial experimental efforts employed either expendable or reusable metallic armatures with a 200 kJ, 450 mm diameter superconducting magnet. Attention is now being focused on the development of much faster plasma armatures for use in larger systems of one and two meters diameter. Techniques used to generate the required high magnetic Reynolds number flow will be described and initial experimental results will be presented

  6. Discovery of the optical counterparts to four energetic Fermi millisecond pulsars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Breton, R. P. [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ (United Kingdom); Van Kerkwijk, M. H. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4 (Canada); Roberts, M. S. E. [Eureka Scientific Inc., 2452 Delmer Street, Suite 100, Oakland, CA 94602-3017 (United States); Hessels, J. W. T. [ASTRON, The Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Postbus 2, 7990-AA Dwingeloo (Netherlands); Camilo, F. [Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, 550 West, 120th Street, New York, NY 10027 (United States); McLaughlin, M. A. [Department of Physics, White Hall, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506 (United States); Ransom, S. M. [National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA 22903 (United States); Ray, P. S. [Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Code 7655, 4555 Overlook Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20375 (United States); Stairs, I. H., E-mail: r.breton@soton.ac.uk [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, 6224 Agricultural Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1 (Canada)

    2013-06-01

    In the last few years, over 43 millisecond radio pulsars have been discovered by targeted searches of unidentified γ-ray sources found by the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. A large fraction of these millisecond pulsars are in compact binaries with low-mass companions. These systems often show eclipses of the pulsar signal and are commonly known as black widows and redbacks because the pulsar is gradually destroying its companion. In this paper, we report on the optical discovery of four strongly irradiated millisecond pulsar companions. All four sources show modulations of their color and luminosity at the known orbital periods from radio timing. Light curve modeling of our exploratory data shows that the equilibrium temperature reached on the companion's dayside with respect to their nightside is consistent with about 10%-30% of the available spin-down energy from the pulsar being reprocessed to increase the companion's dayside temperature. This value compares well with the range observed in other irradiated pulsar binaries and offers insights about the energetics of the pulsar wind and the production of γ-ray emission. In addition, this provides a simple way of estimating the brightness of irradiated pulsar companions given the pulsar spin-down luminosity. Our analysis also suggests that two of the four new irradiated pulsar companions are only partially filling their Roche lobe. Some of these sources are relatively bright and represent good targets for spectroscopic follow-up. These measurements could enable, among other things, mass determination of the neutron stars in these systems.

  7. X-ray states of redback millisecond pulsars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Linares, M. [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, c/Vía Láctea s/n, E-38205 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain)

    2014-11-01

    Compact binary millisecond pulsars with main-sequence donors, often referred to as 'redbacks', constitute the long-sought link between low-mass X-ray binaries and millisecond radio pulsars and offer a unique probe of the interaction between pulsar winds and accretion flows. We present a systematic study of eight nearby redbacks, using more than 100 observations obtained with Swift's X-ray Telescope. We distinguish between three main states: pulsar, disk, and outburst states. We find X-ray mode switching in the disk state of PSR J1023+0038 and XSS J12270-4859, similar to what was found in the other redback that showed evidence for accretion: rapid, recurrent changes in X-ray luminosity (0.5-10 keV, L {sub X}), between (6-9) × 10{sup 32} erg s{sup –1} (disk-passive state) and (3-5) × 10{sup 33} erg s{sup –1} (disk-active state). This strongly suggests that mode switching—which has not been observed in quiescent low-mass X-ray binaries—is universal among redback millisecond pulsars in the disk state. We briefly explore the implications for accretion disk truncation and find that the inferred magnetospheric radius in the disk state of PSR J1023+0038 and XSS J12270-4859 lies outside the light cylinder. Finally, we note that all three redbacks that have developed accretion disks have relatively high L {sub X} in the pulsar state (>10{sup 32} erg s{sup –1}).

  8. Exact and approximate solutions for the one-dimensional transfer of polarized radiation, and applications to X-ray pulsars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meszaros, P.; Nagel, W.; Ventura, J.

    1979-11-01

    Theoretical studies of the radiation from hot, strongly magnetized plasmas, as encountered in pulsars, require a knowledge of solutions to the transfer equations for polarized radiation. We present here an analytic solution of the radiative transfer equations for one-dimensional propagation across a homogeneous slab of finite depth, as well as for a semi-infinite atmosphere. Absorption, scattering and mode-exchange between the two polarizations is included, the role of this latter being crucial. A physical discussion of the solutions for certain limiting cases, and an interpretation in terms of probabilistic (quantum escape approach) arguments, fully corrobrates these solutions, and provides a better intuitive feel for the behaviour of the radiated spectra. Whereas our analytic solutions are valid for any birefringent medium (not necessarily magnetic), our numerical examples and the qualitative discussion presented refer to the particular problem of the radiation from X-ray pulsars. Large scale qualitative changes from the nonmagnetic spectra aae found, which affect both the continum and the spectral lines. (orig.) 891 WL/orig. 892 RDG

  9. The surprising Crab pulsar and its nebula: a review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bühler, R; Blandford, R

    2014-06-01

    The Crab nebula and its pulsar (referred to together as 'the Crab') have historically played a central role in astrophysics. True to this legacy, several unique discoveries have been made recently. The Crab was found to emit gamma-ray pulsations up to energies of 400 GeV, beyond what was previously expected from pulsars. Strong gamma-ray flares, of durations of a few days, were discovered from within the nebula, while the source was previously expected to be stable in flux on these time scales. Here we review these intriguing and suggestive developments. In this context we give an overview of the observational properties of the Crab and our current understanding of pulsars and their nebulae.

  10. THE PULSAR SEARCH COLLABORATORY: DISCOVERY AND TIMING OF FIVE NEW PULSARS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rosen, R.; Swiggum, J.; McLaughlin, M. A.; Lorimer, D. R.; Yun, M.; Boyles, J. [West Virginia University, White Hall, Morgantown, WV 26506 (United States); Heatherly, S. A.; Scoles, S. [NRAO, P.O. Box 2, Green Bank, WV 24944 (United States); Lynch, R. [McGill University, Rutherford Physics Building, 3600 Rue University, Montreal, QC H3A 2T8 (Canada); Kondratiev, V. I. [ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Postbus 2, 7990 AA Dwingeloo (Netherlands); Ransom, S. M. [NRAO, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903 (United States); Moniot, M. L.; Thompson, C. [James River High School, 9906 Springwood Road, Buchanan, VA 24066 (United States); Cottrill, A.; Raycraft, M. [Lincoln High School, 100 Jerry Toth Drive, Shinnston, WV 26431 (United States); Weaver, M. [Broadway High School, 269 Gobbler Drive, Broadway, VA 22815 (United States); Snider, A. [Sherando High School, 185 South Warrior Drive, Stephens City, VA 22655 (United States); Dudenhoefer, J.; Allphin, L. [Hedgesville High School, 109 Ridge Road North, Hedgesville, WV 25427 (United States); Thorley, J., E-mail: Rachel.Rosen@mail.wvu.edu [Strasburg High School, 250 Ram Drive, Strasburg, VA 22657 (United States); and others

    2013-05-01

    We present the discovery and timing solutions of five new pulsars by students involved in the Pulsar Search Collaboratory, a NSF-funded joint program between the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and West Virginia University designed to excite and engage high-school students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and related fields. We encourage students to pursue STEM fields by apprenticing them within a professional scientific community doing cutting edge research, specifically by teaching them to search for pulsars. The students are analyzing 300 hr of drift-scan survey data taken with the Green Bank Telescope at 350 MHz. These data cover 2876 deg{sup 2} of the sky. Over the course of five years, more than 700 students have inspected diagnostic plots through a web-based graphical interface designed for this project. The five pulsars discovered in the data have spin periods ranging from 3.1 ms to 4.8 s. Among the new discoveries are PSR J1926-1314, a long period, nulling pulsar; PSR J1821+0155, an isolated, partially recycled 33 ms pulsar; and PSR J1400-1438, a millisecond pulsar in a 9.5 day orbit whose companion is likely a white dwarf star.

  11. Neutron star in the presence of strong magnetic field

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    thereby giving the idea that compact stars might contain deconfined and chirally restored quark matter in them. Recently [1], the mass measurement of mil- lisecond pulsar PSR J1614-2230 has set a new robust mass limit for compact stars to be. M = 1.97 ± 0.04M⊙. This value, together with the mass of pulsar J1903+0327 ...

  12. A massive pulsar in a compact relativistic binary.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antoniadis, John; Freire, Paulo C C; Wex, Norbert; Tauris, Thomas M; Lynch, Ryan S; van Kerkwijk, Marten H; Kramer, Michael; Bassa, Cees; Dhillon, Vik S; Driebe, Thomas; Hessels, Jason W T; Kaspi, Victoria M; Kondratiev, Vladislav I; Langer, Norbert; Marsh, Thomas R; McLaughlin, Maura A; Pennucci, Timothy T; Ransom, Scott M; Stairs, Ingrid H; van Leeuwen, Joeri; Verbiest, Joris P W; Whelan, David G

    2013-04-26

    Many physically motivated extensions to general relativity (GR) predict substantial deviations in the properties of spacetime surrounding massive neutron stars. We report the measurement of a 2.01 ± 0.04 solar mass (M⊙) pulsar in a 2.46-hour orbit with a 0.172 ± 0.003 M⊙ white dwarf. The high pulsar mass and the compact orbit make this system a sensitive laboratory of a previously untested strong-field gravity regime. Thus far, the observed orbital decay agrees with GR, supporting its validity even for the extreme conditions present in the system. The resulting constraints on deviations support the use of GR-based templates for ground-based gravitational wave detectors. Additionally, the system strengthens recent constraints on the properties of dense matter and provides insight to binary stellar astrophysics and pulsar recycling.

  13. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN RADIO-LOUD AND RADIO-QUIET γ -RAY PULSARS AS REVEALED BY FERMI

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hui, C. Y.; Lee, Jongsu [Department of Astronomy and Space Science, Chungnam National University, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Takata, J. [Institute of Particle physics and Astronomy, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (China); Ng, C. W.; Cheng, K. S., E-mail: cyhui@cnu.ac.kr, E-mail: takata@hust.edu.cn [Department of Physics, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road (Hong Kong)

    2017-01-10

    By comparing the properties of non-recycled radio-loud γ -ray pulsars and radio-quiet γ -ray pulsars, we have searched for the differences between these two populations. We found that the γ -ray spectral curvature of radio-quiet pulsars can be larger than that of radio-loud pulsars. Based on the full sample of non-recycled γ -ray pulsars, their distributions of the magnetic field strength at the light cylinder are also found to be different. We note that this might result from an observational bias. By reexamining the previously reported difference of γ -ray-to-X-ray flux ratios, we found that the significance can be hampered by their statistical uncertainties. In the context of the outer gap model, we discuss the expected properties of these two populations and compare with the possible differences that are identified in our analysis.

  14. Galactic population of pulsars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lyne, A.G.; Manchester, R.N.

    1985-01-01

    In order to draw statistical conclusions about the overall population of pulsars in the Galaxy, a sample of 316 pulsars detected in surveys carried out at Jodrell Bank, Arecibo, Molonglo, and Green Bank has been analysed. The important selection effects of each survey are quantified and a statistically reliable pulsar distance scale based on a model for the large-scale distribution of free electrons in the Galaxy is described. These results allow the spatial and luminosity distribution functions of galactic pulsars to be computed. It is concluded that the Galaxy contains approximately 70 000 potentially observable pulsars with luminosities above 0.3 mJy kpc 2 . The period and luminosity evolution of pulsars, is also considered. (author)

  15. Hypernuclear matter in strong magnetic field

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sinha, Monika [Institute for Theoretical Physics, J.W. Goethe-University, D-60438 Frankfurt am Main (Germany); Indian Institute of Technology Rajasthan, Old Residency Road, Ratanada, Jodhpur 342011 (India); Mukhopadhyay, Banibrata [Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012 (India); Sedrakian, Armen, E-mail: sedrakian@th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de [Institute for Theoretical Physics, J.W. Goethe-University, D-60438 Frankfurt am Main (Germany)

    2013-01-17

    Compact stars with strong magnetic fields (magnetars) have been observationally determined to have surface magnetic fields of order of 10{sup 14}–10{sup 15} G, the implied internal field strength being several orders larger. We study the equation of state and composition of dense hypernuclear matter in strong magnetic fields in a range expected in the interiors of magnetars. Within the non-linear Boguta–Bodmer–Walecka model we find that the magnetic field has sizable influence on the properties of matter for central magnetic field B⩾10{sup 17} G, in particular the matter properties become anisotropic. Moreover, for the central fields B⩾10{sup 18} G, the magnetized hypernuclear matter shows instability, which is signalled by the negative sign of the derivative of the pressure parallel to the field with respect to the density, and leads to vanishing parallel pressure at the critical value B{sub cr}≃10{sup 19} G. This limits the range of admissible homogeneously distributed fields in magnetars to fields below the critical value B{sub cr}.

  16. Early NICER Observations of Magnetars and Young Pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nynka, Melania

    2018-01-01

    Neutron star Interior Composition ExploreR (NICER) is an X-ray telescope attached to the International Space Station (ISS). Launched in June 2017, it is designed to precisely measure the masses and radii of neutron stars (NS) and probe NS equations of state. But its precision timing capabilities and large effective area uniquely position NICER for the study of magnetars. The NICER Magnetar & Magnetosphere (M&M) science working group focuses on studying highly-magnetized neutron stars, a diverse program that includes magnetars, high-B pulsars, rotation powered pulsars, and isolated neutron stars. Our ongoing campaign has already observed targets such as 4U 0142+61, a magnetar in outburst with coincident NuSTAR and Swift observations, the radio rotation powered Vela pulsar PSR B0833-45, and a transient magnetar XTE J1810-197. I will discuss the goals of the M&M program, spectral and temporal results from the observed targets, and an overview of upcoming observations.

  17. The Green Bank North Celestial Cap Pulsar Survey: New Pulsars and Future Prospects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lynch, Ryan S.; Swiggum, Joe; Stovall, Kevin; Chawla, Pragya; DeCesar, Megan E.; Fonseca, Emmanuel; Levin, Lina; Cui, Bingyi; Kondratiev, Vlad; Archibald, Anne; Boyles, Jason; Hessels, Jason W. T.; Jenet, Fredrick; Kaplan, David; Karako-Argaman, Chen; Kaspi, Victoria; Martinez, Jose; McLaughlin, Maura; Ransom, Scott M.; Roberts, Mallory; Siemens, Xavier; Spiewak, Renee; Stairs, Ingrid; van Leeuwn, Joeri; Green Bank North Celestial Cap Survey Collaboration

    2018-01-01

    The Green Bank North Celestial Cap pulsar survey is the most successful low frequency pulsar survey ever. GBNCC uses the Green Bank telescope to cover the full visible sky at 350 MHz. With the survey over 70% complete, we have discovered over 150 pulsars, including 20 MSPs and 11 RRATs. I will report on the current status of the survey and plans for its completion in the coming years. I will also report on several discoveries including: timing solutions for dozens of new pulsars; new high precision MSPs and their suitability for inclusion in pulsar timing arrays; a new relativistic double neutron star system; new pulsar mass measurements; proper motion measurements for several MSPs; a new mode changing pulsar; interesting new MSP binaries; nulling fraction analyses; and possible implications of the lack of any fast radio bursts in the survey so far.

  18. The Crab Pulsar and Relativistic Wind

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coroniti, F. V.

    2017-12-01

    The possibility that the Crab pulsar produces a separated ion-dominated and pair-plasma-dominated, magnetically striped relativistic wind is assessed by rough estimates of the polar cap acceleration of the ion and electron primary beams, the pair production of secondary electrons and positrons, and a simple model of the near-magnetosphere-wind zone. For simplicity, only the orthogonal rotator is considered. Below (above) the rotational equator, ions (electrons) are accelerated in a thin sheath, of order (much less than) the width of the polar cap, to Lorentz factor {γ }i≈ (5{--}10)× {10}7({γ }e≈ {10}7). The accelerating parallel electric field is shorted out by ion-photon (curvature synchrotron) pair production. With strong, but fairly reasonable, assumptions, a set of general magnetic geometry relativistic wind equations is derived and shown to reduce to conservation relations that are similar to those of the wind from a magnetic monopole. The strength of the field-aligned currents carried by the primary beams is determined by the wind’s Alfvén critical point condition to be about eight times the Goldreich-Julian value. A simple model for the transition from the dipole region wind to the asymptotic monopole wind zone is developed. The asymptotic ratio of Poynting flux to ion (pair plasma) kinetic energy flux—the wind {σ }w∞ -parameter—is found to be of order {σ }w∞ ≈ 1/2({10}4). The far wind zone is likely to be complex, with the ion-dominated and pair-plasma-dominated magnetic stripes merging, and the oppositely directed azimuthal magnetic fields annihilating.

  19. Constraining Parameters in Pulsar Models of Repeating FRB 121102 with High-energy Follow-up Observations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xiao, Di; Dai, Zi-Gao, E-mail: dzg@nju.edu.cn [School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China)

    2017-09-10

    Recently, a precise (sub-arcsecond) localization of the repeating fast radio burst (FRB) 121102 led to the discovery of persistent radio and optical counterparts, the identification of a host dwarf galaxy at a redshift of z = 0.193, and several campaigns of searches for higher-frequency counterparts, which gave only upper limits on the emission flux. Although the origin of FRBs remains unknown, most of the existing theoretical models are associated with pulsars, or more specifically, magnetars. In this paper, we explore persistent high-energy emission from a rapidly rotating highly magnetized pulsar associated with FRB 121102 if internal gradual magnetic dissipation occurs in the pulsar wind. We find that the efficiency of converting the spin-down luminosity to the high-energy (e.g., X-ray) luminosity is generally much smaller than unity, even for a millisecond magnetar. This provides an explanation for the non-detection of high-energy counterparts to FRB 121102. We further constrain the spin period and surface magnetic field strength of the pulsar with the current high-energy observations. In addition, we compare our results with the constraints given by the other methods in previous works and expect to apply our new method to some other open issues in the future.

  20. Constraining Parameters in Pulsar Models of Repeating FRB 121102 with High-energy Follow-up Observations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xiao, Di; Dai, Zi-Gao

    2017-01-01

    Recently, a precise (sub-arcsecond) localization of the repeating fast radio burst (FRB) 121102 led to the discovery of persistent radio and optical counterparts, the identification of a host dwarf galaxy at a redshift of z = 0.193, and several campaigns of searches for higher-frequency counterparts, which gave only upper limits on the emission flux. Although the origin of FRBs remains unknown, most of the existing theoretical models are associated with pulsars, or more specifically, magnetars. In this paper, we explore persistent high-energy emission from a rapidly rotating highly magnetized pulsar associated with FRB 121102 if internal gradual magnetic dissipation occurs in the pulsar wind. We find that the efficiency of converting the spin-down luminosity to the high-energy (e.g., X-ray) luminosity is generally much smaller than unity, even for a millisecond magnetar. This provides an explanation for the non-detection of high-energy counterparts to FRB 121102. We further constrain the spin period and surface magnetic field strength of the pulsar with the current high-energy observations. In addition, we compare our results with the constraints given by the other methods in previous works and expect to apply our new method to some other open issues in the future.

  1. THE PULSAR SEARCH COLLABORATORY: DISCOVERY AND TIMING OF FIVE NEW PULSARS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rosen, R.; Swiggum, J.; McLaughlin, M. A.; Lorimer, D. R.; Yun, M.; Boyles, J.; Heatherly, S. A.; Scoles, S.; Lynch, R.; Kondratiev, V. I.; Ransom, S. M.; Moniot, M. L.; Thompson, C.; Cottrill, A.; Raycraft, M.; Weaver, M.; Snider, A.; Dudenhoefer, J.; Allphin, L.; Thorley, J.

    2013-01-01

    We present the discovery and timing solutions of five new pulsars by students involved in the Pulsar Search Collaboratory, a NSF-funded joint program between the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and West Virginia University designed to excite and engage high-school students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and related fields. We encourage students to pursue STEM fields by apprenticing them within a professional scientific community doing cutting edge research, specifically by teaching them to search for pulsars. The students are analyzing 300 hr of drift-scan survey data taken with the Green Bank Telescope at 350 MHz. These data cover 2876 deg 2 of the sky. Over the course of five years, more than 700 students have inspected diagnostic plots through a web-based graphical interface designed for this project. The five pulsars discovered in the data have spin periods ranging from 3.1 ms to 4.8 s. Among the new discoveries are PSR J1926–1314, a long period, nulling pulsar; PSR J1821+0155, an isolated, partially recycled 33 ms pulsar; and PSR J1400–1438, a millisecond pulsar in a 9.5 day orbit whose companion is likely a white dwarf star.

  2. New binary pulsar in a highy eccentric orbit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stokes, G.H.; Taylor, J.H.; Dewey, R.J.

    1985-01-01

    We report the discovery of PSR 2303+46, the fifth radio pulsar known to be in a gravitationally bound orbit around another star. The pulsar period (1.066 s) and the orbital eccentricity (0.658) are the largest amount the five binary systems, while the orbital period (12./sup d/34) lies near the middle of the range. Evolutionary considerations suggest strongly that the companion is another neutron star. The general relativistic precession of periastron should be observable within 1 or 2 yr and, when measured, will specify the total mass of the two stars

  3. EINSTEIN-HOME DISCOVERY OF 24 PULSARS IN THE PARKES MULTI-BEAM PULSAR SURVEY

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Knispel, B.; Kim, H.; Allen, B.; Aulbert, C.; Bock, O.; Eggenstein, H.-B.; Fehrmann, H.; Machenschalk, B. [Albert-Einstein-Institut, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik, D-30167 Hannover (Germany); Eatough, R. P.; Keane, E. F.; Kramer, M. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Radioastronomie, D-53121 Bonn (Germany); Anderson, D. [University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Crawford, F.; Rastawicki, D. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Franklin and Marshall College, P.O. Box 3003, Lancaster, PA 17604 (United States); Hammer, D.; Papa, M. A.; Siemens, X. [Physics Department, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53211 (United States); Lyne, A. G. [Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL (United Kingdom); Miller, R. B. [Department of Physics, West Virginia University, 111 White Hall, Morgantown, WV 26506 (United States); Sarkissian, J., E-mail: benjamin.knispel@aei.mpg.de [CSIRO Parkes Observatory, Parkes, NSW 2870 (Australia); and others

    2013-09-10

    We have conducted a new search for radio pulsars in compact binary systems in the Parkes multi-beam pulsar survey (PMPS) data, employing novel methods to remove the Doppler modulation from binary motion. This has yielded unparalleled sensitivity to pulsars in compact binaries. The required computation time of Almost-Equal-To 17, 000 CPU core years was provided by the distributed volunteer computing project Einstein-Home, which has a sustained computing power of about 1 PFlop s{sup -1}. We discovered 24 new pulsars in our search, 18 of which were isolated pulsars, and 6 were members of binary systems. Despite the wide filterbank channels and relatively slow sampling time of the PMPS data, we found pulsars with very large ratios of dispersion measure (DM) to spin period. Among those is PSR J1748-3009, the millisecond pulsar with the highest known DM ( Almost-Equal-To 420 pc cm{sup -3}). We also discovered PSR J1840-0643, which is in a binary system with an orbital period of 937 days, the fourth largest known. The new pulsar J1750-2536 likely belongs to the rare class of intermediate-mass binary pulsars. Three of the isolated pulsars show long-term nulling or intermittency in their emission, further increasing this growing family. Our discoveries demonstrate the value of distributed volunteer computing for data-driven astronomy and the importance of applying new analysis methods to extensively searched data.

  4. Mechanics of magnetic fluid column in strong magnetic fields

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Polunin, V.M.; Ryapolov, P.A., E-mail: r-piter@yandex.ru; Platonov, V.B.

    2017-06-01

    Elastic-and magnetic properties of magnetic fluid confined by ponderomotive force in a tube fixed in horizontal position are considered. The system is placed in a strong magnetic field under the influence of external static and dynamic perturbations. An experimental setup has been developed. A theoretical basis of the processes of magnetic colloid elastic deformation has been proposed. The values of the static ponderomotive elasticity coefficient and the elasticity coefficient under dynamic action are experimentally determined. The calculations of the saturation magnetization for two magnetic fluid samples, carried out according to the equation containing the dynamic elasticity coefficient, are in good agreement with the experimental magnetization curve. The described method is of interest when studying magnetophoresis and aggregation of nanoparticles in magnetic colloids.

  5. Increasing Pulsar Timing Array Sensitivity Through Addition of Millisecond Pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeCesar, Megan E.; Crawford, Fronefield; Ferrara, Elizabeth; Lynch, Ryan; Mingarelli, Chiara; Levin Preston, Lina; Ransom, Scott; Romano, Joseph; Simon, Joseph; Spiewak, Renee; Stovall, Kevin; Swiggum, Joe; Taylor, Stephen; Green Bank North Celestial Cap Pulsar Survey, Fermi LAT Collaboration, Fermi Pulsar Search Consortium

    2018-01-01

    Siemens et al. (2013) and Taylor et al. (2016) demonstrated the importance of increasing the number of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) in pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) in order to increase the sensitivity of the array and decrease the time-to-detection of a gravitational wave background (GWB). In particular, they predict that adding four MSPs per year to the NANOGrav and International PTAs will likely yield a GWB detection in less than a decade. A more even distribution of MSPs across the sky is also important for discriminating a GWB signal from a non-quadrupolar background (Sampson et al., in prep). Pulsar surveys and targeted searches have consistently led to additions of 4 or more MSPs per year to PTAs. I will describe these ongoing efforts, particularly in the context of the Green Bank North Celestial Cap pulsar survey and Fermi-guided searches at Green Bank and Arecibo that seek to find MSPs in low-pulsar-density regions of the sky.

  6. Pulsar timing and its applications

    OpenAIRE

    Manchester, R N

    2018-01-01

    Pulsars are remarkably precise "celestial clocks" that can be used to explore many different aspects of physics and astrophysics. In this article I give a brief summary of pulsar properties and describe some of the applications of pulsar timing, including tests of theories of gravitation, efforts to detect low-frequency gravitational waves using pulsar timing arrays and establishment a "pulsar timescale".

  7. Binary and Millisecond Pulsars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lorimer Duncan R.

    2005-11-01

    Full Text Available We review the main properties, demographics and applications of binary and millisecond radio pulsars. Our knowledge of these exciting objects has greatly increased in recent years, mainly due to successful surveys which have brought the known pulsar population to over 1700. There are now 80 binary and millisecond pulsars associated with the disk of our Galaxy, and a further 103 pulsars in 24 of the Galactic globular clusters. Recent highlights have been the discovery of the first ever double pulsar system and a recent flurry of discoveries in globular clusters, in particular Terzan 5.

  8. MULTIWAVELENGTH OBSERVATIONS OF THE REDBACK MILLISECOND PULSAR J1048+2339

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Deneva, J. S. [National Research Council, resident at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375 (United States); Ray, P. S.; Wood, K.; Wolff, M. T. [Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375 (United States); Camilo, F.; Halpern, J. P. [Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (United States); Cromartie, H. T. [University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904 (United States); Ferrara, E. [Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Kerr, M. [CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Marsfield NSW 2122 (Australia); Ransom, S. M. [National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA 22903 (United States); Chambers, K. C.; Magnier, E. A. [Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)

    2016-06-01

    We report on radio timing and multiwavelength observations of the 4.66 ms redback pulsar J1048+2339, which was discovered in an Arecibo search targeting the Fermi -Large Area Telescope source 3FGL J1048.6+2338. Two years of timing allowed us to derive precise astrometric and orbital parameters for the pulsar. PSR J1048+2339 is in a 6 hr binary and exhibits radio eclipses over half the orbital period and rapid orbital period variations. The companion has a minimum mass of 0.3 M {sub ⊙}, and we have identified a V ∼ 20 variable optical counterpart in data from several surveys. The phasing of its ∼1 mag modulation at the orbital period suggests highly efficient and asymmetric heating by the pulsar wind, which may be due to an intrabinary shock that is distorted near the companion, or to the companion’s magnetic field channeling the pulsar wind to specific locations on its surface. We also present gamma-ray spectral analysis of the source and preliminary results from searches for gamma-ray pulsations using the radio ephemeris.

  9. Similarity of PSR J1906+0746 to PSR J0737–3039: a Candidate of a New Double Pulsar System?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yang, Yi-Yan; Lingfu, Rong-Feng; Zhou, Zhu-Wen [School of Physics and Electronic Sciences, Guizhou Education University, Guiyang 550018 (China); Zhang, Cheng-Min; Li, Di [National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012 (China); Wang, De-Hua [School of Physics and Electronic Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001 (China); Pan, Yuan-Yue, E-mail: yangyiyan@gznc.edu.cn, E-mail: zhangcm@bao.ac.cn [Department of Physics, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, 411105 (China)

    2017-02-01

    PSR J1906+0746 is a nonrecycled strong magnetic field neutron star (NS), sharing the properties of the secondary-formed NS PSR J0737–3039B in the double pulsar system PSR J0737–3039AB. By comparing the orbital parameters of PSR J1906+0746 with those of PSR J0737–3039AB, we conclude that both systems have a similar origin and evolution history, involving an e-capture process for forming the second-born NS, like in the case of PSR J0737–3039B. We expect the companion of PSR J1906+0746 to be a long-lived recycled pulsar with radio beams that currently cannot be observed from Earth. We suggest possible ways to detect its presence. To compare PSR J1906+0746 with PSR J0737–3039, we also present the mass distribution of eight pairs of double NSs and find that in double NSs the mass of the recycled pulsar is usually larger than that of the nonrecycled one, which may be the result of accretion.

  10. ASSESSING THE ROLE OF SPIN NOISE IN THE PRECISION TIMING OF MILLISECOND PULSARS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shannon, Ryan M.; Cordes, James M.

    2010-01-01

    We investigate rotational spin noise (referred to as timing noise) in non-accreting pulsars: millisecond pulsars, canonical pulsars, and magnetars. Particular attention is placed on quantifying the strength and non-stationarity of timing noise in millisecond pulsars because the long-term stability of these objects is required to detect nanohertz gravitational radiation. We show that a single scaling law is sufficient to characterize timing noise in millisecond and canonical pulsars while the same scaling law underestimates the levels of timing noise in magnetars. The scaling law, along with a detailed study of the millisecond pulsar B1937+21, leads us to conclude that timing noise is latent in most millisecond pulsars and will be measurable in many objects when better arrival time estimates are obtained over long data spans. The sensitivity of a pulsar timing array to gravitational radiation is strongly affected by any timing noise. We conclude that detection of proposed gravitational wave backgrounds will require the analysis of more objects than previously suggested over data spans that depend on the spectra of both the gravitational wave background and of the timing noise. It is imperative to find additional millisecond pulsars in current and future surveys in order to reduce the effects of timing noise.

  11. Production of an electron-positron plasma in a pulsar magnetosphere

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gurevich, A.V.; Istomin, Y.N.

    1985-01-01

    A study is made of the production of electron-positron plasma in the vacuum state (''breakdown'' of the vacuum) in the presence of an inhomogeneous electric field and a strong curvilinear magnetic field. Such conditions are encountered in the magnetosphere of a rotating neutron star. A general system of kinetic equations is derived for the electrons, positrons, and γ photons in the curvilinear magnetic field with allowance for the production of electron-positron pairs and the emission of curvature and synchrotron photons. The conditions of occurrence of ''breakdown'' are determined, and the threshold value of the jump in the value of the electric field at the surface of the star is found. The process of multiplication of particles in the magnetosphere is investigated, and the distribution functions of the electrons, positrons, and photons are found. The extinction limit of pulsars is determined. It is shown that the theory is in agreement with observational data

  12. Spatially-resolved Spectroscopy of the IC443 Pulsar Wind Nebula and Environs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swartz, Douglas A.; Weisskopf, M. C.; Zavlin, V.; Bucciantini, N.; Clarke, T. E.; Karovska, M.; Pavlov, G. G.; van der Horst, A.; Yukita, M.

    2013-04-01

    Deep Chandra ACIS observations of the region around the putative pulsar, CXO J061705.3+222127, in the supernova remnant IC443 confirm that (1) the spectrum and flux of the central object are consistent with a rotation-powered pulsar interpretation, (2) the non-thermal surrounding nebula is likely powered by a pulsar wind, and (3) the thermal-dominated spectrum at greater distances is consistent with emission from the supernova remnant. The observations further reveal, for the first time, a ring-like morphology surrounding the pulsar and a jet-like structure oriented roughly north-south across the ring and through the pulsar location. The cometary shape of the nebula, suggesting motion towards the southwest, appears to be subsonic; there is no evidence for a strong bow shock and the ring, presumably formed at a wind termination shock, is not distorted by motion through the ambient medium.

  13. Spatially-resolved Spectroscopy of the IC443 Pulsar Wind Nebula and Environs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swartz, D. A.; Weisskopf, M. C.; Zavlin, V. E.; Bucciantini, N.; Clarke, T. E.; Karovska, M.; Pavlov, G. G.; O'Dell, S. L.; vanderHorst, A J.; Yukita, M.

    2013-01-01

    Deep Chandra ACIS observations of the region around the putative pulsar, CXOU J061705.3+222117, in the supernova remnant IC443 reveal, for the first time, a ring-like morphology surrounding the pulsar and a jet-like structure oriented roughly north-south across the ring and through the pulsar location. The observations further confirm that (1) the spectrum and flux of the central object are consistent with a rotation-powered pulsar interpretation, (2) the non-thermal surrounding nebula is likely powered by the pulsar wind, and (3) the thermal-dominated spectrum at greater distances is consistent with emission from the supernova remnant. The cometary shape of the nebula, suggesting motion towards the southwest (or, equivalently, flow of ambient medium to the northeast), appears to be subsonic; there is no evidence for a strong bow shock, and the circular ring is not distorted by motion through the ambient medium.

  14. Oldest pulsars in the Universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shaham, J.

    1987-01-01

    Since the discovery of the Vulpecula pulsar two more superfast pulsars have been reported. In 1983 a 6.13-millisecond pulsar (called 1953 + 29) was announced, and in 1986 a 5.362-millisecond pulsar (called 1855 + 09) was publicized. A candidate for a fourth has been mentioned. As more evidence becomes available, it seems increasingly likely that the superfast pulsars can be explained only as a part of a new class of pulsars. Although many of the details of the class remain obscured, some general facts are emerging. Perhaps most interesting of all is the great age these new celestial objects are thought to have. Ordinary pulsars are relatively young, typically less than a million years old; the Crab pulsar, which is the youngest one known, is a mere infant of 932 years. The superfast pulsars, in comparison, are thought to be ancient. They are probably the result of evolutionary processes that could go back as much as a billion years, or one-twentieth of the age of the universe, and they are likely to live for several billion years more. 8 figures

  15. Tests of the universality of free fall for strongly self-gravitating bodies with radio pulsars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Freire, Paulo C C; Kramer, Michael; Wex, Norbert

    2012-01-01

    In this paper, we review tests of the strong equivalence principle (SEP) derived from pulsar–white dwarf binary data. The extreme difference in the binding energy between both components and the precise measurement of the orbital motion provided by pulsar timing allow the only current precision SEP tests for strongly self-gravitating bodies. We start by highlighting why such tests are conceptually important. We then review previous work where limits on SEP violation are obtained with an ensemble of wide binary systems with small eccentricity orbits. Then, we propose a new SEP violation test based on the measurement of the variation of the orbital eccentricity (ė). This new method has the following advantages: (a) unlike previous methods it is not based on probabilistic considerations, (b) it can make a direct detection of SEP violation and (c) the measurement of ė is not contaminated by any known external effects, which implies that this SEP test is only restricted by the measurement precision of ė. In the final part of the review, we conceptually compare the SEP test with the test for dipolar radiation damping, a phenomenon closely related to SEP violation, and speculate on future prospects by new types of tests in globular clusters and future triple systems. (paper)

  16. Are the infrared-faint radio sources pulsars?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cameron, A. D.; Keith, M.; Hobbs, G.; Norris, R. P.; Mao, M. Y.; Middelberg, E.

    2011-07-01

    Infrared-faint radio sources (IFRS) are objects which are strong at radio wavelengths but undetected in sensitive Spitzer observations at infrared wavelengths. Their nature is uncertain and most have not yet been associated with any known astrophysical object. One possibility is that they are radio pulsars. To test this hypothesis we undertook observations of 16 of these sources with the Parkes Radio Telescope. Our results limit the radio emission to a pulsed flux density of less than 0.21 mJy (assuming a 50 per cent duty cycle). This is well below the flux density of the IFRS. We therefore conclude that these IFRS are not radio pulsars.

  17. Exploring Pulsars with Polestar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cappallo, Rigel; Laycock, Silas; Christodoulou, Dimitris

    2018-06-01

    An X-ray pulsar (XRP) is a highly-magnetized neutron star (NS) that rotates while emitting beams of X-ray radiation produced primarily in the vicinity of its magnetic poles. If these beams happen to cross our line of sight and the NS’s spin and magnetic axes are not aligned, then our telescopes detect it as a periodically pulsating source. With the introduction of a new class of orbit-based observatories over the last quarter of a century the field of X-ray pulsar astronomy has seen an influx of high-resolution data. This windfall demands new models of pulsar behavior and emission geometry be created and subsequently fit to this high-quality data.We have written a model (Polestar) in Python 2.7.6 that mathematically represents a simplified XRP. The code has ten different, tunable geometric parameters that can be individually incorporated or suppressed. Any given XRP has a unique pulse profile which is often energy-dependent, and changes with different luminosity states. A change in luminosity coincides with a change in the system (e.g. a periodic Type-1 outburst is triggered following periastron passage, or the orientation of the decretion disk around the donor star has changed), and as such an increase in luminosity tends to produce an increase in complexity of the accompanying pulse profile. If a particular source in a low-luminosity state can be fit well with Polestar incorporating only a few parameters then an underlying geometry may be inferred. Further, if profiles from the same source in higher-luminosity states can be fit with the addition of only one or two additional parameters it will serve to further solidify current XRP theory (e.g. the emergence of fan-like emission patterns, or the vertical growth of the accretion column).Our initial fitting campaign was directed at the ~ 100 XRPs in the Small Magellanic Cloud. Polestar also includes an interactive slider GUI that allows the user to see in real time how changing the various profiles alter the

  18. Pulsars for the Beginner

    Science.gov (United States)

    DiLavore, Phillip; Wayland, James R.

    1971-01-01

    Presents the history of the discovery of pulsars, observations that have been made on pulsar radiation, and theories that have been presented for its presence and origin. Illustrations using pulsar's properties are presented in mechanics, electromagnetic radiation and thermodynamics. (DS)

  19. Cosmic Ray Positrons from Pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harding, Alice K.

    2010-01-01

    Pulsars are potential Galactic sources of positrons through pair cascades in their magnetospheres. There are, however, many uncertainties in establishing their contribution to the local primary positron flux. Among these are the local density of pulsars, the cascade pair multiplicities that determine the injection rate of positrons from the pulsar, the acceleration of the injected particles by the pulsar wind termination shock, their rate of escape from the pulsar wind nebula, and their propagation through the interstellar medium. I will discuss these issues in the context of what we are learning from the new Fermi pulsar detections and discoveries.

  20. THE RADIATIVE X-RAY AND GAMMA-RAY EFFICIENCIES OF ROTATION-POWERED PULSARS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vink, Jacco; Bamba, Aya; Yamazaki, Ryo

    2011-01-01

    We present a statistical analysis of the X-ray luminosity of rotation-powered pulsars and their surrounding nebulae using the sample of Kargaltsev and Pavlov, and we complement this with an analysis of the γ-ray emission of Fermi-detected pulsars. We report a strong trend in the efficiency with which spin-down power is converted to X-ray and γ-ray emission with characteristic age: young pulsars and their surrounding nebulae are efficient X-ray emitters, whereas in contrast old pulsars are efficient γ-ray emitters. We divided the X-ray sample in a young (τ c 4 yr) and old sample and used linear regression to search for correlations between the logarithm of the X-ray and γ-ray luminosities and the logarithms of the periods and period derivatives. The X-ray emission from young pulsars and their nebulae are both consistent with L X ∝ P-dot 3 /P 6 . For old pulsars and their nebulae the X-ray luminosity is consistent with a more or less constant efficiency η≡L X / E-dot rot ∼8x10 -5 . For the γ-ray luminosity we confirm that L γ ∝ √E-dot rot . We discuss these findings in the context of pair production inside pulsar magnetospheres and the striped wind model. We suggest that the striped wind model may explain the similarity between the X-ray properties of the pulsar wind nebulae and the pulsars themselves, which according to the striped wind model may both find their origin outside the light cylinder, in the pulsar wind zone.

  1. Giant pulses of pulsar radio emission

    OpenAIRE

    Kuzmin, A. D.

    2007-01-01

    Review report of giant pulses of pulsar radio emission, based on our detections of four new pulsars with giant pulses, and the comparative analysis of the previously known pulsars with giant pulses, including the Crab pulsar and millisecond pulsar PSR B1937+21.

  2. General-relativistic pulsar magnetospheric emission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pétri, J.

    2018-06-01

    Most current pulsar emission models assume photon production and emission within the magnetosphere. Low-frequency radiation is preferentially produced in the vicinity of the polar caps, whereas the high-energy tail is shifted to regions closer but still inside the light cylinder. We conducted a systematic study of the merit of several popular radiation sites like the polar cap, the outer gap, and the slot gap. We computed sky maps emanating from each emission site according to a prescribed distribution function for the emitting particles made of an electron/positron mixture. Calculations are performed using a three-dimensional integration of the plasma emissivity in the vacuum electromagnetic field of a rotating and centred general-relativistic dipole. We compare Newtonian electromagnetic fields to their general-relativistic counterpart. In the latter case, light bending is also taken into account. As a typical example, light curves and sky maps are plotted for several power-law indices of the particle distribution function. The detailed pulse profiles strongly depend on the underlying assumption about the fluid motion subject to strong electromagnetic fields. This electromagnetic topology enforces the photon propagation direction directly, or indirectly, from aberration effects. We also discuss the implication of a net stellar electric charge on to sky maps. Taking into account, the electric field strongly affects the light curves originating close to the light cylinder, where the electric field strength becomes comparable to the magnetic field strength.

  3. Observational properties of pulsars.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manchester, R N

    2004-04-23

    Pulsars are remarkable clocklike celestial sources that are believed to be rotating neutron stars formed in supernova explosions. They are valuable tools for investigations into topics such as neutron star interiors, globular cluster dynamics, the structure of the interstellar medium, and gravitational physics. Searches at radio and x-ray wavelengths over the past 5 years have resulted in a large increase in the number of known pulsars and the discovery of new populations of pulsars, posing challenges to theories of binary and stellar evolution. Recent images at radio, optical, and x-ray wavelengths have revealed structures resulting from the interaction of pulsar winds with the surrounding interstellar medium, giving new insights into the physics of pulsars.

  4. X-ray pulsars: accretion flow deceleration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miller, G.S.

    1987-01-01

    X-ray pulsars are thought to be neutron stars that derive the energy for their x-ray emission by accreting material onto their magnetic polar caps. The accreting material and the x-ray pulsar atmospheres were idealized as fully ionized plasmas consisting only of electrons and protons. A high magnetic field (∼ 5 x 10 12 Gauss) permeates the atmospheric plasma, and causes the motion of atmospheric electrons perpendicular to the field to be quantized into discrete Landau levels. All atmospheric electrons initially lie in the Landau ground state, but in the author's calculations of Coulomb collisions between atmospheric electrons and accreting protons, he allows for processes that leave the electrons in the first excited Landau level. He also considers interactions between accreting protons and the collective modes of the atmospheric plasma. Division of the electromagnetic interaction of a fast proton with a magnetized plasma into single particle and collective effects is described in detail in Chapter 2. Deceleration of the accretion flow due to Coulomb collisions with atmospheric electrons and collective plasma effects was studied in a number of computer simulations. These simulations, along with a discussion of the physical state of the atmospheric plasma and its interactions with a past proton, are presented in Chapter 3. Details of the atmospheric model and a description of the results of the simulations are given in Chapter 4. Chapter 5 contains some brief concluding remarks, and some thoughts on future research

  5. The Models for Radio Emission from Pulsars – The Outstanding issues

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    tribpo

    in section 4, where existing models for pulsar radio emission are also reviewed. ... pair plasma flowing outward along open magnetic field lines from the polar caps ..... A reactive instability involves an intrinsically growing, phase-coherent wave.

  6. Mechanism of the X-ray and Soft Gamma-ray Emissions from the High Magnetic Field Pulsar: PSR B1509-58

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu Wang

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available We use the outer gap model to explain the spectrum and the energy dependent light curves of the X-ray and soft γ-ray radiations of the spin-down powered pulsar PSR B1509-58. In the outer gap model, most pairs inside the gap are created around the null charge surface and the gap’s electric field separates the opposite charges to move in opposite directions. Consequently, the region from the null charge surface to the light cylinder is dominated by the outflow current and that from the null charge surface to the star is dominated by the inflow current. We suggest that the viewing angle of PSR B1509-58 only receives the inflow radiation. The incoming curvature photons are converted to pairs by the strong magnetic field of the star. The X-rays and soft γ-rays of PSR B1509-58 result from the synchrotron radiation of these pairs. The magnetic pair creation requires a large pitch angle, which makes the pulse profile of the synchrotron radiation distinct from that of the curvature radiation. We carefully trace the pulse profiles of the synchrotron radiation with different pitch angles. We find that the differences between the light curves of different energy bands are due to the different pitch angles of the secondary pairs, and the second peak appearing at E > 10 MeV comes from the region near the star, where the stronger magnetic field allows the pair creation to happen with a smaller pitch angle.

  7. Swings between rotation and accretion power in a binary millisecond pulsar.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papitto, A; Ferrigno, C; Bozzo, E; Rea, N; Pavan, L; Burderi, L; Burgay, M; Campana, S; Di Salvo, T; Falanga, M; Filipović, M D; Freire, P C C; Hessels, J W T; Possenti, A; Ransom, S M; Riggio, A; Romano, P; Sarkissian, J M; Stairs, I H; Stella, L; Torres, D F; Wieringa, M H; Wong, G F

    2013-09-26

    It is thought that neutron stars in low-mass binary systems can accrete matter and angular momentum from the companion star and be spun-up to millisecond rotational periods. During the accretion stage, the system is called a low-mass X-ray binary, and bright X-ray emission is observed. When the rate of mass transfer decreases in the later evolutionary stages, these binaries host a radio millisecond pulsar whose emission is powered by the neutron star's rotating magnetic field. This evolutionary model is supported by the detection of millisecond X-ray pulsations from several accreting neutron stars and also by the evidence for a past accretion disc in a rotation-powered millisecond pulsar. It has been proposed that a rotation-powered pulsar may temporarily switch on during periods of low mass inflow in some such systems. Only indirect evidence for this transition has hitherto been observed. Here we report observations of accretion-powered, millisecond X-ray pulsations from a neutron star previously seen as a rotation-powered radio pulsar. Within a few days after a month-long X-ray outburst, radio pulses were again detected. This not only shows the evolutionary link between accretion and rotation-powered millisecond pulsars, but also that some systems can swing between the two states on very short timescales.

  8. A SEARCH FOR RAPIDLY SPINNING PULSARS AND FAST TRANSIENTS IN UNIDENTIFIED RADIO SOURCES WITH THE NRAO 43 METER TELESCOPE

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schmidt, Deborah; Crawford, Fronefield; Gilpin, Claire [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Franklin and Marshall College, P.O. Box 3003, Lancaster, PA 17604 (United States); Langston, Glen [National Radio Astronomy Observatory, P.O. Box 2, Green Bank, WV 24944 (United States)

    2013-04-15

    We have searched 75 unidentified radio sources selected from the NRAO VLA Sky Survey catalog for the presence of rapidly spinning pulsars and short, dispersed radio bursts. The sources are radio bright, have no identifications or optical source coincidences, are more than 5% linearly polarized, and are spatially unresolved in the catalog. If these sources are fast-spinning pulsars (e.g., sub-millisecond pulsars), previous large-scale pulsar surveys may have missed detection due to instrumental and computational limitations, eclipsing effects, or diffractive scintillation. The discovery of a sub-millisecond pulsar would significantly constrain the neutron star equation of state and would have implications for models predicting a rapid slowdown of highly recycled X-ray pulsars to millisecond periods from, e.g., accretion disk decoupling. These same sources were previously searched unsuccessfully for pulsations at 610 MHz with the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank. This new search was conducted at a different epoch with a new 800 MHz backend on the NRAO 43 m Telescope at a center frequency of 1200 MHz. Our search was sensitive to sub-millisecond pulsars in highly accelerated binary systems and to short transient pulses. No periodic or transient signals were detected from any of the target sources. We conclude that diffractive scintillation, dispersive smearing, and binary acceleration are unlikely to have prevented detection of the large majority of the sources if they are pulsars, though we cannot rule out eclipsing, nulling or intermittent emission, or radio interference as possible factors for some non-detections. Other (speculative) possibilities for what these sources might include radio-emitting magnetic cataclysmic variables or older pulsars with aligned magnetic and spin axes.

  9. Gamma rays and neutrinos from the Crab Nebula produced by pulsar accelerated nuclei

    OpenAIRE

    Bednarek, W.; Protheroe, R. J.

    1997-01-01

    We investigate the consequences of the acceleration of heavy nuclei (e.g. iron nuclei) by the Crab pulsar. Accelerated nuclei can photodisintegrate in collisions with soft photons produced in the pulsar's outer gap, injecting energetic neutrons which decay either inside or outside the Crab Nebula. The protons from neutron decay inside the nebula are trapped by the Crab Nebula magnetic field, and accumulate inside the nebula producing gamma-rays and neutrinos in collisions with the matter in t...

  10. A model of two-stream non-radial accretion for binary X-ray pulsars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lipunov, V.M.

    1982-01-01

    The general case of non-radial accretion is assumed to occur in real binary systems containing X-ray pulsars. The structure and the stability of the magnetosphere, the interaction between the magnetosphere and accreted matter, as well as evolution of neutron star in close binary system are examined within the framework of the two-stream model of nonradial accretion onto a magnetized neutron star. Observable parameters of X-ray pulsars are explained in terms of the model considered. (orig.)

  11. Constraints on pulsar masses from the maximum observed glitch

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pizzochero, P. M.; Antonelli, M.; Haskell, B.; Seveso, S.

    2017-07-01

    Neutron stars are unique cosmic laboratories in which fundamental physics can be probed in extreme conditions not accessible to terrestrial experiments. In particular, the precise timing of rotating magnetized neutron stars (pulsars) reveals sudden jumps in rotational frequency in these otherwise steadily spinning-down objects. These 'glitches' are thought to be due to the presence of a superfluid component in the star, and offer a unique glimpse into the interior physics of neutron stars. In this paper we propose an innovative method to constrain the mass of glitching pulsars, using observations of the maximum glitch observed in a star, together with state-of-the-art microphysical models of the pinning interaction between superfluid vortices and ions in the crust. We study the properties of a physically consistent angular momentum reservoir of pinned vorticity, and we find a general inverse relation between the size of the maximum glitch and the pulsar mass. We are then able to estimate the mass of all the observed glitchers that have displayed at least two large events. Our procedure will allow current and future observations of glitching pulsars to constrain not only the physics of glitch models but also the superfluid properties of dense hadronic matter in neutron star interiors.

  12. Gamma-Ray Light Curves from Pulsar Magnetospheres with Finite Conductivity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harding, A. K.; Kalapotharakos, C.; Kazanas, D.; Contopoulos, I.

    2012-01-01

    The Fermi Large Area Telescope has provided an unprecedented database for pulsar emission studies that includes gamma-ray light curves for over 100 pulsars. Modeling these light curves can reveal and constrain the geometry of the particle accelerator, as well as the pulsar magnetic field structure. We have constructed 3D magnetosphere models with finite conductivity, that bridge the extreme vacuum and force-free solutions used in previous light curves modeling. We are investigating the shapes of pulsar gamma-ray light curves using these dissipative solutions with two different approaches: (l) assuming geometric emission patterns of the slot gap and outer gap, and (2) using the parallel electric field provided by the resistive models to compute the trajectories and . emission of the radiating particles. The light curves using geometric emission patterns show a systematic increase in gamma-ray peak phase with increasing conductivity, introducing a new diagnostic of these solutions. The light curves using the model electric fields are very sensitive to the conductivity but do not resemble the observed Fermi light curves, suggesting that some screening of the parallel electric field, by pair cascades not included in the models, is necessary

  13. The Radiative X-ray and Gamma-ray Efficiencies of Rotation-powered Pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vink, Jacco; Bamba, Aya; Yamazaki, Ryo

    2011-02-01

    We present a statistical analysis of the X-ray luminosity of rotation-powered pulsars and their surrounding nebulae using the sample of Kargaltsev & Pavlov, and we complement this with an analysis of the γ-ray emission of Fermi-detected pulsars. We report a strong trend in the efficiency with which spin-down power is converted to X-ray and γ-ray emission with characteristic age: young pulsars and their surrounding nebulae are efficient X-ray emitters, whereas in contrast old pulsars are efficient γ-ray emitters. We divided the X-ray sample in a young (τ c < 1.7 × 104 yr) and old sample and used linear regression to search for correlations between the logarithm of the X-ray and γ-ray luminosities and the logarithms of the periods and period derivatives. The X-ray emission from young pulsars and their nebulae are both consistent with L_X ∝ \\dot{P}^3/P^6. For old pulsars and their nebulae the X-ray luminosity is consistent with a more or less constant efficiency η ≡ L_X/\\dot{E}_{rot} ≈ 8× 10^{-5}. For the γ-ray luminosity we confirm that L_γ ∝ √{\\dot{E}_{rot}}. We discuss these findings in the context of pair production inside pulsar magnetospheres and the striped wind model. We suggest that the striped wind model may explain the similarity between the X-ray properties of the pulsar wind nebulae and the pulsars themselves, which according to the striped wind model may both find their origin outside the light cylinder, in the pulsar wind zone.

  14. Radio Observations of Elongated Pulsar Wind Nebulae

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ng, Stephen C.-Y.

    2015-08-01

    The majority of pulsars' rotational energy is carried away by relativistic winds, which are energetic particles accelerated in the magnetosphere. The confinement of the winds by the ambient medium result in synchrotron bubbles with broad-band emission, which are commonly referred to as pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe). Due to long synchrotron cooling time, a radio PWN reflects the integrated history of the system, complementing information obtained from the X-ray and higher energy bands. In addition, radio polarization measurements can offer a powerful probe of the PWN magnetic field structure. Altogether these can reveal the physical conditions and evolutionary history of a system.I report on preliminary results from high-resolution radio observations of PWNe associated with G327.1-1.1, PSRs J1015-5719, B1509-58, and J1549-4848 taken with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). Their magnetic field structure and multiwavelength comparison with other observations are discussed.This work is supported by a ECS grant of the Hong Kong Government under HKU 709713P. The Australia Telescope is funded by the Commonwealth of Australia for operation as a National Facility managed by CSIRO.

  15. Using HAWC to discover invisible pulsars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Linden, Tim; Auchettl, Katie; Bramante, Joseph; Cholis, Ilias; Fang, Ke; Hooper, Dan; Karwal, Tanvi; Li, Shirley Weishi

    2017-11-01

    Observations by HAWC and Milagro have detected bright and spatially extended TeV gamma-ray sources surrounding the Geminga and Monogem pulsars. We argue that these observations, along with a substantial population of other extended TeV sources coincident with pulsar wind nebulae, constitute a new morphological class of spatially extended TeV halos. We show that HAWCs wide field-of-view unlocks an expansive parameter space of TeV halos not observable by atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. Under the assumption that Geminga and Monogem are typical middle-aged pulsars, we show that ten-year HAWC observations should eventually observe 37$^{+17}_{-13}$ middle-aged TeV halos that correspond to pulsars whose radio emission is not beamed towards Earth. Depending on the extrapolation of the TeV halo efficiency to young pulsars, HAWC could detect more than 100 TeV halos from mis-aligned pulsars. These pulsars have historically been difficult to detect with existing multiwavelength observations. TeV halos will constitute a significant fraction of all HAWC sources, allowing follow-up observations to efficiently find pulsar wind nebulae and thermal pulsar emission. The observation and subsequent multi-wavelength follow-up of TeV halos will have significant implications for our understanding of pulsar beam geometries, the evolution of PWN, the diffusion of cosmic-rays near energetic pulsars, and the contribution of pulsars to the cosmic-ray positron excess.

  16. THE EINSTEIN-HOME SEARCH FOR RADIO PULSARS AND PSR J2007+2722 DISCOVERY

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Allen, B.; Knispel, B.; Aulbert, C.; Bock, O.; Eggenstein, H. B.; Fehrmann, H.; Machenschalk, B. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik, D-30167 Hannover (Germany); Cordes, J. M.; Brazier, A.; Chatterjee, S. [Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States); Deneva, J. S. [Arecibo Observatory, HC3 Box 53995, Arecibo, PR 00612 (United States); Hessels, J. W. T. [ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Postbus 2, 7990 AA, Dwingeloo (Netherlands); Anderson, D. [Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Demorest, P. B. [NRAO (National Radio Astronomy Observatory), Charlottesville, VA 22903 (United States); Gotthelf, E. V. [Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (United States); Hammer, D. [Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53211 (United States); Kaspi, V. M. [Department of Physics, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A2T8 (Canada); Kramer, M. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Radioastronomie, D-53121 Bonn (Germany); Lyne, A. G. [Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL (United Kingdom); McLaughlin, M. A., E-mail: bruce.allen@aei.mpg.de [Department of Physics, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506 (United States); and others

    2013-08-20

    Einstein-Home aggregates the computer power of hundreds of thousands of volunteers from 193 countries, to search for new neutron stars using data from electromagnetic and gravitational-wave detectors. This paper presents a detailed description of the search for new radio pulsars using Pulsar ALFA survey data from the Arecibo Observatory. The enormous computing power allows this search to cover a new region of parameter space; it can detect pulsars in binary systems with orbital periods as short as 11 minutes. We also describe the first Einstein-Home discovery, the 40.8 Hz isolated pulsar PSR J2007+2722, and provide a full timing model. PSR J2007+2722's pulse profile is remarkably wide with emission over almost the entire spin period. This neutron star is most likely a disrupted recycled pulsar, about as old as its characteristic spin-down age of 404 Myr. However, there is a small chance that it was born recently, with a low magnetic field. If so, upper limits on the X-ray flux suggest but cannot prove that PSR J2007+2722 is at least {approx}100 kyr old. In the future, we expect that the massive computing power provided by volunteers should enable many additional radio pulsar discoveries.

  17. Radio-quiet Gamma-ray Pulsars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lupin Chun-Che Lin

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available A radio-quiet γ-ray pulsar is a neutron star that has significant γ-ray pulsation but without observed radio emission or only limited emission detected by high sensitivity radio surveys. The launch of the Fermi spacecraft in 2008 opened a new epoch to study the population of these pulsars. In the 2nd Fermi Large Area Telescope catalog of γ-ray pulsars, there are 35 (30 % of the 117 pulsars in the catalog known samples classified as radio-quiet γ-ray pulsars with radio flux density (S1400 of less than 30 μJy. Accompanying the observations obtained in various wavelengths, astronomers not only have the opportunity to study the emitting nature of radio-quiet γ-ray pulsars but also have proposed different models to explain their radiation mechanism. This article will review the history of the discovery, the emission properties, and the previous efforts to study pulsars in this population. Some particular cases known as Geminga-like pulsars (e.g., PSR J0633+1746, PSR J0007+7303, PSR J2021+4026, and so on are also to specified discuss their common and specific features.

  18. Hydrogen atoms in a strong magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Santos, R.R. dos.

    1975-07-01

    The energies and wave functions of the 14 lowest states of a Hydrogen atom in a strong magnetic field are calculated, using a variational scheme. The equivalence between the atomic problem and the problems related with excitons and impurities in semiconductors in the presence of a strong magnetic field are shown. The calculations of the energies and wave functions have been divided in two regions: the first, for the magnetic field ranging between zero and 10 9 G; in the second the magnetic field ranges between 10 9 and 10 11 G. The results have been compared with those obtained by previous authors. The computation time necessary for the calculations is small. Therefore this is a convenient scheme to obtain the energies and wave functions for the problem. Transition probabilities, wavelengths and oscillator strengths for some allowed transitions are also calculated. (Author) [pt

  19. Millisecond pulsars: Timekeepers of the cosmos

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaspi, Victoria M.

    1995-01-01

    A brief discussion on the characteristics of pulsars is given followed by a review of millisecond pulsar discoveries including the very first, PRS B1937+21, discovered in 1982. Methods of timing millisecond pulsars and the accuracy of millisecond pulsars as clocks are discussed. Possible reasons for the pulse residuals, or differences between the observed and predicted pulse arrival times for millisecond pulsars, are given.

  20. Frictional Coulomb drag in strong magnetic fields

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bønsager, Martin Christian; Flensberg, Karsten; Hu, Ben Yu-Kuang

    1997-01-01

    A treatment of frictional Coulomb drag between two two-dimensional electron layers in a strong perpendicular magnetic field, within the independent electron picture, is presented. Assuming fully resolved Landau levels, the linear response theory expression for the transresistivity rho(21) is eval......A treatment of frictional Coulomb drag between two two-dimensional electron layers in a strong perpendicular magnetic field, within the independent electron picture, is presented. Assuming fully resolved Landau levels, the linear response theory expression for the transresistivity rho(21...

  1. Transitional millisecond pulsars in the low-level accretion state

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaodard, Amruta D.; Hessels, Jason W. T.; Archibald, Anne; Bogdanov, Slavko; Deller, Adam; Hernandez Santisteban, Juan; Patruno, Alessandro; D'Angelo, Caroline; Bassa, Cees; Amruta Jaodand

    2018-01-01

    In the canonical pulsar recycling scenario, a slowly spinning neutron star can be rejuvenated to rapid spin rates by the transfer of angular momentum and mass from a binary companion star. Over the last decade, the discovery of three transitional millisecond pulsars (tMSPs) has allowed us to study recycling in detail. These systems transition between accretion-powered (X-ray) and rotation-powered (radio) pulsar states within just a few days, raising questions such as: what triggers the state transition, when does the recycling process truly end, and what will the radio pulsar’s final spin rate be? Systematic multi-wavelength campaigns over the last decade have provided critical insights: multi-year-long, low-level accretion states showing coherent X-ray pulsations; extremely stable, bi-modal X-ray light curves; outflows probed by radio continuum emission; a surprising gamma-ray brightening during accretion, etc. In my thesis I am trying to bring these clues together to understand the low-level accretion process that recycles a pulsar. For example, recently we timed PSR J1023+0038 in the accretion state and found it to be spinning down ~26% faster compared to the non-accreting radio pulsar state. We are currently conducting simultaneous multi-wavelength campaigns (XMM, HST, Kepler and VLA) to understand the global variability of the accretion flow, as well as high-energy Fermi-LAT observations to probe the gamma-ray emission mechanism. I will highlight these recent developments, while also presenting a broad overview of tMSPs as exciting new laboratories to test low-level accretion onto magnetized neutron stars.

  2. Ultra-high energy cosmic rays from white dwarf pulsars and the Hillas criterion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lobato, Ronaldo V.; Coelho, Jaziel G.; Malheiro, M.

    2017-01-01

    The origins of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays ( E ≳ 10 19 eV) are a mystery and still under debate in astroparticle physics. In recent years some efforts were made to understand their nature. In this contribution we consider the possibility of Some Soft Gamma Repeaters (SGRs) and Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) beeing white dwarf pulsars, and show that these sources can achieve large electromagnetic potentials on their surface that accelerate particle almost at the speed of light, with energies E ∼ 10 20-21 eV. The sources SGRs/AXPs considered as highly magnetized white dwarfs are well described in the Hillas diagram, lying close to the AR Sorpii and AE Aquarii which are understood as white dwarf pulsars. (paper)

  3. A multiwavelength study of SXP 1062, the long-period X-ray pulsar associated with a supernova remnant

    Science.gov (United States)

    González-Galán, A.; Oskinova, L. M.; Popov, S. B.; Haberl, F.; Kühnel, M.; Gallagher, J.; Schurch, M. P. E.; Guerrero, M. A.

    2018-04-01

    SXP 1062 is a Be X-ray binary (BeXB) located in the Small Magellanic Cloud. It hosts a long-period X-ray pulsar and is likely associated with the supernova remnant MCSNR J0127-7332. In this work we present a multiwavelength view on SXP 1062 in different luminosity regimes. We consider monitoring campaigns in optical (OGLE survey) and X-ray (Swift telescope). During these campaigns a tight coincidence of X-ray and optical outbursts is observed. We interpret this as typical Type I outbursts as often detected in BeXBs at periastron passage of the neutron star (NS). To study different X-ray luminosity regimes in depth, during the source quiescence we observed it with XMM-Newton while Chandra observations followed an X-ray outburst. Nearly simultaneously with Chandra observations in X-rays, in optical the RSS/SALT telescope obtained spectra of SXP 1062. On the basis of our multiwavelength campaign we propose a simple scenario where the disc of the Be star is observed face-on, while the orbit of the NS is inclined with respect to the disc. According to the model of quasi-spherical settling accretion our estimation of the magnetic field of the pulsar in SXP 1062 does not require an extremely strong magnetic field at the present time.

  4. Separated before birth: pulsars B2020+28 and B2021+51 as the remnants of runaway stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gvaramadze, V. V.

    2007-08-01

    Astrometric data on the pulsars B2020+28 and B2021+51 suggest that they originated within several parsecs of each other in the direction of the Cyg OB2 association. It was proposed that the pulsars share their origin in a common massive binary and were separated at the birth of the second pulsar following the asymmetric supernova explosion. We consider a different scenario for the origin of the pulsar pair based on a possibility that the pulsars were separated before their birth and that they are the remnants of runaway stars ejected (with velocities similar to those of the pulsars) from the core of Cyg OB2 due to strong three- or four-body dynamical encounters. Our scenario does not require any asymmetry in supernova explosions.

  5. Nonlinear Electron Waves in Strongly Magnetized Plasmas

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pécseli, Hans; Juul Rasmussen, Jens

    1980-01-01

    Weakly nonlinear dispersive electron waves in strongly magnetized plasma are considered. A modified nonlinear Schrodinger equation is derived taking into account the effect of particles resonating with the group velocity of the waves (nonlinear Landau damping). The possibility of including the ion...... dynamics in the analysis is also demonstrated. As a particular case the authors investigate nonlinear waves in a strongly magnetized plasma filled wave-guide, where the effects of finite geometry are important. The relevance of this problem to laboratory experiments is discussed....

  6. Nuclear limits on gravitational waves from elliptically deformed pulsars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krastev, Plamen G.; Li Baoan; Worley, Aaron

    2008-01-01

    Gravitational radiation is a fundamental prediction of General Relativity. Elliptically deformed pulsars are among the possible sources emitting gravitational waves (GWs) with a strain-amplitude dependent upon the star's quadrupole moment, rotational frequency, and distance from the detector. We show that the gravitational wave strain amplitude h 0 depends strongly on the equation of state of neutron-rich stellar matter. Applying an equation of state with symmetry energy constrained by recent nuclear laboratory data, we set an upper limit on the strain-amplitude of GWs produced by elliptically deformed pulsars. Depending on details of the EOS, for several millisecond pulsars at distances 0.18 kpc to 0.35 kpc from Earth, the maximalh 0 is found to be in the range of ∼[0.4-1.5]x10 -24 . This prediction serves as the first direct nuclear constraint on the gravitational radiation. Its implications are discussed

  7. Millisecond radio pulsars in globular clusters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verbunt, Frank; Lewin, Walter H. G.; Van Paradijs, Jan

    1989-01-01

    It is shown that the number of millisecond radio pulsars, in globular clusters, should be larger than 100, applying the standard scenario that all the pulsars descend from low-mass X-ray binaries. Moreover, most of the pulsars are located in a small number of clusters. The prediction that Teran 5 and Liller 1 contain at least about a dozen millisecond radio pulsars each is made. The observations of millisecond radio pulsars in globular clusters to date, in particular the discovery of two millisecond radio pulsars in 47 Tuc, are in agreement with the standard scenario, in which the neutron star is spun up during the mass transfer phase.

  8. 40 Years of Pulsars: The Birth and Evolution of Isolated Radio Pulsars

    OpenAIRE

    Faucher-Giguere, C. -A.; Kaspi, V. M.

    2007-01-01

    We investigate the birth and evolution of isolated radio pulsars using a population synthesis method, modeling the birth properties of the pulsars, their time evolution, and their detection in the Parkes and Swinburne Multibeam (MB) surveys. Together, the Parkes and Swinburne MB surveys have detected nearly 2/3 of the known pulsars and provide a remarkably homogeneous sample to compare with simulations. New proper motion measurements and an improved model of the distribution of free electrons...

  9. The Parkes multibeam pulsar survey and the discovery of new energetic radio pulsars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    D'Amico, N.; Possenti, A.; Kaspi, V.M.; Manchester, R.N.; Bell, J.F.; Camilo, F.; Lyne, A.G.; Kramer, M.; Hobbs, G.; Stairs, I.H.

    2001-01-01

    The Parkes multibeam pulsar survey is a deep search of the Galactic plane for pulsars. It uses a 13-beam receiver system operating at 1.4 GHz on the 64-m Parkes radio telescope. It has much higher sensitivity than any previous similar survey and is finding large numbers of previously unknown pulsars, many of which are relatively young and energetic. On the basis of an empirical comparison of their properties with other young radio pulsars, some of the new discoveries are expected to be observable as pulsed γ-ray sources. We describe the survey motivation, the experiment characteristics and the results achieved so far

  10. The LOFAR Known Pulsar Data Pipeline

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Alexov, A.; Hessels, J.W.T.; Mol, J.D.; Stappers, B.; van Leeuwen, J.

    2010-01-01

    Abstract: Transient radio phenomena and pulsars are one of six LOFAR Key Science Projects (KSPs). As part of the Transients KSP, the Pulsar Working Group (PWG) has been developing the LOFAR Pulsar Data Pipelines to both study known pulsars as well as search for new ones. The pipelines are being

  11. Determination of the Flux-distance Relationship for Pulsars in the Parkes Multibeam Survey: Violation of the Inverse Square Law Gives Support for a New Model of Pulsar Emission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singleton, John; Sengupta, P.; Middleditch, J.; Graves, T.; Schmidt, A.; Perez, M.; Ardavan, H.; Ardavan, A.; Fasel, J.

    2010-01-01

    Soon after the discovery of pulsars, it was realized that their unique periodic emissions must be associated with a source that rotates. Despite this insight and forty one years of subsequent effort, a detailed understanding of the pulsar emission mechanism has proved elusive. Here, using data for 983 pulsars taken from the Parkes Multibeam Survey, we show that their fluxes at 1400 MHz (S(1400)) decay with distance d according to a non-standard power-law; we suggest that S(1400) is proportional to 1/d. This distance dependence is revealed by two independent statistical techniques, (i) the Maximum Likelihood Method and (ii) analysis of the distance evolution of the cumulative distribution functions of pulsar flux. Moreover, the derived power law is valid for both millisecond and longer-period pulsars, and is robust against possible errors in the NE2001 method for obtaining pulsar distances from dispersion measure. This observation provides strong support for a mechanism of pulsar emission due to superluminal (faster than light in vacuo) polarization currents. Such superluminal polarization currents have been extensively studied by Bolotovskii, Ginzburg and others, who showed both that they do not violate Special Relativity (since the oppositely-charged particles that make them move relatively slowly) and that they form a bona-fide source term in Maxwell's equations. Subsequently, emission of radiation by superluminal polarization currents was demonstrated in laboratory experiments. By extending these ideas to a superluminal polarization current whose distribution pattern follows a circular orbit, we can explain the 1/d dependence of the flux suggested by our analyses of the observational data. In addition, we show that a model of pulsar emission due to such a rotating superluminal polarization current can predict the the frequency spectrum of nine pulsars over 16 orders of magnitude of frequency quantitatively. This work is supported by the DoE LDRD program at Los

  12. Neutron stars. [quantum mechanical processes associated with magnetic fields

    Science.gov (United States)

    Canuto, V.

    1978-01-01

    Quantum-mechanical processes associated with the presence of high magnetic fields and the effect of such fields on the evolution of neutron stars are reviewed. A technical description of the interior of a neutron star is presented. The neutron star-pulsar relation is reviewed and consideration is given to supernovae explosions, flux conservation in neutron stars, gauge-invariant derivation of the equation of state for a strongly magnetized gas, neutron beta-decay, and the stability condition for a neutron star.

  13. Pulsar magnetospheres in binary systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ershkovich, A. I.; Dolan, J. F.

    1985-01-01

    The criterion for stability of a tangential discontinuity interface in a magnetized, perfectly conducting inviscid plasma is investigated by deriving the dispersion equation including the effects of both gravitational and centrifugal acceleration. The results are applied to neutron star magnetospheres in X-ray binaries. The Kelvin-Helmholtz instability appears to be important in determining whether MHD waves of large amplitude generated by instability may intermix the plasma effectively, resulting in accretion onto the whole star as suggested by Arons and Lea and leading to no X-ray pulsar behavior.

  14. Pulsar Magnetohydrodynamic Winds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okamoto, Isao; Sigalo, Friday B.

    2006-12-01

    The acceleration and collimation/decollimation of relativistic magnetocentrifugal winds are discussed concerning a cold plasma from a strongly magnetized, rapidly rotating neutron star in a steady axisymmetric state based on ideal magnetohydrodynamics. There exist unipolar inductors associated with the field line angular frequency, α, at the magnetospheric base surface, SB, with a huge potential difference between the poles and the equator, which drive electric current through the pulsar magnetosphere. Any ``current line'' must emanate from one terminal of the unipolar inductor and return to the other, converting the Poynting flux to the kinetic flux of the wind at finite distances. In a plausible field structure satisfying the transfield force-balance equation, the fast surface, SF, must exist somewhere between the subasymptotic and asymptotic domains, i.e., at the innermost point along each field line of the asymptotic domain of \\varpaA2/\\varpi2 ≪ 1, where \\varpiA is the Alfvénic axial distance. The criticality condition at SF yields the Lorentz factor, γF = μ\\varepsilon1/3, and the angular momentum flux, β, as the eigenvalues in terms of the field line angular velocity, α, the mass flux per unit flux tube, η, and one of the Bernoulli integrals, μδ, which are assumed to be specifiable as the boundary conditions at SB. The other Bernoulli integral, μɛ, is related to μδ as μɛ = μδ[1-(α2\\varpiA2/c2)]-1, and both μɛ and \\varpiA2 are eigenvalues to be determined by the criticality condition at SF. Ongoing MHD acceleration is possible in the superfast domain. This fact may be helpful in resolving a discrepancy between the wind theory and the Crab-nebula model. It is argued that the ``anti-collimation theorem'' holds for relativistic winds, based on the curvature of field streamlines determined by the transfield force balance. The ``theorem'' combines with the ``current-closure condition'' as a global condition in the wind zone to produce a

  15. Visualization of Pulsar Search Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foster, R. S.; Wolszczan, A.

    1993-05-01

    The search for periodic signals from rotating neutron stars or pulsars has been a computationally taxing problem to astronomers for more than twenty-five years. Over this time interval, increases in computational capability have allowed ever more sensitive searches, covering a larger parameter space. The volume of input data and the general presence of radio frequency interference typically produce numerous spurious signals. Visualization of the search output and enhanced real-time processing of significant candidate events allow the pulsar searcher to optimally processes and search for new radio pulsars. The pulsar search algorithm and visualization system presented in this paper currently runs on serial RISC based workstations, a traditional vector based super computer, and a massively parallel computer. A description of the serial software algorithm and its modifications for massively parallel computing are describe. The results of four successive searches for millisecond period radio pulsars using the Arecibo telescope at 430 MHz have resulted in the successful detection of new long-period and millisecond period radio pulsars.

  16. Pulsar observations with the MAGIC telescopes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Garcia, Jezabel R.; Dazzi, F.; Idec, W.; Moretti, E.; Schweizer, T. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Physik, Munich (Germany); Bonnefoy, S.; Carreto-Fidalgo, D.; Lopez, M. [Universitad Compultense, Madrid (Spain); Galindo, D.; Zanin, R. [Universitat de Barcelona, ICC/IEEC-UB, Barcelona (Spain); Ona Wilhelmi, E. de [Institute for Space Sciences (CSIC/IEEC), Barcelona (Spain); Reichardt, I. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Padova (Italy); Saito, T. [Kyoto University, Hakubi Center (Japan); Collaboration: MAGIC-Collaboration

    2016-07-01

    MAGIC is a stereoscopic system of two IACTs, located at the ORM (Spain). Since 2008, MAGIC has played a big role in Pulsar physics due to the discovery of the first VHE gamma-ray emission from the Crab pulsar. Such a discovery was possible thanks to a revolutionary trigger technique used in the initial MAGIC mono system, the Sum-Trigger, that provided a 25 GeV energy threshold. The study of the Crab keeps providing numerous important results for the understanding of pulsar physics. The most recent ones are the bridge emission at VHE and the detection of the Crab pulsations at TeV energies. MAGIC has been also searching for new pulsars, providing recently interesting results about the Geminga pulsar and nebula. This talk reviews the essential MAGIC results about VHE pulsars and their implications for pulsar physics.Also we discuss the development of a new stereo trigger system, the Sum-Trigger-II, and the importance of the observation windows that this system opens for the study of VHE pulsars.

  17. Pulsar Emission Geometry and Accelerating Field Strength

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeCesar, Megan E.; Harding, Alice K.; Miller, M. Coleman; Kalapotharakos, Constantinos; Parent, Damien

    2012-01-01

    The high-quality Fermi LAT observations of gamma-ray pulsars have opened a new window to understanding the generation mechanisms of high-energy emission from these systems, The high statistics allow for careful modeling of the light curve features as well as for phase resolved spectral modeling. We modeled the LAT light curves of the Vela and CTA I pulsars with simulated high-energy light curves generated from geometrical representations of the outer gap and slot gap emission models. within the vacuum retarded dipole and force-free fields. A Markov Chain Monte Carlo maximum likelihood method was used to explore the phase space of the magnetic inclination angle, viewing angle. maximum emission radius, and gap width. We also used the measured spectral cutoff energies to estimate the accelerating parallel electric field dependence on radius. under the assumptions that the high-energy emission is dominated by curvature radiation and the geometry (radius of emission and minimum radius of curvature of the magnetic field lines) is determined by the best fitting light curves for each model. We find that light curves from the vacuum field more closely match the observed light curves and multiwavelength constraints, and that the calculated parallel electric field can place additional constraints on the emission geometry

  18. Integral luminosities of radio pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malov, I.; Malov, O.

    The integral radio luminosities L for 311 normal pulsars and for 27 ones with the rotation period Pfalls for fast ones. The mean values of K are -3.73 and -4.85 for normal and fast pulsars, respectively. There are no changes of L with the kinematic age T = z/V, where z is the pulsar height over the Galactic plane and V = 300 km/s is its mean velocity. The correlation between L and the rate of the rotation energy losses E is detected for both pulsar groups under consideration. It is shown that L= A E^(1/3) for the whole sample. The total number of pulsars in the Galaxy and their birth rate are in agreement with data on the rate of supernova explosions.

  19. Sensitivity of Pulsar Timing Arrays

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siemens, Xavier

    2015-08-01

    For the better part of the last decade, the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) has been using the Green Bank and Arecibo radio telescopes to monitor millisecond pulsars. NANOGrav, along with similar international collaborations, the European Pulsar Timing Array and the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array in Australia, form a consortium of consortia: the International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA). The goal of the IPTA is to directly detect low-frequency gravitational waves which cause small changes to the times of arrival of radio pulses from millisecond pulsars. In this talk I will discuss the work of NANOGrav and the IPTA as well as our sensitivity to gravitational waves from astrophysical sources. I will show that a detection is possible by the end of the decade.

  20. Pulsar timing and general relativity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Backer, D. C.; Hellings, R. W.

    1986-01-01

    Techniques are described for accounting for relativistic effects in the analysis of pulsar signals. Design features of instrumentation used to achieve millisecond accuracy in the signal measurements are discussed. The accuracy of the data permits modeling the pulsar physical characteristics from the natural glitches in the emissions. Relativistic corrections are defined for adjusting for differences between the pulsar motion in its spacetime coordinate system relative to the terrestrial coordinate system, the earth's motion, and the gravitational potentials of solar system bodies. Modifications of the model to allow for a binary pulsar system are outlined, including treatment of the system as a point mass. Finally, a quadrupole model is presented for gravitational radiation and techniques are defined for using pulsars in the search for gravitational waves.

  1. Jeans instability of self-gravitating magnetized strongly coupled plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prajapati, R P; Sharma, P K; Sanghvi, R K; Chhajlani, R K

    2012-01-01

    We investigate the Jeans instability of self-gravitating magnetized strongly coupled plasma. The equations of the problem are formulated using the generalized hydrodynamic model and a general dispersion relation is obtained using the normal mode analysis. This dispersion relation is discussed for transverse and longitudinal mode of propagations. The modified condition of Jeans instability is obtained for magnetized strongly coupled plasma. We find that strong coupling of plasma particles modify the fundamental criterion of Jeans gravitational instability. In transverse mode it is found that Jeans instability criterion gets modified due to the presence of magnetic field, shear viscosity and fluid viscosity but in longitudinal mode it is unaffected due to the presence of magnetic field. From the curves we found that all these parameters have stabilizing influence on the growth rate of Jeans instability.

  2. Magnetization of dense neutron matter in a strong magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Isaev, A.A.; Yang, J.

    2010-01-01

    Spin polarized states in neutron matter at a strong magnetic field up to 1018 G are considered in the model with the Skyrme effective interaction. Analyzing the self consistent equations at zero temperature, it is shown that a thermodynamically stable branch of solutions for the spin polarization parameter as a function of the density corresponds to the negative spin polarization when the majority of neutron spins are oriented oppositely to the direction of the magnetic field. In addition, beginning from some threshold density dependent on the magnetic field strength, the self-consistent equations have also two other branches of solutions for the spin polarization parameter with the positive spin polarization. The free energy corresponding to one of these branches turns out to be very close to the free energy corresponding to the thermodynamically preferable branch with the negative spin polarization. As a consequence, at a strong magnetic field, the state with the positive spin polarization can be realized as a metastable state at the high density region in neutron matter which changes into a thermodynamically stable state with the negative spin polarization with decrease in the density at some threshold value. The calculations of the neutron spin polarization parameter, energy per neutron, and chemical potentials of spin-up and spin-down neutrons as functions of the magnetic field strength show that the influence of the magnetic field remains small at the field strengths up to 1017 G.

  3. A Population of Gamma-Ray Millisecond Pulsars Seen with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dumora, D.; Grondin, M.H.; Guillemot, L.; Lemoine-Goumard, M.; Lovellette, M.N.; Parent, D.; Smith, D.A.; Abdo, A.A.; Chekhtman, A.; Dermer, C.D.; Grove, J.E.; Johnson, W.N.; Makeev, A.; Ray, P.S.; Strickman, M.S.; Wood, K.S.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Bechtol, K.; Berenji, B.; Blandford, R.D.; Bloom, E.D.; Borgland, A.W.; Cameron, R.A.; Charles, E.; Chiang, J.; Claus, R.; Digel, S.W.; Silva, E.D.E.; Drell, P.S.; Dubois, R.; Edmonds, Y.; Focke, W.B.; Funk, S.; Glanzman, T.; Godfrey, G.; Hayashida, M.; Johannesson, G.; Kocian, M.L.; Lande, J.; Madejski, G.M.; Michelson, P.F.; Mitthumsiri, W.; Monzani, M.E.; Moskalenko, I.V.; Murgia, S.; Nolan, P.L.; Paneque, D.; Panetta, J.H.; Reimer, A.; Reimer, O.; Rochester, L.S.; Romani, R.W.; Tajima, H.; Tanaka, T.; Thayer, J.B.; Thayer, J.G.; Tramacere, A.; Uchiyama, Y.; Usher, T.L.; Van Etten, A.; Waite, A.P.; Wang, P.; Watters, K.; Atwood, W.B.; Dormody, M.; Johnson, R.P.; Porter, T.A.; Sadrozinski, H.F.W.; Schalk, T.L.; Thorsett, S.E.; Ziegler, M.; Axelsson, M.; Carlson, P.; Conrad, J.; Meurer, C.; Ryde, F.; Ylinen, T.; Axelsson, M.; Baldini, L.; Bellazzini, R.; Bregeon, J.; Brez, A.; Kuss, M.; Latronico, L.; Omodei, N.; Pesce-Rollins, M.; Razzano, M.; Sgro, C.; Spandre, G.; Ballet, J.; Casandjian, J.M.; Grenier, I.A.; Starck, J.L.

    2009-01-01

    Pulsars are born with sub-second spin periods and slow by electromagnetic braking for several tens of millions of years, when detectable radiation ceases. A second life can occur for neutron stars in binary systems. They can acquire mass and angular momentum from their companions, to be spun up to millisecond periods and begin radiating again. We searched Fermi Large Area Telescope data for pulsations from all known millisecond pulsars (MSPs) outside of globular clusters, using rotation parameters from radio telescopes. Strong gamma-ray pulsations were detected for eight MSPs. The gamma-ray pulse profiles and spectral properties resemble those of young gamma-ray pulsars. The basic emission mechanism seems to be the same for MSPs and young pulsars, with the emission originating in regions far from the neutron star surface. (authors)

  4. Radiative properties of strongly magnetized plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weisheit, J.C.

    1993-11-01

    The influence of strong magnetic fields on quantum phenomena continues to be a topic of much interest to physicists and astronomers investigating a wide array of problems - the formation of high energy-density plasmas in pulsed power experiments, the crustal structure and radiative properties of neutron stars, transport coefficients of matter irradiated by subpicosecond lasers, the spectroscopy of magnetic white dwarf stars, the quantum Hall effect, etc. The passage of time finds more questions being asked than being answered in this subject, where even the hydrogen atom open-quotes paradigmclose quotes remains a major challenge. This theoretical program consists of two distinct parts: (1) investigation into the structure and transport properties of many-electron atoms in fields B > 10 8 Gauss; and (2) extension of spectral lineshape methods for diagnosing fields in strongly magnetized plasmas. Research during the past year continued to be focused on the first topic, primarily because of the interest and skills of Dr. E.P. Lief, the postdoctoral research associate who was hired to work on the proposal

  5. Resonant spin-flavour precession of neutrinos and pulsar velocities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akhmedov, E.Kh.; Lanza, A.; Sciama, D.W.

    1997-02-01

    Young pulsars are known to exhibit large space velocities, up to 10 3 km/s. We propose a new mechanism for the generation of these large velocities based on an asymmetric emission of neutrinos during the supernova explosion. The mechanism involves the resonant spin-flavour precession of neutrinos with a transition magnetic moment in the magnetic field of the supernova. The asymmetric emission of neutrinos is due the distortion of the resonance surface by matter polarization effects in the supernova magnetic field. The requisite values of the field strengths and neutrino parameters are estimated for various neutrino conversions caused by their Dirac or Majorana-type transition magnetic moments. (author). 30 refs, 1 tab

  6. X-ray pulsar magnetosphere

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lipunov, V.

    1981-01-01

    A pulsar consists of a close binary star system whose one component is a neutron star and the other a normal star. This supplies the neutron star with fuel in form of star wind or a gas stream. A hot plasma-like matter falls onto the neutron star, penetrates in its magnetic field and interacts with it. The matter coming from the normal star has a great rotational moment and forms a hot diamagnetic disk around the neutron star. The plasma penetrates in the internal parts of the magnetosphere where hard x radiation is formed as a result of the plasma impingement on the neutron star surface. (M.D.)

  7. LDA+DMFT Approach to Magnetocrystalline Anisotropy of Strong Magnets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jian-Xin Zhu

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The new challenges posed by the need of finding strong rare-earth-free magnets demand methods that can predict magnetization and magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy (MAE. We argue that correlated electron effects, which are normally underestimated in band-structure calculations, play a crucial role in the development of the orbital component of the magnetic moments. Because magnetic anisotropy arises from this orbital component, the ability to include correlation effects has profound consequences on our predictive power of the MAE of strong magnets. Here, we show that incorporating the local effects of electronic correlations with dynamical mean-field theory provides reliable estimates of the orbital moment, the mass enhancement, and the MAE of YCo_{5}.

  8. Perpendicular relativistic shocks in magnetized pair plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plotnikov, Illya; Grassi, Anna; Grech, Mickael

    2018-04-01

    Perpendicular relativistic (γ0 = 10) shocks in magnetized pair plasmas are investigated using two dimensional Particle-in-Cell simulations. A systematic survey, from unmagnetized to strongly magnetized shocks, is presented accurately capturing the transition from Weibel-mediated to magnetic-reflection-shaped shocks. This transition is found to occur for upstream flow magnetizations 10-3 10-2, it leaves place to a purely electromagnetic precursor following from the strong emission of electromagnetic waves at the shock front. Particle acceleration is found to be efficient in weakly magnetized perpendicular shocks in agreement with previous works, and is fully suppressed for σ > 10-2. Diffusive Shock Acceleration is observed only in weakly magnetized shocks, while a dominant contribution of Shock Drift Acceleration is evidenced at intermediate magnetizations. The spatial diffusion coefficients are extracted from the simulations allowing for a deeper insight into the self-consistent particle kinematics and scale with the square of the particle energy in weakly magnetized shocks. These results have implications for particle acceleration in the internal shocks of AGN jets and in the termination shocks of Pulsar Wind Nebulae.

  9. Radio spectra of pulsars. Pt. 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Izekova, V.A.; Kuzmin, A.D.; Malofeev, V.M.; Shitov, Yu.P.

    1981-01-01

    The results of flux pulsar radioemission measurements at meter wavelength, made at Pushchino Radio Astronomical Observatory of the Lebedev Physical Institute, are presented. Flux densities at 102, 85, 61 and 39 MHz have been measured for 85, 29, 37 and 23 pulsars correspondingly. Some of them were performed at all frequencies simultaneously. On the basis of these data and high frequencies data obtained by other authors, spectra of 52 pulsars were plotted. In practically all investigated pulsars we have detected a turn-over frequency at which the flux density of pulsar radioemission attained its maximum. Its mean value is vsub(m) = 130 +- 80 MHz. Averaged on many pulsars, the spectral index is negative in the 39-61 MHz frequency range (anti ALPHA 39 sub(-) 61 = -1.4 +- 0.4) and passes through zero at frequencies of about 100 MHz, becoming positive in the 100-400 MHz frequency range. It was noticed that the spectral index in the 100-400 MHz interval depends upon such pulsar periods as α 100 sub(-) 400 = 0.7 log p + 0.9. Using the spectra, more precise radio luminosities of pulsars have been computed. (orig.)

  10. Applying a physical continuum model to describe the broadband X-ray spectra of accreting pulsars at high luminosity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pottschmidt, Katja; Hemphill, Paul B.; Wolff, Michael T.; Cheatham, Diana M.; Iwakiri, Wataru; Gottlieb, Amy M.; Falkner, Sebastian; Ballhausen, Ralf; Fuerst, Felix; Kuehnel, Matthias; Ferrigno, Carlo; Becker, Peter A.; Wood, Kent S.; Wilms, Joern

    2018-01-01

    A new window for better understanding the accretion onto strongly magnetized neutron stars in X-ray binaries is opening. In these systems the accreted material follows the magnetic field lines as it approaches the neutron star, forming accretion columns above the magnetic poles. The plasma falls toward the neutron star surface at near-relativistic speeds, losing energy by emitting X-rays. The X-ray spectral continua are commonly described using phenomenological models, i.e., power laws with different types of curved cut-offs at higher energies. Here we consider high luminosity pulsars. In these systems the mass transfer rate is high enough that the accreting plasma is thought to be decelerated in a radiation-dominated radiative shock in the accretion columns. While the theory of the emission from such shocks had already been developed by 2007, a model for direct comparison with X-ray continuum spectra in xspec or isis has only recently become available. Characteristic parameters of this model are the accretion column radius and the plasma temperature, among others. Here we analyze the broadband X-ray spectra of the accreting pulsars Centaurus X-3 and 4U 1626-67 obtained with NuSTAR. We present results from traditional empirical modeling as well as successfully apply the radiation-dominated radiative shock model. We also take the opportunity to compare to similar recent analyses of both sources using these and other observations.

  11. Astronomers Discover Fastest-Spinning Pulsar

    Science.gov (United States)

    2006-01-01

    Astronomers using the National Science Foundation's Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope have discovered the fastest-spinning neutron star ever found, a 20-mile-diameter superdense pulsar whirling faster than the blades of a kitchen blender. Their work yields important new information about the nature of one of the most exotic forms of matter known in the Universe. Pulsar Graphic Pulsars Are Spinning Neutron Stars CREDIT: Bill Saxton, NRAO/AUI/NSF (Click on image for larger version) "We believe that the matter in neutron stars is denser than an atomic nucleus, but it is unclear by how much. Our observations of such a rapidly rotating star set a hard upper limit on its size, and hence on how dense the star can be.," said Jason Hessels, a graduate student at McGill University in Montreal. Hessels and his colleagues presented their findings to the American Astronomical Society's meeting in Washington, DC. Pulsars are spinning neutron stars that sling "lighthouse beams" of radio waves or light around as they spin. A neutron star is what is left after a massive star explodes at the end of its "normal" life. With no nuclear fuel left to produce energy to offset the stellar remnant's weight, its material is compressed to extreme densities. The pressure squeezes together most of its protons and electrons to form neutrons; hence, the name "neutron star." "Neutron stars are incredible laboratories for learning about the physics of the fundamental particles of nature, and this pulsar has given us an important new limit," explained Scott Ransom, an astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and one of Hessels' collaborators on this work. The scientists discovered the pulsar, named PSR J1748-2446ad, in a globular cluster of stars called Terzan 5, located some 28,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius. The newly-discovered pulsar is spinning 716 times per second, or at 716 Hertz (Hz), readily beating the previous record of 642 Hz from a pulsar

  12. High-energy Emissions from the Pulsar/Be Binary System PSR J2032+4127/MT91 213

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Takata, J. [School of physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China); Tam, P. H. T. [Institute of Astronomy and Space Science, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275 (China); Ng, C. W.; Cheng, K. S. [Department of Physics, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road (Hong Kong); Li, K. L. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-2320 (United States); Kong, A. K. H. [Institute of Astronomy and Department of Physics, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan (China); Hui, C. Y., E-mail: takata@hust.edu.cn [Department of Astronomy and Space Science, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 305-764 (Korea, Republic of)

    2017-02-20

    PSR J2032+4127 is a radio-loud gamma-ray-emitting pulsar; it is orbiting around a high-mass Be type star with a very long orbital period of 25–50 years, and is approaching periastron, which will occur in late 2017/early 2018. This system comprises a young pulsar and a Be type star, which is similar to the so-called gamma-ray binary PSR B1259–63/LS2883. It is expected therefore that PSR J2032+4127 shows an enhancement of high-energy emission caused by the interaction between the pulsar wind and Be wind/disk around periastron. Ho et al. recently reported a rapid increase in the X-ray flux from this system. In this paper, we also confirm a rapid increase in the X-ray flux along the orbit, while the GeV flux shows no significant change. We discuss the high-energy emissions from the shock caused by the pulsar wind and stellar wind interaction and examine the properties of the pulsar wind in this binary system. We argue that the rate of increase of the X-ray flux observed by Swift indicates (1) a variation of the momentum ratio of the two-wind interaction region along the orbit, or (2) an evolution of the magnetization parameter of the pulsar wind with the radial distance from the pulsar. We also discuss the pulsar wind/Be disk interaction at the periastron passage, and propose the possibility of formation of an accretion disk around the pulsar. We model high-energy emissions through the inverse-Compton scattering process of the cold-relativistic pulsar wind off soft photons from the accretion disk.

  13. Numerical modeling of the pulsar wind interaction with ISM

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bogovalov, S. V.; Chechetkin, V. M.; Koldoba, A. V.; Ustyugova, G. V.; Battiston, R; Shea, MA; Rakowski, C; Chatterjee, S

    2006-01-01

    Time dependent numerical simulation of relativistic wind interaction with interstellar medium was performed. The winds are ejected from magnetosphere of rotation powered pulsars. The particle flux in the winds is assumed to be isotropic. The energy flux is taken as strongly anisotropic in accordance

  14. Pulsar-irradiated stars in dense globular clusters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tavani, Marco

    1992-01-01

    We discuss the properties of stars irradiated by millisecond pulsars in 'hard' binaries of dense globular clusters. Irradiation by a relativistic pulsar wind as in the case of the eclipsing millisecond pulsar PSR 1957+20 alter both the magnitude and color of the companion star. Some of the blue stragglers (BSs) recently discovered in dense globular clusters can be irradiated stars in binaries containing powerful millisecond pulsars. The discovery of pulsar-driven orbital modulations of BS brightness and color with periods of a few hours together with evidence for radio and/or gamma-ray emission from BS binaries would valuably contribute to the understanding of the evolution of collapsed stars in globular clusters. Pulsar-driven optical modulation of cluster stars might be the only observable effect of a new class of binary pulsars, i.e., hidden millisecond pulsars enshrouded in the evaporated material lifted off from the irradiated companion star.

  15. SIGPROC: Pulsar Signal Processing Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lorimer, D. R.

    2011-07-01

    SIGPROC is a package designed to standardize the initial analysis of the many types of fast-sampled pulsar data. Currently recognized machines are the Wide Band Arecibo Pulsar Processor (WAPP), the Penn State Pulsar Machine (PSPM), the Arecibo Observatory Fourier Transform Machine (AOFTM), the Berkeley Pulsar Processors (BPP), the Parkes/Jodrell 1-bit filterbanks (SCAMP) and the filterbank at the Ooty radio telescope (OOTY). The SIGPROC tools should help users look at their data quickly, without the need to write (yet) another routine to read data or worry about big/little endian compatibility (byte swapping is handled automatically).

  16. Accreting Millisecond Pulsars: Neutron Star Masses and Radii

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strohmayer, Tod

    2004-01-01

    High amplitude X-ray brightness oscillations during thermonuclear X-ray bursts were discovered with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) in early 1996. Spectral and timing evidence strongly supports the conclusion that these oscillations are caused by rotational modulation of the burst emission and that they reveal the spin frequency of neutron stars in low mass X-ray binaries. The recent discovery of X-ray burst oscillations from two accreting millisecond pulsars has confirmed this basic picture and provided a new route to measuring neutron star properties and constraining the dense matter equation of state. I will briefly summarize the current observational understanding of accreting millisecond pulsars, and describe recent attempts to determine the mass and radius of the neutron star in XTE J1814-338.

  17. POST-OUTBURST RADIO OBSERVATIONS OF THE HIGH MAGNETIC FIELD PULSAR PSR J1119-6127

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Majid, Walid A.; Pearlman, Aaron B.; Dobreva, Tatyana; Kocz, Jonathon; Prince, Thomas A. [Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States); Horiuchi, Shinji [CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex, P.O. Box 1035, Tuggeranong, ACT 2901 (Australia); Lippuner, Jonas [TAPIR, Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics, MC 350-17, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)

    2017-01-01

    We have carried out high-frequency radio observations of the high magnetic field pulsar PSR J1119-6127 following its recent X-ray outburst. While initial observations showed no evidence of significant radio emission, subsequent observations detected pulsed emission across a large frequency band. In this Letter, we report on the initial disappearance of the pulsed emission and its prompt reactivation and dramatic evolution over several months of observation. The periodic pulse profile at S -band (2.3 GHz) after reactivation exhibits a multi-component emission structure, while the simultaneous X -band (8.4 GHz) profile shows a single emission peak. Single pulses were also detected at S -band near the main emission peaks. We present measurements of the spectral index across a wide frequency bandwidth, which captures the underlying changes in the radio emission profile of the neutron star. The high-frequency radio detection, unusual emission profile, and observed variability suggest similarities with magnetars, which may independently link the high-energy outbursts to magnetar-like behavior.

  18. Magnetic Reconnection in Strongly Magnetized Regions of the Low Solar Chromosphere

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ni, Lei; Lukin, Vyacheslav S.; Murphy, Nicholas A.; Lin, Jun

    2018-01-01

    Magnetic reconnection in strongly magnetized regions around the temperature minimum region of the low solar atmosphere is studied by employing MHD-based simulations of a partially ionized plasma within a reactive 2.5D multi-fluid model. It is shown that in the absence of magnetic nulls in a low β plasma, the ionized and neutral fluid flows are well-coupled throughout the reconnection region. However, non-equilibrium ionization–recombination dynamics play a critical role in determining the structure of the reconnection region, leading to much lower temperature increases and a faster magnetic reconnection rate as compared to simulations that assume plasma to be in ionization–recombination equilibrium. The rate of ionization of the neutral component of the plasma is always faster than recombination within the current sheet region even when the initial plasma β is as high as {β }0=1.46. When the reconnecting magnetic field is in excess of a kilogauss and the plasma β is lower than 0.0145, the initially weakly ionized plasmas can become fully ionized within the reconnection region and the current sheet can be strongly heated to above 2.5× {10}4 K, even as most of the collisionally dissipated magnetic energy is radiated away. The Hall effect increases the reconnection rate slightly, but in the absence of magnetic nulls it does not result in significant asymmetries or change the characteristics of the reconnection current sheet down to meter scales.

  19. Suppression of cooling by strong magnetic fields in white dwarf stars.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valyavin, G; Shulyak, D; Wade, G A; Antonyuk, K; Zharikov, S V; Galazutdinov, G A; Plachinda, S; Bagnulo, S; Machado, L Fox; Alvarez, M; Clark, D M; Lopez, J M; Hiriart, D; Han, Inwoo; Jeon, Young-Beom; Zurita, C; Mujica, R; Burlakova, T; Szeifert, T; Burenkov, A

    2014-11-06

    Isolated cool white dwarf stars more often have strong magnetic fields than young, hotter white dwarfs, which has been a puzzle because magnetic fields are expected to decay with time but a cool surface suggests that the star is old. In addition, some white dwarfs with strong fields vary in brightness as they rotate, which has been variously attributed to surface brightness inhomogeneities similar to sunspots, chemical inhomogeneities and other magneto-optical effects. Here we describe optical observations of the brightness and magnetic field of the cool white dwarf WD 1953-011 taken over about eight years, and the results of an analysis of its surface temperature and magnetic field distribution. We find that the magnetic field suppresses atmospheric convection, leading to dark spots in the most magnetized areas. We also find that strong fields are sufficient to suppress convection over the entire surface in cool magnetic white dwarfs, which inhibits their cooling evolution relative to weakly magnetic and non-magnetic white dwarfs, making them appear younger than they truly are. This explains the long-standing mystery of why magnetic fields are more common amongst cool white dwarfs, and implies that the currently accepted ages of strongly magnetic white dwarfs are systematically too young.

  20. Pulsar Timing with the Fermi LAT

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-12-01

    Pulsar Timing with the Fermi LAT Paul S. Ray∗, Matthew Kerr†, Damien Parent∗∗ and the Fermi PSC‡ ∗Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Ave., SW...Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375, USA ‡Fermi Pulsar Search Consortium Abstract. We present an overview of precise pulsar timing using data from the Large...unbinned photon data. In addition to determining the spindown behavior of the pulsars and detecting glitches and timing noise, such timing analyses al

  1. Searching for pulsars using image pattern recognition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhu, W. W.; Berndsen, A.; Madsen, E. C.; Tan, M.; Stairs, I. H. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, 6224 Agricultural Road, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1 (Canada); Brazier, A. [Astronomy Department, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States); Lazarus, P. [Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn (Germany); Lynch, R.; Scholz, P. [Department of Physics, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2T8 (Canada); Stovall, K.; Cohen, S.; Dartez, L. P.; Lunsford, G.; Martinez, J. G.; Mata, A. [Center for Advanced Radio Astronomy, University of Texas at Brownsville, Brownsville, TX 78520 (United States); Ransom, S. M. [NRAO, Charlottesville, VA 22903 (United States); Banaszak, S.; Biwer, C. M.; Flanigan, J.; Rohr, M., E-mail: zhuww@phas.ubc.ca, E-mail: berndsen@phas.ubc.ca [Center for Gravitation, Cosmology and Astrophysics. University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53211 (United States); and others

    2014-02-01

    In the modern era of big data, many fields of astronomy are generating huge volumes of data, the analysis of which can sometimes be the limiting factor in research. Fortunately, computer scientists have developed powerful data-mining techniques that can be applied to various fields. In this paper, we present a novel artificial intelligence (AI) program that identifies pulsars from recent surveys by using image pattern recognition with deep neural nets—the PICS (Pulsar Image-based Classification System) AI. The AI mimics human experts and distinguishes pulsars from noise and interference by looking for patterns from candidate plots. Different from other pulsar selection programs that search for expected patterns, the PICS AI is taught the salient features of different pulsars from a set of human-labeled candidates through machine learning. The training candidates are collected from the Pulsar Arecibo L-band Feed Array (PALFA) survey. The information from each pulsar candidate is synthesized in four diagnostic plots, which consist of image data with up to thousands of pixels. The AI takes these data from each candidate as its input and uses thousands of such candidates to train its ∼9000 neurons. The deep neural networks in this AI system grant it superior ability to recognize various types of pulsars as well as their harmonic signals. The trained AI's performance has been validated with a large set of candidates from a different pulsar survey, the Green Bank North Celestial Cap survey. In this completely independent test, the PICS ranked 264 out of 277 pulsar-related candidates, including all 56 previously known pulsars and 208 of their harmonics, in the top 961 (1%) of 90,008 test candidates, missing only 13 harmonics. The first non-pulsar candidate appears at rank 187, following 45 pulsars and 141 harmonics. In other words, 100% of the pulsars were ranked in the top 1% of all candidates, while 80% were ranked higher than any noise or interference. The

  2. Searching for pulsars using image pattern recognition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu, W. W.; Berndsen, A.; Madsen, E. C.; Tan, M.; Stairs, I. H.; Brazier, A.; Lazarus, P.; Lynch, R.; Scholz, P.; Stovall, K.; Cohen, S.; Dartez, L. P.; Lunsford, G.; Martinez, J. G.; Mata, A.; Ransom, S. M.; Banaszak, S.; Biwer, C. M.; Flanigan, J.; Rohr, M.

    2014-01-01

    In the modern era of big data, many fields of astronomy are generating huge volumes of data, the analysis of which can sometimes be the limiting factor in research. Fortunately, computer scientists have developed powerful data-mining techniques that can be applied to various fields. In this paper, we present a novel artificial intelligence (AI) program that identifies pulsars from recent surveys by using image pattern recognition with deep neural nets—the PICS (Pulsar Image-based Classification System) AI. The AI mimics human experts and distinguishes pulsars from noise and interference by looking for patterns from candidate plots. Different from other pulsar selection programs that search for expected patterns, the PICS AI is taught the salient features of different pulsars from a set of human-labeled candidates through machine learning. The training candidates are collected from the Pulsar Arecibo L-band Feed Array (PALFA) survey. The information from each pulsar candidate is synthesized in four diagnostic plots, which consist of image data with up to thousands of pixels. The AI takes these data from each candidate as its input and uses thousands of such candidates to train its ∼9000 neurons. The deep neural networks in this AI system grant it superior ability to recognize various types of pulsars as well as their harmonic signals. The trained AI's performance has been validated with a large set of candidates from a different pulsar survey, the Green Bank North Celestial Cap survey. In this completely independent test, the PICS ranked 264 out of 277 pulsar-related candidates, including all 56 previously known pulsars and 208 of their harmonics, in the top 961 (1%) of 90,008 test candidates, missing only 13 harmonics. The first non-pulsar candidate appears at rank 187, following 45 pulsars and 141 harmonics. In other words, 100% of the pulsars were ranked in the top 1% of all candidates, while 80% were ranked higher than any noise or interference. The

  3. Searching for Pulsars Using Image Pattern Recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, W. W.; Berndsen, A.; Madsen, E. C.; Tan, M.; Stairs, I. H.; Brazier, A.; Lazarus, P.; Lynch, R.; Scholz, P.; Stovall, K.; Ransom, S. M.; Banaszak, S.; Biwer, C. M.; Cohen, S.; Dartez, L. P.; Flanigan, J.; Lunsford, G.; Martinez, J. G.; Mata, A.; Rohr, M.; Walker, A.; Allen, B.; Bhat, N. D. R.; Bogdanov, S.; Camilo, F.; Chatterjee, S.; Cordes, J. M.; Crawford, F.; Deneva, J. S.; Desvignes, G.; Ferdman, R. D.; Freire, P. C. C.; Hessels, J. W. T.; Jenet, F. A.; Kaplan, D. L.; Kaspi, V. M.; Knispel, B.; Lee, K. J.; van Leeuwen, J.; Lyne, A. G.; McLaughlin, M. A.; Siemens, X.; Spitler, L. G.; Venkataraman, A.

    2014-02-01

    In the modern era of big data, many fields of astronomy are generating huge volumes of data, the analysis of which can sometimes be the limiting factor in research. Fortunately, computer scientists have developed powerful data-mining techniques that can be applied to various fields. In this paper, we present a novel artificial intelligence (AI) program that identifies pulsars from recent surveys by using image pattern recognition with deep neural nets—the PICS (Pulsar Image-based Classification System) AI. The AI mimics human experts and distinguishes pulsars from noise and interference by looking for patterns from candidate plots. Different from other pulsar selection programs that search for expected patterns, the PICS AI is taught the salient features of different pulsars from a set of human-labeled candidates through machine learning. The training candidates are collected from the Pulsar Arecibo L-band Feed Array (PALFA) survey. The information from each pulsar candidate is synthesized in four diagnostic plots, which consist of image data with up to thousands of pixels. The AI takes these data from each candidate as its input and uses thousands of such candidates to train its ~9000 neurons. The deep neural networks in this AI system grant it superior ability to recognize various types of pulsars as well as their harmonic signals. The trained AI's performance has been validated with a large set of candidates from a different pulsar survey, the Green Bank North Celestial Cap survey. In this completely independent test, the PICS ranked 264 out of 277 pulsar-related candidates, including all 56 previously known pulsars and 208 of their harmonics, in the top 961 (1%) of 90,008 test candidates, missing only 13 harmonics. The first non-pulsar candidate appears at rank 187, following 45 pulsars and 141 harmonics. In other words, 100% of the pulsars were ranked in the top 1% of all candidates, while 80% were ranked higher than any noise or interference. The

  4. PEACE: pulsar evaluation algorithm for candidate extraction - a software package for post-analysis processing of pulsar survey candidates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, K. J.; Stovall, K.; Jenet, F. A.; Martinez, J.; Dartez, L. P.; Mata, A.; Lunsford, G.; Cohen, S.; Biwer, C. M.; Rohr, M.; Flanigan, J.; Walker, A.; Banaszak, S.; Allen, B.; Barr, E. D.; Bhat, N. D. R.; Bogdanov, S.; Brazier, A.; Camilo, F.; Champion, D. J.; Chatterjee, S.; Cordes, J.; Crawford, F.; Deneva, J.; Desvignes, G.; Ferdman, R. D.; Freire, P.; Hessels, J. W. T.; Karuppusamy, R.; Kaspi, V. M.; Knispel, B.; Kramer, M.; Lazarus, P.; Lynch, R.; Lyne, A.; McLaughlin, M.; Ransom, S.; Scholz, P.; Siemens, X.; Spitler, L.; Stairs, I.; Tan, M.; van Leeuwen, J.; Zhu, W. W.

    2013-07-01

    Modern radio pulsar surveys produce a large volume of prospective candidates, the majority of which are polluted by human-created radio frequency interference or other forms of noise. Typically, large numbers of candidates need to be visually inspected in order to determine if they are real pulsars. This process can be labour intensive. In this paper, we introduce an algorithm called Pulsar Evaluation Algorithm for Candidate Extraction (PEACE) which improves the efficiency of identifying pulsar signals. The algorithm ranks the candidates based on a score function. Unlike popular machine-learning-based algorithms, no prior training data sets are required. This algorithm has been applied to data from several large-scale radio pulsar surveys. Using the human-based ranking results generated by students in the Arecibo Remote Command Center programme, the statistical performance of PEACE was evaluated. It was found that PEACE ranked 68 per cent of the student-identified pulsars within the top 0.17 per cent of sorted candidates, 95 per cent within the top 0.34 per cent and 100 per cent within the top 3.7 per cent. This clearly demonstrates that PEACE significantly increases the pulsar identification rate by a factor of about 50 to 1000. To date, PEACE has been directly responsible for the discovery of 47 new pulsars, 5 of which are millisecond pulsars that may be useful for pulsar timing based gravitational-wave detection projects.

  5. The Pulsar Luminosity Function

    OpenAIRE

    O. H. Guseinov; E. Yazgan; S. O. Tagieva

    2003-01-01

    Hemos construido y examinado la función de luminosidad para pulsares, usando una nueva lista la cual incluye datos de 1328 radio pulsares. En este trabajo, se construye por primera vez la función de luminosidad en 1400 MHz. También presentamos una función de luminosidad mejorada en 400 MHz. Se comparan las funciones de luminosidad en 400 y 1400 MHz. De igual manera se construyen las funciones de luminosidad excluyendo los pulsares binarios y los de campos magnéticos pequeños. S...

  6. Automated processing of pulsar observations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Byzhlov, B.V.; Ivanova, V.V.; Izvekova, V.A.; Kuz' min, A.D.; Kuz' min, Yu.P.; Malofeev, V.M.; Popov, Yu.M.; Solomin, N.S.; Shabanova, T.V.; Shitov, Yu.P.

    1977-01-01

    Digital computer technology which processes observation results in a real time scale is used on meter-range radiotelescopes DKR-100 of the USSR Academy of Sciences Physics Institute and the BSA of the Physics Institute to study pulsars. A method which calls for the accumulation of impulses with preliminary compensation of pulsar dispersion in a broad band is used to increase sensitivity and resolution capability. Known pulsars are studied with the aid of a ''neuron'' type analyzer. A system for processing observations in an on-line set-up was created on the M-6000 computer for seeking unknown pulsars. 8 figures, 1 table, references.

  7. Neutrino oscillations in strong magnetic fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Likhachev, G.G.; Studenikin, A.I.

    1994-07-01

    Neutrino conversion processes between two neutrino species and the corresponding oscillations induced by strong magnetic fields are considered. The value of the critical strength of magnetic field B cr as a function of characteristics of neutrinos in vacuum (Δm 2 ν , mixing angle θ), effective particle density of matter n eff , neutrino (transition) magnetic moment μ-tilde and energy E is introduced. It is shown that the neutrino conversion and oscillations effects induced by magnetic fields B ≥ B cr are important and may result in the depletion of the initial type of ν's in the bunch. A possible increase of these effects in the case when neutrinos pass through a sudden decrease of density of matter (''cross-boundary effect'') and applications to neutrinos from neutron stars and supernova are discussed. (author). 25 refs

  8. Theoretical Study of Gamma-ray Pulsars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kwong Sang Cheng

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available We use the non-stationary three dimensional two-layer outer gap model to explain gamma-ray emissions from a pulsar magnetosphere. We found out that for some pulsars like the Geminga pulsar, it was hard to explain emissions above a level of around 1 GeV. We then developed the model into a non-stationary model. In this model we assigned a power-law distribution to one or more of the spectral parameters proposed in the previous model and calculated the weighted phaseaveraged spectrum. Though this model is suitable for some pulsars, it still cannot explain the high energy emission of the Geminga pulsar. An Inverse-Compton Scattering component between the primary particles and the radio photons in the outer magnetosphere was introduced into the model, and this component produced a sufficient number of GeV photons in the spectrum of the Geminga pulsar.

  9. Discovery of Nine Gamma-Ray Pulsars in Fermi-Lat Data Using a New Blind Search Method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Celik-Tinmaz, Ozlem; Ferrara, E. C.; Pletsch, H. J.; Allen, B.; Aulbert, C.; Fehrmann, H.; Kramer, M.; Barr, E. D.; Champion, D. J.; Eatough, R. P.; hide

    2011-01-01

    We report the discovery of nine previously unknown gamma-ray pulsars in a blind search of data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). The pulsars were found with a novel hierarchical search method originally developed for detecting continuous gravitational waves from rapidly rotating neutron stars. Designed to find isolated pulsars spinning at up to kHz frequencies, the new method is computationally efficient, and incorporates several advances, including a metric-based gridding of the search parameter space (frequency, frequency derivative and sky location) and the use of photon probability weights. The nine pulsars have spin frequencies between 3 and 12 Hz, and characteristic ages ranging from 17 kyr to 3 Myr. Two of them, PSRs Jl803-2149 and J2111+4606, are young and energetic Galactic-plane pulsars (spin-down power above 6 x 10(exp 35) ergs per second and ages below 100 kyr). The seven remaining pulsars, PSRs J0106+4855, J010622+3749, Jl620-4927, Jl746-3239, J2028+3332,J2030+4415, J2139+4716, are older and less energetic; two of them are located at higher Galactic latitudes (|b| greater than 10 degrees). PSR J0106+4855 has the largest characteristic age (3 Myr) and the smallest surface magnetic field (2x 10(exp 11)G) of all LAT blind-search pulsars. PSR J2139+4716 has the lowest spin-down power (3 x l0(exp 33) erg per second) among all non-recycled gamma-ray pulsars ever found. Despite extensive multi-frequency observations, only PSR J0106+4855 has detectable pulsations in the radio band. The other eight pulsars belong to the increasing population of radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsars.

  10. High Spatial Resolution X-Ray Spectroscopy of the IC443 Pulsar Wind Nebula

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swartz, Douglas A.; Weisskopf, Martin C.; Bucciantini, Niccolo; Clarke, Tracy E.; Karovska, Margarita; Pavlov, George G.; van der Horst, Alexander; Yukita, Mihoko; Zavlin, Vyacheslav

    2014-08-01

    Deep Chandra ACIS observations of the region around the putative pulsar CXOU J061705.3+222127, in the supernova remnant IC443, reveal a ~5" radius ring-like morphology surrounding the pulsar and a jet-like structure oriented roughly north-south across the ring and through the pulsar's location. The observations further confirm that (1) the spectrum and flux of the central object are consistent with a rotation-powered pulsar, (2) the non-thermal spectrum and morphology of the surrounding nebula are consistent with a pulsar wind, and (3) the spectrum at greater distances is consistent with thermal emission from the supernova remnant. The cometary shape of the nebula, suggesting motion towards the southwest, appears to be subsonic: There is no evidence for a strong bow shock; and the ring is not distorted by motion through the ambient medium. Comparing this observation with historical observations of the same target we set a 99-% confidence upper limit to the proper motion of CXOU J061705.3+222127 to be less than 310 km/s, with the best-fit (but not statistically significant) direction toward the west.

  11. The Discovery of the Most Accelerated Binary Pulsar

    OpenAIRE

    Cameron, A. D.; Champion, D. J.; Kramer, M.; Bailes, M.; Barr, E. D.; Bassa, C. G.; Bhandari, S.; Bhat, N. D. R.; Burgay, M.; Burke-Spolaor, S.; Eatough, R. P.; Flynn, C. M. L.; Freire, P. C. C.; Jameson, A.; Johnston, S.

    2018-01-01

    Pulsars in relativistic binary systems have emerged as fantastic natural laboratories for testing theories of gravity, the most prominent example being the double pulsar, PSR J0737$-$3039. The HTRU-South Low Latitude pulsar survey represents one of the most sensitive blind pulsar surveys taken of the southern Galactic plane to date, and its primary aim has been the discovery of new relativistic binary pulsars. Here we present our binary pulsar searching strategy and report on the survey's fla...

  12. On the existence of pulsars in the vicinity of the massive black hole in the galactic center

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Fupeng; Lu, Youjun [National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012 (China); Yu, Qingjuan, E-mail: zhangfupeng@pku.edu.cn, E-mail: luyj@nao.cas.cn, E-mail: yuqj@pku.edu.cn [Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China)

    2014-04-01

    Pulsars, if existing and detectable in the immediate vicinity of the massive black hole (MBH) in the Galactic center (GC), may be used as a superb tool to probe both the environment and the metric of the central MBH. The recent discovery of a magnetized pulsar in the GC suggests that many more pulsars should exist near the MBH. In this paper, we estimate the number and the orbital distribution of pulsars in the vicinity of the MBH in the GC by assuming that the pulsar progenitors, similar to the GC S-stars, were captured to orbits tightly bound to the MBH through the tidal breakup of stellar binaries. We use the current observations on both the GC S-stars and the hypervelocity stars to calibrate the injection rate(s) of and the dynamical model(s) for the stellar binaries. By including the relaxation processes, supernova kicks, and gravitational wave radiation in our simulations, we estimate that ∼97-190 (9-14) pulsars may presently orbit the central MBH with semimajor axes ≤4000 AU (≤1000 AU), which is compatible with the current observational constraints on the number of the GC pulsars. The semimajor axis and the pericenter distance of the pulsar closest to the central MBH are probably in the range of ∼120-460 AU and ∼2-230 AU, respectively. Future telescopes, such as the Square Kilometer Array, may be able to detect a significant number of pulsars with semimajor axis smaller than a few thousand AU in the GC. Long-term monitoring of these pulsars would be helpful in constraining both the environment and the metric of the central MBH. Our preferred model also results in about ten hyperfast pulsars with velocity ≳ 1500 km s{sup –1} moving away from the Milky Way.

  13. Algorithms for searching Fast radio bursts and pulsars in tight binary systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zackay, Barak

    2017-01-01

    Fast radio bursts (FRB's) are an exciting, recently discovered, astrophysical transients which their origins are unknown.Currently, these bursts are believed to be coming from cosmological distances, allowing us to probe the electron content on cosmological length scales. Even though their precise localization is crucial for the determination of their origin, radio interferometers were not extensively employed in searching for them due to computational limitations.I will briefly present the Fast Dispersion Measure Transform (FDMT) algorithm,that allows to reduce the operation count in blind incoherent dedispersion by 2-3 orders of magnitude.In addition, FDMT enables to probe the unexplored domain of sub-microsecond astrophysical pulses.Pulsars in tight binary systems are among the most important astrophysical objects as they provide us our best tests of general relativity in the strong field regime.I will provide a preview to a novel algorithm that enables the detection of pulsars in short binary systems using observation times longer than an orbital period.Current pulsar search programs limit their searches for integration times shorter than a few percents of the orbital period.Until now, searching for pulsars in binary systems using observation times longer than an orbital period was considered impossible as one has to blindly enumerate all options for the Keplerian parameters, the pulsar rotation period, and the unknown DM.Using the current state of the art pulsar search techniques and all computers on the earth, such an enumeration would take longer than a Hubble time. I will demonstrate that using the new algorithm, it is possible to conduct such an enumeration on a laptop using real data of the double pulsar PSR J0737-3039.Among the other applications of this algorithm are:1) Searching for all pulsars on all sky positions in gamma ray observations of the Fermi LAT satellite.2) Blind searching for continuous gravitational wave sources emitted by pulsars with

  14. Verification of f(R-gravity in binary pulsars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dyadina Polina

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available We develop the parameterized post-Keplerian approach for class of analytic f (R-gravity models. Using the double binary pulsar system PSR J0737-3039 data we obtain restrictions on the parameters of this class of f (R-models and show that f (R-gravity is not ruled out by the observations in strong field regime.

  15. Gamma-Ray Pulsar Studies With GLAST

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thompson, D.J.; /NASA, Goddard

    2011-11-23

    Some pulsars have their maximum observable energy output in the gamma-ray band, offering the possibility of using these high-energy photons as probes of the particle acceleration and interaction processes in pulsar magnetospheres. After an extended hiatus between satellite missions, the recently-launched AGILE mission and the upcoming Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) Large Area Telescope (LAT) will allow gamma-ray tests of the theoretical models developed based on past discoveries. With its greatly improved sensitivity, better angular resolution, and larger energy reach than older instruments, GLAST LAT should detect dozens to hundreds of new gamma-ray pulsars and measure luminosities, light curves, and phase-resolved spectra with unprecedented resolution. It will also have the potential to find radio-quiet pulsars like Geminga, using blind search techniques. Cooperation with radio and X-ray pulsar astronomers is an important aspect of the LAT team's planning for pulsar studies.

  16. THE EFFECT OF TRANSIENT ACCRETION ON THE SPIN-UP OF MILLISECOND PULSARS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bhattacharyya, Sudip; Chakrabarty, Deepto, E-mail: sudip@tifr.res.in [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, 1 Homi Bhabha Road, Colaba, Mumbai 400005 (India)

    2017-01-20

    A millisecond pulsar is a neutron star that has been substantially spun up by accretion from a binary companion. A previously unrecognized factor governing the spin evolution of such pulsars is the crucial effect of nonsteady or transient accretion. We numerically compute the evolution of accreting neutron stars through a series of outburst and quiescent phases, considering the drastic variation of the accretion rate and the standard disk–magnetosphere interaction. We find that, for the same long-term average accretion rate, X-ray transients can spin up pulsars to rates several times higher than can persistent accretors, even when the spin-down due to electromagnetic radiation during quiescence is included. We also compute an analytical expression for the equilibrium spin frequency in transients, by taking spin equilibrium to mean that no net angular momentum is transferred to the neutron star in each outburst cycle. We find that the equilibrium spin rate for transients, which depends on the peak accretion rate during outbursts, can be much higher than that for persistent sources. This explains our numerical finding. This finding implies that any meaningful study of neutron star spin and magnetic field distributions requires the inclusion of the transient accretion effect, since most accreting neutron star sources are transients. Our finding also implies the existence of a submillisecond pulsar population, which is not observed. This may point to the need for a competing spin-down mechanism for the fastest-rotating accreting pulsars, such as gravitational radiation.

  17. Evolution of pulsarmagnetism by virtue of a Faraday dynamo mechanism

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heintzmann, H.; Novello, M.

    1983-01-01

    The evidence that radio-pulsars are slowed-down and Roentgen - pulsars accelerated predominantly by magnetic torques is now very strong. Angular momentum is transferred away from the neutron star to the velocity-of-light cylinder or from the Alfven - cylinder down to the neutron star by means of a magnetic spring the physical origin of which is an appropriate current flowing along the magnetic field lines. As this current must be closed at the neutron star's surface and no Hall-Field can be built-up a Faraday dynamo mechanism is set up. It is pointed out that this mechanism could switch -off a radio pulsar or turn-on a Roentgen pulsar. Many disconcerting pulsar observations could thus be explained, if radio pulsars can be reactivated in the galactic plane by means of accretion of matter in dense clouds and if Roentgenpulsars must first create a sufficiently strong magnetic field to function as a regularly pulsed emitter. (Author) [pt

  18. Pulsar populations and their evolution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Narayan, R.; Ostriker, J.P.

    1990-01-01

    Luminosity models are developed, and an attempt is made to answer fundamental questions regarding the statistical properties of pulsars, on the basis of a large data base encompassing the periods, period derivatives, radio luminosities, vertical Galactic heights, and transverse velocities, for a homogeneous sample of 301 pulsars. A probability is established for two pulsar subpopulations, designated F and S, which are distinguished primarily on the basis of kinematic properties. The two populations are of comparable size, with the F population having an overall birth-rate close to 1 in 200 years in the Galaxy, with the less certain S pulsar birth-rate not higher than that of the F population. 51 refs

  19. X-ray measurement of the spin-down of CalverA: A radio- and gamma-ray-quiet pulsar

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Halpern, J. P.; Bogdanov, S.; Gotthelf, E. V., E-mail: jules@astro.columbia.edu [Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027-6601 (United States)

    2013-12-01

    We measure spin-down of the 59 ms X-ray pulsar Calvera by comparing the XMM-Newton discovery data from 2009 with new Chandra timing observations taken in 2013. Its period derivative is P-dot =(3.19± 0.08)×10{sup −15}, which corresponds to spin-down luminosity E-dot =6.1×10{sup 35} erg s{sup –1}, characteristic age τ{sub c}≡P/2 P-dot =2.9×10{sup 5} yr, and surface dipole magnetic field strength B{sub s} = 4.4 × 10{sup 11} G. These values rule out a mildly recycled pulsar, but Calvera could be an orphaned central compact object (anti-magnetar), with a magnetic field that was initially buried by supernova debris and is now reemerging and approaching normal strength. We also performed unsuccessful searches for high-energy γ-rays from Calvera in both imaging and timing of >100 MeV Fermi photons. Even though the distance to Calvera is uncertain by an order of magnitude, an upper limit of d < 2 kpc inferred from X-ray spectra implies a γ-ray luminosity limit of <3.3 × 10{sup 32} erg s{sup –1}, which is less than that of any pulsar of comparable E-dot . Calvera shares some properties with PSR J1740+1000, a young radio pulsar that we show by virtue of its lack of proper motion was born outside of the Galactic disk. As an energetic, high-Galactic-latitude pulsar, Calvera is unique in being undetected in both radio and γ-rays to faint limits, which should place interesting constraints on models for particle acceleration and beam patterns in pulsar magnetospheres.

  20. One-loop QCD thermodynamics in a strong homogeneous and static magnetic field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rath, Shubhalaxmi; Patra, Binoy Krishna

    2017-12-01

    We have studied how the equation of state of thermal QCD with two light flavors is modified in a strong magnetic field. We calculate the thermodynamic observables of hot QCD matter up to one-loop, where the magnetic field affects mainly the quark contribution and the gluon part is largely unaffected except for the softening of the screening mass. We have first calculated the pressure of a thermal QCD medium in a strong magnetic field, where the pressure at fixed temperature increases with the magnetic field faster than the increase with the temperature at constant magnetic field. This can be understood from the dominant scale of thermal medium in the strong magnetic field, being the magnetic field, in the same way that the temperature dominates in a thermal medium in the absence of magnetic field. Thus although the presence of a strong magnetic field makes the pressure of hot QCD medium larger, the dependence of pressure on the temperature becomes less steep. Consistent with the above observations, the entropy density is found to decrease with the temperature in the presence of a strong magnetic field which is again consistent with the fact that the strong magnetic field restricts the dynamics of quarks to two dimensions, hence the phase space becomes squeezed resulting in the reduction of number of microstates. Moreover the energy density is seen to decrease and the speed of sound of thermal QCD medium increases in the presence of a strong magnetic field. These findings could have phenomenological implications in heavy ion collisions because the expansion dynamics of the medium produced in non-central ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions is effectively controlled by both the energy density and the speed of sound.

  1. A possible mechanism for the pulsar radio emission

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hinata, S.

    1977-01-01

    The possibility of radio emission is considered within a model which produces the beam-plasma system near the pulsar. A longitudinal instability develops near the light cylinder for a particular choice of parameters adopted in the paper. The excited wave strongly oscillates the beam particles perpendicular to its average velocity on one hand, and forms bunches of them on the other hand. Consequently, coherent radiation is expected. The frequency of the emission falls within the radio band, but the intensity turns out to be too low to explain observations. An appreciable enhancement of the beam number density over the Goldreich-Julian value (nsub(b) approximately equal to BΩ/2πec) is needed if the mechanism discussed in the present paper is responsible for the pulsar radio emission. (Auth.)

  2. The Green Bank Northern Celestial Cap Pulsar Survey. II. The Discovery and Timing of 10 Pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kawash, A. M.; McLaughlin, M. A.; Kaplan, D. L.; DeCesar, M. E.; Levin, L.; Lorimer, D. R.; Lynch, R. S.; Stovall, K.; Swiggum, J. K.; Fonseca, E.; Archibald, A. M.; Banaszak, S.; Biwer, C. M.; Boyles, J.; Cui, B.; Dartez, L. P.; Day, D.; Ernst, S.; Ford, A. J.; Flanigan, J.; Heatherly, S. A.; Hessels, J. W. T.; Hinojosa, J.; Jenet, F. A.; Karako-Argaman, C.; Kaspi, V. M.; Kondratiev, V. I.; Leake, S.; Lunsford, G.; Martinez, J. G.; Mata, A.; Matheny, T. D.; Mcewen, A. E.; Mingyar, M. G.; Orsini, A. L.; Ransom, S. M.; Roberts, M. S. E.; Rohr, M. D.; Siemens, X.; Spiewak, R.; Stairs, I. H.; van Leeuwen, J.; Walker, A. N.; Wells, B. L.

    2018-04-01

    We present timing solutions for 10 pulsars discovered in 350 MHz searches with the Green Bank Telescope. Nine of these were discovered in the Green Bank Northern Celestial Cap survey and one was discovered by students in the Pulsar Search Collaboratory program during an analysis of drift-scan data. Following the discovery and confirmation with the Green Bank Telescope, timing has yielded phase-connected solutions with high-precision measurements of rotational and astrometric parameters. Eight of the pulsars are slow and isolated, including PSR J0930‑2301, a pulsar with a nulling fraction lower limit of ∼30% and a nulling timescale of seconds to minutes. This pulsar also shows evidence of mode changing. The remaining two pulsars have undergone recycling, accreting material from binary companions, resulting in higher spin frequencies. PSR J0557‑2948 is an isolated, 44 ms pulsar that has been partially recycled and is likely a former member of a binary system that was disrupted by a second supernova. The paucity of such so-called “disrupted binary pulsars” (DRPs) compared to double neutron star (DNS) binaries can be used to test current evolutionary scenarios, especially the kicks imparted on the neutron stars in the second supernova. There is some evidence that DRPs have larger space velocities, which could explain their small numbers. PSR J1806+2819 is a 15 ms pulsar in a 44-day orbit with a low-mass white dwarf companion. We did not detect the companion in archival optical data, indicating that it must be older than 1200 Myr.

  3. The International Pulsar Timing Array project: using pulsars as a gravitational wave detector

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hobbs, G.; Archibald, A.; Arzoumanian, Z.; Backer, D.; Bailes, M.; Bhat, N.D.R.; Burgay, M.; Burke-Spolaor, S.; Champion, D.; Cognard, I.; Coles, W.; Cordes, J.; Demorest, P.; Desvignes, G.; Ferdman, R.D.; Finn, L.; Freire, P.; Gonzalez, M.; Hessels, J.; Hotan, A.; Janssen, G.; Jenet, F.; Jessner, A.; Jordan, C.; Kaspi, V.; Kramer, M.; Kondratiev, V.; Lazio, J.; Lazaridis, K.; Lee, K.J.; Levin, Y.; Lommen, A.; Lorimer, D.; Lynch, R.; Lyne, A.; Manchester, R.; McLaughlin, M.; Nice, D.; Oslowski, S.; Pilia, M.; Possenti, A.; Purver, M.; Ransom, S.; Reynolds, J.; Sanidas, S.; Sarkissian, J.; Sesana, A.; Shannon, R.; Siemens, X.; Stairs, I.; Stappers, B.; Stinebring, D.; Theureau, G.; van Haasteren, R.; van Straten, W.; Verbiest, J.P.W.; Yardley, D.R.B.; You, X.P.

    2010-01-01

    The International Pulsar Timing Array project combines observations of pulsars from both northern and southern hemisphere observatories with the main aim of detecting ultra-low frequency (similar to 10(-9)-10(-8) Hz) gravitational waves. Here we introduce the project, review the methods used to

  4. A New Two-fluid Radiation-hydrodynamical Model for X-Ray Pulsar Accretion Columns

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    West, Brent F. [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD (United States); Wolfram, Kenneth D. [Naval Research Laboratory (retired), Washington, DC (United States); Becker, Peter A., E-mail: bwest@usna.edu, E-mail: kswolfram@gmail.com, E-mail: pbecker@gmu.edu [Department of Physics and Astronomy, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA USA (United States)

    2017-02-01

    Previous research centered on the hydrodynamics in X-ray pulsar accretion columns has largely focused on the single-fluid model, in which the super-Eddington luminosity inside the column decelerates the flow to rest at the stellar surface. This type of model has been relatively successful in describing the overall properties of the accretion flows, but it does not account for the possible dynamical effect of the gas pressure. On the other hand, the most successful radiative transport models for pulsars generally do not include a rigorous treatment of the dynamical structure of the column, instead assuming an ad hoc velocity profile. In this paper, we explore the structure of X-ray pulsar accretion columns using a new, self-consistent, “two-fluid” model, which incorporates the dynamical effect of the gas and radiation pressures, the dipole variation of the magnetic field, the thermodynamic effect of all of the relevant coupling and cooling processes, and a rigorous set of physical boundary conditions. The model has six free parameters, which we vary in order to approximately fit the phase-averaged spectra in Her X-1, Cen X-3, and LMC X-4. In this paper, we focus on the dynamical results, which shed new light on the surface magnetic field strength, the inclination of the magnetic field axis relative to the rotation axis, the relative importance of gas and radiation pressures, and the radial variation of the ion, electron, and inverse-Compton temperatures. The results obtained for the X-ray spectra are presented in a separate paper.

  5. Understanding the spectral and timing behaviour of a newly discovered transient X-ray pulsar Swift J0243.6+6124

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jaisawal, Gaurava K.; Naik, Sachindra; Chenevez, Jérôme

    2018-01-01

    We present the results obtained from timing and spectral studies of the newly discovered accreting X-ray binary pulsar Swift J0243.6+6124 using Nuclear Spectroscopy Telescope Array observation in 2017 October at a flux level of ~280 mCrab. Pulsations at 9.854 23(5) s were detected in the X......-ray light curves of the pulsar. Pulse profiles of the pulsar were found to be strongly energy dependent. A broad profile at lower energies was found to evolve into a double-peaked profile in ≥ 30 keV. The 3-79 keV continuum spectrum of the pulsar was well described with a negative and positive exponential...

  6. Multiwavelength Polarization of Rotation-powered Pulsars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Harding, Alice K.; Kalapotharakos, Constantinos [Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)

    2017-05-10

    Polarization measurements provide strong constraints on models for emission from rotation-powered pulsars. We present multiwavelength polarization predictions showing that measurements over a range of frequencies can be particularly important for constraining the emission location, radiation mechanisms, and system geometry. The results assume a generic model for emission from the outer magnetosphere and current sheet in which optical to hard X-ray emission is produced by synchrotron radiation (SR) from electron–positron pairs and γ -ray emission is produced by curvature radiation (CR) or SR from accelerating primary electrons. The magnetic field structure of a force-free magnetosphere is assumed and the phase-resolved and phase-averaged polarization is calculated in the frame of an inertial observer. We find that large position angle (PA) swings and deep depolarization dips occur during the light-curve peaks in all energy bands. For synchrotron emission, the polarization characteristics are strongly dependent on photon emission radius with larger, nearly 180°, PA swings for emission outside the light cylinder (LC) as the line of sight crosses the current sheet. The phase-averaged polarization degree for SR is less that 10% and around 20% for emission starting inside and outside the LC, respectively, while the polarization degree for CR is much larger, up to 40%–60%. Observing a sharp increase in polarization degree and a change in PA at the transition between X-ray and γ -ray spectral components would indicate that CR is the γ -ray emission mechanism.

  7. Pulsar Kicks via Spin-1 Color Superconductivity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schmitt, Andreas; Shovkovy, Igor A.; Wang Qun

    2005-01-01

    We propose a new neutrino propulsion mechanism for neutron stars which can lead to strong velocity kicks, needed to explain the observed bimodal velocity distribution of pulsars. The spatial asymmetry in the neutrino emission is naturally provided by a stellar core containing spin-1 color-superconducting quark matter in the A phase. The neutrino propulsion mechanism switches on when the stellar core temperature drops below the transition temperature of this phase

  8. Selection of radio pulsar candidates using artificial neural networks

    OpenAIRE

    Eatough, R. P.; Molkenthin, N.; Kramer, M.; Noutsos, A.; Keith, M. J.; Stappers, B. W.; Lyne, A. G.

    2010-01-01

    Radio pulsar surveys are producing many more pulsar candidates than can be inspected by human experts in a practical length of time. Here we present a technique to automatically identify credible pulsar candidates from pulsar surveys using an artificial neural network. The technique has been applied to candidates from a recent re-analysis of the Parkes multi-beam pulsar survey resulting in the discovery of a previously unidentified pulsar.

  9. Wigner functions for fermions in strong magnetic fields

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheng, Xin-li; Rischke, Dirk H.; Vasak, David; Wang, Qun

    2018-02-01

    We compute the covariant Wigner function for spin-(1/2) fermions in an arbitrarily strong magnetic field by exactly solving the Dirac equation at non-zero fermion-number and chiral-charge densities. The Landau energy levels as well as a set of orthonormal eigenfunctions are found as solutions of the Dirac equation. With these orthonormal eigenfunctions we construct the fermion field operators and the corresponding Wigner-function operator. The Wigner function is obtained by taking the ensemble average of the Wigner-function operator in global thermodynamical equilibrium, i.e., at constant temperature T and non-zero fermion-number and chiral-charge chemical potentials μ and μ_5, respectively. Extracting the vector and axial-vector components of the Wigner function, we reproduce the currents of the chiral magnetic and separation effect in an arbitrarily strong magnetic field.

  10. THE DISTURBANCE OF A MILLISECOND PULSAR MAGNETOSPHERE

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shannon, R. M.; Kerr, M.; Dai, S.; Hobbs, G.; Manchester, R. N.; Reardon, D. J.; Toomey, L. [CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Australia Telescope National Facility, Box 76, Epping, NSW 1710 (Australia); Lentati, L. T. [Astrophysics Group, Cavendish Laboratory, JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE (United Kingdom); Bailes, M.; Osłowski, S.; Rosado, P. A.; Van Straten, W. [Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, P.O. Box 218, Hawthorn, VIC 3122 (Australia); Bhat, N. D. R. [International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102 (Australia); Coles, W. A. [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093 (United States); Dempsey, J. [CSIRO Information Management and Technology, Box 225, Dickson, ACT 2602 (Australia); Keith, M. J. [Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, University of Manchester, M13 9PL (United Kingdom); Lasky, P. D.; Levin, Y. [Monash Centre for Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University, VIC 3800 (Australia); Ravi, V. [Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, MC 249-17, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Spiewak, R., E-mail: ryan.shannon@csiro.au [Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Box 413, Milwaukee, WI 53201 (United States); and others

    2016-09-01

    Pulsar timing has enabled some of the strongest tests of fundamental physics. Central to the technique is the assumption that the detected radio pulses can be used to accurately measure the rotation of the pulsar. Here, we report on a broadband variation in the pulse profile of the millisecond pulsar J1643−1224. A new component of emission suddenly appears in the pulse profile, decays over four months, and results in a permanently modified pulse shape. Profile variations such as these may be the origin of timing noise observed in other millisecond pulsars. The sensitivity of pulsar-timing observations to gravitational radiation can be increased by accounting for this variability.

  11. THE DISTURBANCE OF A MILLISECOND PULSAR MAGNETOSPHERE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shannon, R. M.; Kerr, M.; Dai, S.; Hobbs, G.; Manchester, R. N.; Reardon, D. J.; Toomey, L.; Lentati, L. T.; Bailes, M.; Osłowski, S.; Rosado, P. A.; Van Straten, W.; Bhat, N. D. R.; Coles, W. A.; Dempsey, J.; Keith, M. J.; Lasky, P. D.; Levin, Y.; Ravi, V.; Spiewak, R.

    2016-01-01

    Pulsar timing has enabled some of the strongest tests of fundamental physics. Central to the technique is the assumption that the detected radio pulses can be used to accurately measure the rotation of the pulsar. Here, we report on a broadband variation in the pulse profile of the millisecond pulsar J1643−1224. A new component of emission suddenly appears in the pulse profile, decays over four months, and results in a permanently modified pulse shape. Profile variations such as these may be the origin of timing noise observed in other millisecond pulsars. The sensitivity of pulsar-timing observations to gravitational radiation can be increased by accounting for this variability.

  12. Sampling the Radio Transient Universe: Studies of Pulsars and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chennamangalam, Jayanth

    The transient radio universe is a relatively unexplored area of astronomy, offering a variety of phenomena, from solar and Jovian bursts, to flare stars, pulsars, and bursts of Galactic and potentially even cosmological origin. Among these, perhaps the most widely studied radio transients, pulsars are fast-spinning neutron stars that emit radio beams from their magnetic poles. In spite of over 40 years of research on pulsars, we have more questions than answers on these exotic compact objects, chief among them the nature of their emission mechanism. Nevertheless, the wealth of phenomena exhibited by pulsars make them one of the most useful astrophysical tools. With their high densities, pulsars are probes of the nature of ultra-dense matter. Characterized by their high timing stability, pulsars can be used to verify the predictions of general relativity, discover planets around them, study bodies in the solar system, and even serve as an interplanetary (and possibly some day, interstellar) navigation aid. Pulsars are also used to study the nature of the interstellar medium, much like a flashlight illuminating airborne dust in a dark room. Studies of pulsars in the Galactic center can help answer questions about the massive black hole in the region and the star formation history in its vicinity. Millisecond pulsars in globular clusters are long-lived tracers of their progenitors, low-mass X-ray binaries, and can be used to study the dynamical history of those clusters. Another source of interest in radio transient astronomy is the hitherto undetected engineered signal from extraterrestrial intelligence. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) is an ongoing attempt at discovering the presence of technological life elsewhere in the Galaxy. In this work, I present my forays into two aspects of the study of the radio transient universe---pulsars and SETI. Firstly, I describe my work on the luminosity function and population size of pulsars in the globular

  13. High-Energy Pulsar Models: Developments and New Questions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Venter, C.; Harding, A. K.

    2014-01-01

    The past few years have seen a major advance in observational knowledge of high-energy (HE) pulsars. The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and AGILE have increased the number of known gamma-ray pulsars by an order of magnitude, its members being divided roughly equally among millisecond pulsars (MSPs), young radio-loud pulsars, and young radio-quiet pulsars. Many new and diverse emission characteristics are being measured, while radio and X-ray follow-up observations increase the pulsar detection rate and enrich our multiwavelength picture of these extreme sources. The wealth of new data has provided impetus for further development and improvement of existing theoretical pulsar models. Geometric light curve (LC) modelling has uncovered three broad classes into which HE pulsars fall: those where the radio profile leads, is aligned with, or lags the gamma-ray profile. For example, the original MSP and original black widow system are members of the second class, requiring co-located emission regions and thereby breaking with traditional notions of radio emission origin. These models imply narrow accelerator gaps in the outer magnetosphere, indicating copious pair production even in MSP magnetospheres that were previously thought to be pair-starved. The increased quality and variety of the LCs necessitate construction of ever more sophisticated models. We will review progress in global magnetosphere solutions which specify a finite conductivity on field lines above the stellar surface, filling the gap between the standard vacuum and force-free (FF; plasma-filled) models. The possibility of deriving phase-resolved spectra for the brightest pulsars, coupled with the fact that the HE pulsar population is sizable enough to allow sampling of various pulsar geometries, will enable much more stringent testing of future radiation models. Reproduction of the observed phase-resolved behavior of this disparate group will be one of the next frontiers in pulsar science, impacting on

  14. EFFECTS OF INTERMITTENT EMISSION: NOISE INVENTORY FOR THE SCINTILLATING PULSAR B0834+06

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gwinn, C. R.; Johnson, M. D.; Smirnova, T. V.; Stinebring, D. R.

    2011-01-01

    We compare signal and noise for observations of the scintillating pulsar B0834+06, using very long baseline interferometry and a single-dish spectrometer. Comparisons between instruments and with models suggest that amplitude variations of the pulsar strongly affect the amount and distribution of self-noise. We show that noise follows a quadratic polynomial with flux density, in spectral observations. Constant coefficients, indicative of background noise, agree well with expectation; whereas second-order coefficients, indicative of self-noise, are ∼3 times values expected for a pulsar with constant on-pulse flux density. We show that variations in flux density during the 10 s integration accounts for the discrepancy. In the secondary spectrum, ∼97% of spectral power lies within the pulsar's typical scintillation bandwidth and timescale; an extended scintillation arc contains ∼3%. For a pulsar with constant on-pulse flux density, noise in the dynamic spectrum will appear as a uniformly distributed background in the secondary spectrum. We find that this uniform noise background contains 95% of noise in the dynamic spectrum for interferometric observations; but only 35% of noise in the dynamic spectrum for single-dish observations. Receiver and sky dominate noise for our interferometric observations, whereas self-noise dominates for single-dish. We suggest that intermittent emission by the pulsar, on timescales <300 μs, concentrates self-noise near the origin in the secondary spectrum, by correlating noise over the dynamic spectrum. We suggest that intermittency sets fundamental limits on pulsar astrometry or timing. Accounting of noise may provide means for detection of intermittent sources, when effects of propagation are unknown or impractical to invert.

  15. Two-fluid model of the pulsar magnetosphere represented as an axisymmetric force-free dipole

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Petrova, S.A., E-mail: petrova@rian.kharkov.ua [Institute of Radio Astronomy of the NAS of Ukraine, Mystetstv Str., 4, Kharkiv 61002 (Ukraine)

    2017-05-01

    Based on the exact dipolar solution of the pulsar equation the self-consistent two-fluid model of the pulsar magnetosphere is developed. We concentrate on the low-mass limit of the model, taking into account the radiation damping. As a result, we obtain the particle distributions sustaining the dipolar force-free configuration of the pulsar magnetosphere in case of a slight velocity shear of the electron and positron components. Over most part of the force-free region, the particles follow the poloidal magnetic field lines, with the azimuthal velocities being small. Close to the Y-point, however, the particle motion is chiefly azimuthal and the Lorentz-factor grows unrestrictedly. This may result in the very-high-energy emission from the vicinity of the Y-point and may also imply the magnetocentrifugal formation of a jet. As for the first-order quantities, the longitudinal accelerating electric field is found to change the sign, hinting at coexistence of the polar and outer gaps. Besides that, the components of the plasma conductivity tensor are derived and the low-mass analogue of the pulsar equation is formulated as well.

  16. Deep optical observations of the γ-ray pulsar J0357+3205

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kirichenko, A.; Danilenko, A.; Shibanov, Yu.; Shternin, P.; Zharikov, S.; Zyuzin, D.

    2014-04-01

    Context. A middle-aged radio-quiet pulsar J0357+3205 was discovered in gamma rays with Fermi and later in X-rays with Chandra and XMM-Newton observatories. It produces an unusual thermally emitting pulsar wind nebula that is observed in X-rays. Aims: Deep optical observations were obtained to search for the pulsar optical counterpart and its nebula using the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). Methods: The direct imaging mode in the Sloan g' band was used. Archival X-ray data were reanalysed and compared with the optical data. Results: No pulsar optical counterpart was detected down to g'≥slant 28.1m. No pulsar nebula was identified in the optical either. We confirm early results that the X-ray spectrum of the pulsar consists of a nonthermal power-law component of the pulsar magnetospheric origin dominating at high energies and a soft thermal component from the neutron star surface. Using magnetised, partially ionised hydrogen atmosphere models in X-ray spectral fits, we found that the thermal component can come from the entire surface of the cooling neutron star with a temperature of 36+8-6 eV, making it one of the coldest among cooling neutron stars known. The surface temperature agrees with the standard neutron star cooling scenario. The optical upper limit does not put any additional constraints on the thermal component, however it does imply a strong spectral break for the nonthermal component between the optical and X-rays as is observed in other middle-aged pulsars. Conclusions: The thermal emission from the entire surface of the neutron star very likely dominates the nonthermal emission in the UV range. Observations of PSR J0357+3205 in this range are promising to put more stringent constraints on its thermal properties. Based on observations made with the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), instaled in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, in the island of La Palma under Programme GTC3-12BMEX

  17. DISCOVERY OF NINE GAMMA-RAY PULSARS IN FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE DATA USING A NEW BLIND SEARCH METHOD

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pletsch, H. J.; Allen, B.; Aulbert, C.; Fehrmann, H. [Albert-Einstein-Institut, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik, D-30167 Hannover (Germany); Guillemot, L.; Kramer, M.; Barr, E. D.; Champion, D. J.; Eatough, R. P.; Freire, P. C. C. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Radioastronomie, Auf dem Huegel 69, D-53121 Bonn (Germany); Ray, P. S. [Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375-5352 (United States); Belfiore, A.; Dormody, M. [Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, Department of Physics and Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Camilo, F. [Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (United States); Caraveo, P. A. [INAF-Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica, I-20133 Milano (Italy); Celik, Oe.; Ferrara, E. C. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Hessels, J. W. T. [Astronomical Institute ' Anton Pannekoek' , University of Amsterdam, Postbus 94249, 1090 GE Amsterdam (Netherlands); Keith, M. [CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Australia Telescope National Facility, Epping NSW 1710 (Australia); Kerr, M., E-mail: holger.pletsch@aei.mpg.de, E-mail: guillemo@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de [W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Department of Physics and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States); and others

    2012-01-10

    We report the discovery of nine previously unknown gamma-ray pulsars in a blind search of data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). The pulsars were found with a novel hierarchical search method originally developed for detecting continuous gravitational waves from rapidly rotating neutron stars. Designed to find isolated pulsars spinning at up to kHz frequencies, the new method is computationally efficient and incorporates several advances, including a metric-based gridding of the search parameter space (frequency, frequency derivative, and sky location) and the use of photon probability weights. The nine pulsars have spin frequencies between 3 and 12 Hz, and characteristic ages ranging from 17 kyr to 3 Myr. Two of them, PSRs J1803-2149 and J2111+ 4606, are young and energetic Galactic-plane pulsars (spin-down power above 6 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 35} erg s{sup -1} and ages below 100 kyr). The seven remaining pulsars, PSRs J0106+4855, J0622+3749, J1620-4927, J1746-3239, J2028+3332, J2030+4415, and J2139+4716, are older and less energetic; two of them are located at higher Galactic latitudes (|b| > 10 Degree-Sign ). PSR J0106+4855 has the largest characteristic age (3 Myr) and the smallest surface magnetic field (2 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 11} G) of all LAT blind-search pulsars. PSR J2139+4716 has the lowest spin-down power (3 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 33} erg s{sup -1}) among all non-recycled gamma-ray pulsars ever found. Despite extensive multi-frequency observations, only PSR J0106+4855 has detectable pulsations in the radio band. The other eight pulsars belong to the increasing population of radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsars.

  18. The High Time Resolution Universe Pulsar Survey - XII. Galactic plane acceleration search and the discovery of 60 pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ng, C.; Champion, D. J.; Bailes, M.; Barr, E. D.; Bates, S. D.; Bhat, N. D. R.; Burgay, M.; Burke-Spolaor, S.; Flynn, C. M. L.; Jameson, A.; Johnston, S.; Keith, M. J.; Kramer, M.; Levin, L.; Petroff, E.; Possenti, A.; Stappers, B. W.; van Straten, W.; Tiburzi, C.; Eatough, R. P.; Lyne, A. G.

    2015-07-01

    We present initial results from the low-latitude Galactic plane region of the High Time Resolution Universe pulsar survey conducted at the Parkes 64-m radio telescope. We discuss the computational challenges arising from the processing of the terabyte-sized survey data. Two new radio interference mitigation techniques are introduced, as well as a partially coherent segmented acceleration search algorithm which aims to increase our chances of discovering highly relativistic short-orbit binary systems, covering a parameter space including potential pulsar-black hole binaries. We show that under a constant acceleration approximation, a ratio of data length over orbital period of ≈0.1 results in the highest effectiveness for this search algorithm. From the 50 per cent of data processed thus far, we have redetected 435 previously known pulsars and discovered a further 60 pulsars, two of which are fast-spinning pulsars with periods less than 30 ms. PSR J1101-6424 is a millisecond pulsar whose heavy white dwarf (WD) companion and short spin period of 5.1 ms indicate a rare example of full-recycling via Case A Roche lobe overflow. PSR J1757-27 appears to be an isolated recycled pulsar with a relatively long spin period of 17 ms. In addition, PSR J1244-6359 is a mildly recycled binary system with a heavy WD companion, PSR J1755-25 has a significant orbital eccentricity of 0.09 and PSR J1759-24 is likely to be a long-orbit eclipsing binary with orbital period of the order of tens of years. Comparison of our newly discovered pulsar sample to the known population suggests that they belong to an older population. Furthermore, we demonstrate that our current pulsar detection yield is as expected from population synthesis.

  19. A Search for Debris Disks Around Variable Pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shannon, Ryan; Cordes, J.; Lazio, J.; Kramer, M.; Lyne, A.

    2009-01-01

    After a supernova explosion, a modest amount of material will fall back and form a disk surrounding the resultant neutron star. This material can aggregate into rocky debris and the disk can be stable for the entire 10 million year lifetime of a canonical (non-recycled) radio pulsar. Previously, we developed a model that unifies the different classes of radio variability observed in many older pulsars. In this model, rocky material migrates inwards towards the neutron star and is ablated inside the pulsar magnetosphere. This material alters the electrodynamics in the magnetosphere which can cause the observed quiescent and bursting states observed in nulling pulsars, intermittent pulsars, and rotating radio transients. With this model in mind, we observed three nulling pulsars and one intermittent pulsar that are good candidates to host debris disks detectable by the Spitzer IRAC. Here we report how our IRAC observations constrain disk geometry, with particular emphasis on configurations that can provide the in-fall rate to cause the observed radio variability. We place these observations in the context of other searches for debris disks around neutron stars, which had studied either very young or very old (recycled) pulsars. By observing older canonical pulsars, all major classes of radio pulsars have been observed, and we can assess the presence of debris disks as a function of pulsar type. This work is based in part on observations made with the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under a contract with NASA. Support for this work was provided by NASA through an award issued by JPL/Caltech.

  20. Fast radio bursts as giant pulses from young rapidly rotating pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyutikov, Maxim; Burzawa, Lukasz; Popov, Sergei B.

    2016-10-01

    We discuss possible association of fast radio bursts (FRBs) with supergiant pulses emitted by young pulsars (ages ˜ tens to hundreds of years) born with regular magnetic field but very short - few milliseconds - spin periods. We assume that FRBs are extra-Galactic events coming from distances d ≲ 100 Mpc and that most of the dispersion measure (DM) comes from the material in the freshly ejected SNR shell. We then predict that for a given burst the DM should decrease with time and that FRBs are not expected to be seen below ˜300 MHz due to free-free absorption in the expanding ejecta. A supernova might have been detected years before the burst; FRBs are mostly associated with star-forming galaxies. The model requires that some pulsars are born with very fast spins, of the order of few milliseconds. The observed distribution of spin-down powers dot{E} in young energetic pulsars is consistent with equal birth rate per decade of dot{E}. Accepting this injection distribution and scaling the intrinsic brightness of FRBs with dot{E}, we predict the following properties of a large sample of FRBs: (I) the brightest observed events come from a broad distribution in distances; (II) for repeating bursts brightness either remains nearly constant (if the spin-down time is longer than the age of the pulsar) or decreases with time otherwise; in the latter case DM ∝ dot{E}.

  1. Pulsars as tools for fundamental physics & astrophysics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cordes, J.M.; Kramer, M.; Lazio, T.J.W.; Stappers, B.W.; Backer, D.C.; Johnston, S.

    2004-01-01

    The sheer number of pulsars discovered by the SKA, in combination with the exceptional timing precision it can provide, will revolutionize the field of pulsar astrophysics. The SKA will provide a complete census of pulsars in both the Galaxy and in Galactic globular clusters that can be used to

  2. LOFAR Discovery of the Fastest-spinning Millisecond Pulsar in the Galactic Field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bassa, C. G.; Pleunis, Z.; Hessels, J. W. T.; Ferrara, E. C.; Breton, R. P.; Gusinskaia, N. V.; Kondratiev, V. I.; Sanidas, S.; Nieder, L.; Clark, C. J.; Li, T.; van Amesfoort, A. S.; Burnett, T. H.; Camilo, F.; Michelson, P. F.; Ransom, S. M.; Ray, P. S.; Wood, K.

    2017-09-01

    We report the discovery of PSR J0952-0607, a 707 Hz binary millisecond pulsar that is now the fastest-spinning neutron star known in the Galactic field (I.e., outside of a globular cluster). PSR J0952-0607 was found using LOFAR at a central observing frequency of 135 MHz, well below the 300 MHz to 3 GHz frequencies typically used in pulsar searches. The discovery is part of an ongoing LOFAR survey targeting unassociated Fermi-Large Area Telescope γ-ray sources. PSR J0952-0607 is in a 6.42 hr orbit around a very low-mass companion ({M}{{c}}≳ 0.02 {M}⊙ ), and we identify a strongly variable optical source, modulated at the orbital period of the pulsar, as the binary companion. The light curve of the companion varies by 1.6 mag from {r}{\\prime }=22.2 at maximum to {r}{\\prime }> 23.8, indicating that it is irradiated by the pulsar wind. Swift observations place a 3σ upper limit on the 0.3-10 {keV} X-ray luminosity of {L}Xdispersion measure). Though no eclipses of the radio pulsar are observed, the properties of the system classify it as a black widow binary. The radio pulsed spectrum of PSR J0952-0607, as determined through flux density measurements at 150 and 350 MHz, is extremely steep with α ˜ -3 (where S\\propto {ν }α ). We discuss the growing evidence that the fastest-spinning radio pulsars have exceptionally steep radio spectra, as well as the prospects for finding more sources like PSR J0952-0607.

  3. Pulsar emission amplified and resolved by plasma lensing in an eclipsing binary.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Main, Robert; Yang, I-Sheng; Chan, Victor; Li, Dongzi; Lin, Fang Xi; Mahajan, Nikhil; Pen, Ue-Li; Vanderlinde, Keith; van Kerkwijk, Marten H

    2018-05-01

    Radio pulsars scintillate because their emission travels through the ionized interstellar medium along multiple paths, which interfere with each other. It has long been realized that, independent of their nature, the regions responsible for the scintillation could be used as 'interstellar lenses' to localize pulsar emission regions 1,2 . Most such lenses, however, resolve emission components only marginally, limiting results to statistical inferences and detections of small positional shifts 3-5 . As lenses situated close to their source offer better resolution, it should be easier to resolve emission regions of pulsars located in high-density environments such as supernova remnants 6 or binaries in which the pulsar's companion has an ionized outflow. Here we report observations of extreme plasma lensing in the 'black widow' pulsar, B1957+20, near the phase in its 9.2-hour orbit at which its emission is eclipsed by its companion's outflow 7-9 . During the lensing events, the observed radio flux is enhanced by factors of up to 70-80 at specific frequencies. The strongest events clearly resolve the emission regions: they affect the narrow main pulse and parts of the wider interpulse differently. We show that the events arise naturally from density fluctuations in the outer regions of the outflow, and we infer a resolution of our lenses that is comparable to the pulsar's radius, about 10 kilometres. Furthermore, the distinct frequency structures imparted by the lensing are reminiscent of what is observed for the repeating fast radio burst FRB 121102, providing observational support for the idea that this source is observed through, and thus at times strongly magnified by, plasma lenses 10 .

  4. Detecting pulsars in the Galactic Centre

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajwade, K. M.; Lorimer, D. R.; Anderson, L. D.

    2017-10-01

    Although high-sensitivity surveys have revealed a number of highly dispersed pulsars in the inner Galaxy, none have so far been found in the Galactic Centre (GC) region, which we define to be within a projected distance of 1 pc from Sgr A*. This null result is surprising given that several independent lines of evidence predict a sizable population of neutron stars in the region. Here, we present a detailed analysis of both the canonical and millisecond pulsar populations in the GC and consider free-free absorption and multipath scattering to be the two main sources of flux density mitigation. We demonstrate that the sensitivity limits of previous surveys are not sufficient to detect GC pulsar population, and investigate the optimum observing frequency for future surveys. Depending on the degree of scattering and free-free absorption in the GC, current surveys constrain the size of the potentially observable population (I.e. those beaming towards us) to be up to 52 canonical pulsars and 10 000 millisecond pulsars. We find that the optimum frequency for future surveys is in the range of 9-13 GHz. We also predict that future deeper surveys with the Square Kilometre array will probe a significant portion of the existing radio pulsar population in the GC.

  5. Discovery of an Energetic Pulsar Associated with SNR G76.9+1.0

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arzoumanian, Zaven; Gotthelf, E. V.; Ransom, S. M.; Safi-Harb, S.; Kothes, R.; Landecker, T. L.

    2012-01-01

    We report the discovery of PSR J2022-pulsar in the supernova remnant G76.9+i.0, in observations with the Chandra X-ray telescope, the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Radio Telescope, and the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). The pulsar's spin-down rate implies a rotation-powered luminosity E = 1.2 X 10(exp 38) erg/s, a surface dipole magnetic field strength B(sub S), = 1.0 X 10(exp 12) G, and a characteristic age of 8.9 kyr. PSR J2022+3842 is thus the second-most energetic Galactic pulsar known, after the Crab, as well as the most rapidly-rotating young, radio-bright pulsar known. The radio pulsations are highly dispersed and broadened by interstellar scattering, and we find that a large (delta f/f approximates 1.9 x 10(exp -6)) spin glitch must have occurred between our discovery and confirmation observations. The X-ray pulses are narrow (0.06 cycles FWHM) and visible up to 20 keV, consistent with magnetospheric emission from a rotation-powered pulsar. The Chandra X-ray image identifies the pulsar with a hard, unresolved source at the midpoint of the double-lobed radio morphology of G76.9+ 1.0 and embedded within faint, compact X-ray nebulosity. The spatial relationship of the X-ray and radio emissions is remarkably similar to extended structure seen around the Vela pulsar. The combined Chandra and RXTE pulsar spectrum is well-fitted by an absorbed power-law model with column density N(sub H) = (1.7 +/- 0.3) x 10(exp 22) / sq cm and photon index Gamma = 1.0 +/- 0.2; it implies that the Chandra point-source flux is virtually 100% pulsed. For a distance of 10 kpc, the X-ray luminosity of PSR J2022+3842 is L(sub x){2-1O keV) = 7.0 x 10(exp 33) erg/s. Despite being extraordinarily energetic, PSR J2022+3842 lacks a bright X-ray wind nebula and has an unusually low conversion efficiency of spin-down power to X-ray luminosity, Lx/E = 5.9 X 10(exp-5).

  6. Fermi LAT Pulsed Detection of PSR J0737-3039A in the Double Pulsar System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guillemot, L.; Kramer, M.; Johnson, T. J.; Craig, H. A.; Romani, R. W.; Venter, C.; Harding, A. K.; Ferdman, R. D.; Stairs, I. H.; Kerr, M.

    2013-01-01

    We report the Fermi Large Area Telescope discovery of gamma-ray pulsations from the 22.7 ms pulsar A in the double pulsar system J0737-3039A/B. This is the first mildly recycled millisecond pulsar (MSP) detected in the GeV domain. The 2.7 s companion object PSR J0737-3039B is not detected in gamma rays. PSR J0737-3039A is a faint gamma-ray emitter, so that its spectral properties are only weakly constrained; however, its measured efficiency is typical of other MSPs. The two peaks of the gamma-ray light curve are separated by roughly half a rotation and are well offset from the radio and X-ray emission, suggesting that the GeV radiation originates in a distinct part of the magnetosphere from the other types of emission. From the modeling of the radio and the gamma-ray emission profiles and the analysis of radio polarization data, we constrain the magnetic inclination alpha and the viewing angle zeta to be close to 90 deg., which is consistent with independent studies of the radio emission from PSR J0737-3039A. A small misalignment angle between the pulsar's spin axis and the system's orbital axis is therefore favored, supporting the hypothesis that pulsar B was formed in a nearly symmetric supernova explosion as has been discussed in the literature already.

  7. Canonical Transform Method for Treating Strongly Anisotropy Magnets

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cooke, J. F.; Lindgård, Per-Anker

    1977-01-01

    An infinite-order perturbation approach to the theory of magnetism in magnets with strong single-ion anisotropy is given. This approach is based on a canonical transformation of the system into one with a diagonal crystal field, an effective two-ion anisotropy, and reduced ground-state corrections....... A matrix-element matching procedure is used to obtain an explicit expression for the spin-wave energy to second order. The consequences of this theory are illustrated by an application to a simple example with planar anisotropy and an external magnetic field. A detailed comparison between the results...

  8. Population Synthesis of Radio and Y-ray Normal, Isolated Pulsars Using Markov Chain Monte Carlo

    Science.gov (United States)

    Billman, Caleb; Gonthier, P. L.; Harding, A. K.

    2013-04-01

    We present preliminary results of a population statistics study of normal pulsars (NP) from the Galactic disk using Markov Chain Monte Carlo techniques optimized according to two different methods. The first method compares the detected and simulated cumulative distributions of series of pulsar characteristics, varying the model parameters to maximize the overall agreement. The advantage of this method is that the distributions do not have to be binned. The other method varies the model parameters to maximize the log of the maximum likelihood obtained from the comparisons of four-two dimensional distributions of radio and γ-ray pulsar characteristics. The advantage of this method is that it provides a confidence region of the model parameter space. The computer code simulates neutron stars at birth using Monte Carlo procedures and evolves them to the present assuming initial spatial, kick velocity, magnetic field, and period distributions. Pulsars are spun down to the present and given radio and γ-ray emission characteristics, implementing an empirical γ-ray luminosity model. A comparison group of radio NPs detected in ten-radio surveys is used to normalize the simulation, adjusting the model radio luminosity to match a birth rate. We include the Fermi pulsars in the forthcoming second pulsar catalog. We present preliminary results comparing the simulated and detected distributions of radio and γ-ray NPs along with a confidence region in the parameter space of the assumed models. We express our gratitude for the generous support of the National Science Foundation (REU and RUI), Fermi Guest Investigator Program and the NASA Astrophysics Theory and Fundamental Program.

  9. X-ray pulsars in nearby irregular galaxies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Jun

    2018-01-01

    The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and Irregular Galaxy IC 10 are valuable laboratories to study the physical, temporal and statistical properties of the X-ray pulsar population with multi-satellite observations, in order to probe fundamental physics. The known distance of these galaxies can help us easily categorize the luminosity of the pulsars and their age difference can be helpful for for studying the origin and evolution of compact objects. Therefore, a complete archive of 116 XMM-Newton PN, 151 Chandra (Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer) ACIS, and 952 RXTE PCA observations for the pulsars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) were collected and analyzed, along with 42 XMM-Newton and 30 Chandra observations for the Large Magellanic Cloud, spanning 1997-2014. From a sample of 67 SMC pulsars we generate a suite of products for each pulsar detection: spin period, flux, event list, high time-resolution light-curve, pulse-profile, periodogram, and X-ray spectrum. Combining all three satellites, I generated complete histories of the spin periods, pulse amplitudes, pulsed fractions and X-ray luminosities. Many of the pulsars show variations in pulse period due to the combination of orbital motion and accretion torques. Long-term spin-up/down trends are seen in 28/25 pulsars respectively, pointing to sustained transfer of mass and angular momentum to the neutron star on decadal timescales. The distributions of pulse detection and flux as functions of spin period provide interesting findings: mapping boundaries of accretion-driven X-ray luminosity, and showing that fast pulsars (P<10 s) are rarely detected, which yet are more prone to giant outbursts. In parallel we compare the observed pulse profiles to our general relativity (GR) model of X-ray emission in order to constrain the physical parameters of the pulsars.In addition, we conduct a search for optical counterparts to X-ray sources in the local dwarf galaxy IC 10 to form a comparison

  10. Frequency-dependent Dispersion Measures and Implications for Pulsar Timing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cordes, J. M.; Shannon, R. M.; Stinebring, D. R.

    2016-01-01

    The dispersion measure (DM), the column density of free electrons to a pulsar, is shown to be frequency dependent because of multipath scattering from small-scale electron-density fluctuations. DMs vary between propagation paths whose transverse extent varies strongly with frequency, yielding arrival times that deviate from the high-frequency scaling expected for a cold, uniform, unmagnetized plasma (1/frequency2). Scaling laws for thin phase screens are verified with simulations; extended media are also analyzed. The rms DM difference across an octave band near 1.5 GHz is ˜ 4 × 10-5 pc cm-3 for pulsars at ˜1 kpc distance. The corresponding arrival-time variations are a few to hundreds of nanoseconds for DM ≲ 30 pc cm-3 but increase rapidly to microseconds or more for larger DMs and wider frequency ranges. Chromatic DMs introduce correlated noise into timing residuals with a power spectrum of “low pass” form. The correlation time is roughly the geometric mean of the refraction times for the highest and lowest radio frequencies used, ranging from days to years, depending on the pulsar. We discuss implications for methodologies that use large frequency separations or wide bandwidth receivers for timing measurements. Chromatic DMs are partially mitigable by including an additional chromatic term in arrival time models. Without mitigation, an additional term in the noise model for pulsar timing is implied. In combination with measurement errors from radiometer noise, an arbitrarily large increase in total frequency range (or bandwidth) will yield diminishing benefits and may be detrimental to overall timing precision.

  11. The galactic distribution of pulsars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lyne, A.G.

    1981-01-01

    The galactic distribution of pulsars follows the general form of many population I objects in galactocentric radius, but has a wide distribution above and below the galactic plane due to high space velocities imparted to the pulsars at birth. The evidence for this model is described and the various factors involved in estimating the total galactic population and the galactic birthrate of pulsars are discussed. The various estimates of the galactic population which cluster around 5 x 10 5 are seen to be critically dependent upon the cut-off at low luminosities and upon the value of the mean electron density within 500 pc of the Earth. Estimates of the lifetimes of pulsars are available from both the characteristic ages and proper motion measurements and both give values of about 5 million years. The implied birthrate of one in every 10 years is barely compatible with most estimates of the galactic supernova rate. (Auth.)

  12. Timing Noise Analysis of NANOGrav Pulsars

    OpenAIRE

    Perrodin, Delphine; Jenet, Fredrick; Lommen, Andrea; Finn, Lee; Demorest, Paul; Ferdman, Robert; Gonzalez, Marjorie; Nice, David; Ransom, Scott; Stairs, Ingrid

    2013-01-01

    We analyze timing noise from five years of Arecibo and Green Bank observations of the seventeen millisecond pulsars of the North-American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) pulsar timing array. The weighted autocovariance of the timing residuals was computed for each pulsar and compared against two possible models for the underlying noise process. The first model includes red noise and predicts the autocovariance to be a decaying exponential as a function of time lag. Th...

  13. Discovery of the Millisecond Pulsar PSR J2043+1711 in a Fermi Source with the Nancay Radio Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guillemot, L.; Freire, P. C. C.; Cognard, I.; Johnson, T. J.; Takahashi, Y.; Kataoka, J.; Desvignes, G.; Camilo, F.; Ferrara, E. C.; Harding, A. K.; hide

    2012-01-01

    We report the discovery of the millisecond pulsar PSR J2043+1711 in a search of a Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) source with no known associations, with the Nancay Radio Telescope. The new pulsar, confirmed with the Green Bank Telescope, has a spin period of 2.38 ms, is relatively nearby (d approx. pulsars seen with Fermi. X-ray observations of the pulsar with Suzaku and the Swift X-ray Telescope yielded no detection. At 1.4 GHz, we observe strong flux density variations because of interstellar diffractive scintillation; however, a sharp peak can be observed at this frequency during bright scintillation states. At 327 MHz, the pulsar is detected with a much higher signal-to-noise ratio and its flux density is far more steady. However, at that frequency the Arecibo instrumentation cannot yet fully resolve the pulse profile. Despite that, our pulse time-of-arrival measurements have a post-fit residual rms of 2 micro s. This and the expected stability of this system have made PSR J2043+1711 one of the first new Fermi-selected millisecond pulsars to be added to pulsar gravitational wave timing arrays. It has also allowed a significant measurement of relativistic delays in the times of arrival of the pulses due to the curvature of space-time near the companion, but not yet with enough precision to derive useful masses for the pulsar and the companion. Nevertheless, a mass for the pulsar between 1.7 and 2.0 solar Mass can be derived if a standard millisecond pulsar formation model is assumed. In this paper, we also present a comprehensive summary of pulsar searches in Fermi LAT sources with the Nancay Radio Telescope to date.

  14. Laser propagation and soliton generation in strongly magnetized plasmas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feng, W.; Li, J. Q.; Kishimoto, Y. [Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University, Gokasho, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011 (Japan)

    2016-03-15

    The propagation characteristics of various laser modes with different polarization, as well as the soliton generation in strongly magnetized plasmas are studied numerically through one-dimensional (1D) particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations and analytically by solving the laser wave equation. PIC simulations show that the laser heating efficiency substantially depends on the magnetic field strength, the propagation modes of the laser pulse and their intensities. Generally, large amplitude laser can efficiently heat the plasma with strong magnetic field. Theoretical analyses on the linear propagation of the laser pulse in both under-dense and over-dense magnetized plasmas are well confirmed by the numerical observations. Most interestingly, it is found that a standing or moving soliton with frequency lower than the laser frequency is generated in certain magnetic field strength and laser intensity range, which can greatly enhance the laser heating efficiency. The range of magnetic field strength for the right-hand circularly polarized (RCP) soliton formation with high and low frequencies is identified by solving the soliton equations including the contribution of ion's motion and the finite temperature effects under the quasi-neutral approximation. In the limit of immobile ions, the RCP soliton tends to be peaked and stronger as the magnetic field increases, while the enhanced soliton becomes broader as the temperature increases. These findings in 1D model are well validated by 2D simulations.

  15. Application of orbital strong magnet in the extraction of deep orbital magnetic foreign bodies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jin-Chen Jia

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available AIM: To investigate the surgical method and efficacy of extraction of deep orbital magnetic foreign bodies by mean of an orbital strong magnet. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of clinical data of patients with deep orbital magnetic foreign bodies(OMFBin Hebei Eye Hospital from June 2014 to May 2017 was processed. A total of 23 eyes were enrolled, among them, 14 eyes of extraorbital OMFB, 9 eyes of intraorbital OMFB. The rate of extraction of foreign bodies and the postoperative complications were observed. RESULTS: All eyes of intraorbital foreign bodies were successfully extracted with 100% success rate. Twelve of 14 eyes of extraorbital foreign bodies were extracted with 86% success rate. Mild orbital hemorrhage were found in 2 eyes. There was no other obvious complication such as visual loss, orbital massive hemorrhage or limited ocular movement. CONCLUSION: It's an ideal surgical method to extract the deep orbital magnetic foreign bodies by mean of an orbital strong magnet, with mini-injury, high success rate, short duration and few complications.

  16. High-energy X-ray imaging of the pulsar wind nebula MSH 15-52: constraints on particle acceleration and transport

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    An, Hongjun; Madsen, Kristin K.; Reynolds, Stephen P.

    2014-01-01

    We present the first images of the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) MSH 15−52 in the hard X-ray band (8 keV), as measured with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR). Overall, the morphology of the PWN as measured by NuSTAR in the 3–7 keV band is similar to that seen in Chandra high-resolutio......We present the first images of the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) MSH 15−52 in the hard X-ray band (8 keV), as measured with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR). Overall, the morphology of the PWN as measured by NuSTAR in the 3–7 keV band is similar to that seen in Chandra high...... of the PWN softens away from the central pulsar B1509−58, and that there exists a roughly sinusoidal variation of spectral hardness in the azimuthal direction. We discuss the results using particle flow models.We find non-monotonic structure in the variation with distance of spectral hardness within 50...... of the pulsar moving in the jet direction, which may imply particle and magnetic-field compression by magnetic hoop stress as previously suggested for this source. We also present two-dimensional maps of spectral parameters and find an interesting shell-like structure in the NH map.We discuss possible origins...

  17. Plerions and pulsar-powered nebulae

    OpenAIRE

    Gaensler, Bryan

    2000-01-01

    In this brief review, I discuss recent developments in the study of pulsar-powered nebulae ("plerions"). The large volume of data which has been acquired in recent years reveals a diverse range of observational properties, demonstrating how differing environmental and pulsar properties manifest themselves in the resulting nebulae.

  18. Pilot pulsar surveys with LOFAR

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Coenen, T.

    2013-01-01

    We are performing two complementary pilot pulsar surveys as part of LOFAR commissioning. The LOFAR Pilot Pulsar Survey (LPPS) is a shallow all-sky survey using an incoherent combination of LOFAR stations. The LOFAR Tied-Array Survey (LOTAS) is a deeper pilot survey using 19 simultaneous tied-array

  19. A Bayesian Classifier for X-Ray Pulsars Recognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hao Liang

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Recognition for X-ray pulsars is important for the problem of spacecraft’s attitude determination by X-ray Pulsar Navigation (XPNAV. By using the nonhomogeneous Poisson model of the received photons and the minimum recognition error criterion, a classifier based on the Bayesian theorem is proposed. For X-ray pulsars recognition with unknown Doppler frequency and initial phase, the features of every X-ray pulsar are extracted and the unknown parameters are estimated using the Maximum Likelihood (ML method. Besides that, a method to recognize unknown X-ray pulsars or X-ray disturbances is proposed. Simulation results certificate the validity of the proposed Bayesian classifier.

  20. Models for the formation of binary and millisecond radio pulsars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    van den Heuvel, E.P.J.

    1984-01-01

    The peculiar combination of a relatively short pulse period and a relatively weak surface dipole magnetic field strength of binary radio pulsars finds a consistent explanation in terms of: (i) decay of the surface dipole component of neutron star magnetic fields on a timescale of (2-5).10 6 yrs, in combination with: (ii) spin up of the rotation of the neutron star during a subsequent mass-transfer phase. The two observed classes of binary radio pulsars (very close and very wide systems, respectively) are expected to have been formed by the later evolution of binaries consisting of a neutron star and a normal companion star, in which the companion was (considerably) more massive than the neutron star, or less massive than the neutron star, respectively. In the first case the companion of the neutron star in the final system will be a fairly massive white dwarf, in a circular orbit, or a neutron star in an eccentric orbit. In the second case the final companion to the neutron star will be a low-mass (approx. 0.3 Msub solar) helium white dwarf in a wide and nearly circular orbit. In systems of the second type the neutron star was most probably formed by the accretion-induced collapse of a white dwarf. This explains why PSR 1953+29 has a millisecond rotation period and why PSR 0820+02 has not. Binary coalescence models for the formation of the 1.5 millisecond pulsar appear to be viable. The companion to the neutron star may have been a low-mass red dwarf, a neutron star, or a massive (> 0.7 Msub solar) white dwarf. In the red-dwarf case the progenitor system probably was a CV binary in which the white dwarf collapsed by accretion. 66 references, 6 figures, 1 table

  1. Gamma rays from pulsar outer gaps

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chiang, J.; Romani, R.W.; Cheng Ho

    1993-01-01

    We describe a gamma ray pulsar code which computes the high energy photon emissivities from vacuum gaps in the outer magnetosphere, after the model outlined by Cheng, Ho and Ruderman (1986) and Ho (1989). Pair-production due to photon-photon interactions and radiation processes including curvature, synchrotron and inverse Compton processes are computed with an iterative scheme which converges to self-consistent photon and particle distributions for a sampling of locations in the outer magnetosphere. We follow the photons from these distributions as they propagate through the pulsar magnetosphere toward a distant observer. We include the effects of relativistic aberration, time-of-flight delays and reabsorption by photon-photon pair-production to determine an intensity map of the high energy pulsar emission on the sky. Using data from radio and optical observations to constrain the geometry of the magnetosphere as well as the possible observer viewing angles, we derive light curves and phase dependent spectra which can be directly compared to data from the Compton Observatory. Observations for Crab, Vela and the recently identified gamma ray pulsars Geminga, PSR1706-44 aNd PSR 1509-58 will provide important tests of our model calculations, help us to improve our picture of the relevant physics at work in pulsar magnetospheres and allow us to comment on the implications for future pulsar discoveries

  2. Giant Pulse Studies of Ordinary and Recycled Pulsars with NICER

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewandowska, Natalia; Arzoumanian, Zaven; Gendreau, Keith C.; Enoto, Teruaki; Harding, Alice; Lommen, Andrea; Ray, Paul S.; Deneva, Julia; Kerr, Matthew; Ransom, Scott M.; NICER Team

    2018-01-01

    Radio Giant Pulses are one of the earliest discovered form of anomalous single pulse emission from pulsars. Known for their non-periodical occurrence, restriction to certain phase ranges, power-law intensity distributions, pulse widths ranging from microseconds to nanoseconds and very high brightness temperatures, they stand out as an individual form of pulsar radio emission.Discovered originally in the case of the Crab pulsar, several other pulsars have been observed to emit radio giant pulses, the most promising being the recycled pulsar PSR B1937+21 and also the Vela pulsar.Although radio giant pulses are apparently the result of a coherent emission mechanism, recent studies of the Crab pulsar led to the discovery of an additional incoherent component at optical wavelengths. No such component has been identified for recycled pulsars, or Vela yet.To provide constraints on possible emission regions in their magnetospheres and to search for differences between giant pulses from ordinary and recycled pulsars, we present the progress of the correlation study of PSR B1937+21 and the Vela pulsar carried out with NICER and several radio observatories.

  3. A search for extragalactic pulsars in the local group galaxies IC 10 and Barnard’s galaxy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Al Noori, H; Roberts, M S E; Champion, D; McLaughlin, M; Ransom, Scott; Ray, P S

    2017-01-01

    As of today, more than 2500 pulsars have been found, nearly all in the Milky Way, with the exception of ∼28 pulsars in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds. However, there have been few published attempts to search for pulsars deeper in our Galactic neighborhood. Two of the more promising Local Group galaxies are IC 10 and NGC 6822 (also known as Barnard’s Galaxy) due to their relatively high star formation rate and their proximity to our galaxy. IC 10 in particular, holds promise as it is the closest starburst galaxy to us and harbors an unusually high number of Wolf-Rayet stars, implying the presence of many neutron stars. We observed IC 10 and NGC 6822 at 820 MHz with the Green Bank Telescope for ∼15 and 5 hours respectively, and put a strong upper limit of 0.1 mJy on pulsars in either of the two galaxies. We also performed single pulse searches of both galaxies with no firm detections. (paper)

  4. Young gamma-ray pulsar: from modeling the gamma-ray emission to the particle-in-cell simulations of the global magnetosphere

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brambilla, Gabriele; Kalapotharakos, Constantions; Timokhin, Andrey; Kust Harding, Alice; Kazanas, Demosthenes

    2016-04-01

    Accelerated charged particles flowing in the magnetosphere produce pulsar gamma-ray emission. Pair creation processes produce an electron-positron plasma that populates the magnetosphere, in which the plasma is very close to force-free. However, it is unknown how and where the plasma departs from the ideal force-free condition, which consequently inhibits the understanding of the emission generation. We found that a dissipative magnetosphere outside the light cylinder effectively reproduces many aspects of the young gamma-ray pulsar emission as seen by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, and through particle-in-cell simulations (PIC), we started explaining this configuration self-consistently. These findings show that, together, a magnetic field structure close to force-free and the assumption of gamma-ray curvature radiation as the emission mechanism are strongly compatible with the observations. Two main issues from the previously used models that our work addresses are the inability to explain luminosity, spectra, and light curve features at the same time and the inconsistency of the electrodynamics. Moreover, using the PIC simulations, we explore the effects of different pair multiplicities on the magnetosphere configurations and the locations of the accelerating regions. Our work aims for a self-consistent modeling of the magnetosphere, connecting the microphysics of the pair-plasma to the global magnetosphere macroscopic quantities. This direction will lead to a greater understanding of pulsar emission at all wavelengths, as well as to concrete insights into the physics of the magnetosphere.

  5. Confinement of the Crab Nebula with tangled magnetic field by its supernova remnant

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanaka, Shuta J.; Toma, Kenji; Tominaga, Nozomu

    2018-05-01

    A pulsar wind is a relativistic outflow dominated by Poynting energy at its base. Based on the standard ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model of pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) with the ordered magnetic field, the observed slow expansion vPWN ≪ c requires the wind to be dominated by kinetic energy at the upstream of its termination shock, which conflicts with the pulsar wind theory (σ-problem). In this paper, we extend the standard model of PWNe by phenomenologically taking into account conversion of the ordered to turbulent magnetic field and dissipation of the turbulent magnetic field. Disordering of the magnetic structure is inferred from the recent three-dimensional relativistic ideal MHD simulations, while magnetic dissipation is a non-ideal MHD effect requiring a finite resistivity. We apply this model to the Crab Nebula and find that the conversion effect is important for the flow deceleration, while the dissipation effect is not. Even for Poynting-dominated pulsar wind, we obtain the Crab Nebula's vPWN by adopting a finite conversion time-scale of ˜0.3 yr. Magnetic dissipation primarily affects the synchrotron radiation properties. Any values of the pulsar wind magnetization σw are allowed within the present model of the PWN dynamics alone, and even a small termination shock radius of ≪0.1 pc reproduces the observed dynamical features of the Crab Nebula. In order to establish a high-σw model of PWNe, it is important to extend the present model by taking into account the broadband spectrum and its spacial profiles.

  6. Alteration of the magnetosphere of the Vela pulsar during a glitch.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palfreyman, Jim; Dickey, John M; Hotan, Aidan; Ellingsen, Simon; van Straten, Willem

    2018-04-01

    As pulsars lose energy, primarily in the form of magnetic dipole radiation, their rotation slows down accordingly. For some pulsars, this spin-down is interrupted by occasional abrupt spin-up events known as glitches 1 . A glitch is hypothesized to be a catastrophic release of pinned vorticity 2 that provides an exchange of angular momentum between the superfluid outer core and the crust. This is manifested by a minute alteration in the rotation rate of the neutron star and its co-rotating magnetosphere, which is revealed by an abrupt change in the timing of observed radio pulses. Measurement of the flux density, polarization and single-pulse arrival times of the glitch with high time resolution may reveal the equation of state of the crustal superfluid, its drag-to-lift ratio and the parameters that describe its friction with the crust 3 . This has not hitherto been possible because glitch events happen unpredictably. Here we report single-pulse radio observations of a glitch in the Vela pulsar, which has a rotation frequency of 11.2 hertz. The glitch was detected on 2016 December 12 at 11:36 universal time, during continuous observations of the pulsar over a period of three years. We detected sudden changes in the pulse shape coincident with the glitch event: one pulse was unusually broad, the next pulse was missing (a 'null') and the following two pulses had unexpectedly low linear polarization. This sequence was followed by a 2.6-second interval during which pulses arrived later than usual, indicating that the glitch affects the magnetosphere.

  7. Binary millisecond pulsar discovery via gamma-ray pulsations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pletsch, H J; Guillemot, L; Fehrmann, H; Allen, B; Kramer, M; Aulbert, C; Ackermann, M; Ajello, M; de Angelis, A; Atwood, W B; Baldini, L; Ballet, J; Barbiellini, G; Bastieri, D; Bechtol, K; Bellazzini, R; Borgland, A W; Bottacini, E; Brandt, T J; Bregeon, J; Brigida, M; Bruel, P; Buehler, R; Buson, S; Caliandro, G A; Cameron, R A; Caraveo, P A; Casandjian, J M; Cecchi, C; Çelik, Ö; Charles, E; Chaves, R C G; Cheung, C C; Chiang, J; Ciprini, S; Claus, R; Cohen-Tanugi, J; Conrad, J; Cutini, S; D'Ammando, F; Dermer, C D; Digel, S W; Drell, P S; Drlica-Wagner, A; Dubois, R; Dumora, D; Favuzzi, C; Ferrara, E C; Franckowiak, A; Fukazawa, Y; Fusco, P; Gargano, F; Gehrels, N; Germani, S; Giglietto, N; Giordano, F; Giroletti, M; Godfrey, G; Grenier, I A; Grondin, M-H; Grove, J E; Guiriec, S; Hadasch, D; Hanabata, Y; Harding, A K; den Hartog, P R; Hayashida, M; Hays, E; Hill, A B; Hou, X; Hughes, R E; Jóhannesson, G; Jackson, M S; Jogler, T; Johnson, A S; Johnson, W N; Kataoka, J; Kerr, M; Knödlseder, J; Kuss, M; Lande, J; Larsson, S; Latronico, L; Lemoine-Goumard, M; Longo, F; Loparco, F; Lovellette, M N; Lubrano, P; Massaro, F; Mayer, M; Mazziotta, M N; McEnery, J E; Mehault, J; Michelson, P F; Mitthumsiri, W; Mizuno, T; Monzani, M E; Morselli, A; Moskalenko, I V; Murgia, S; Nakamori, T; Nemmen, R; Nuss, E; Ohno, M; Ohsugi, T; Omodei, N; Orienti, M; Orlando, E; de Palma, F; Paneque, D; Perkins, J S; Piron, F; Pivato, G; Porter, T A; Rainò, S; Rando, R; Ray, P S; Razzano, M; Reimer, A; Reimer, O; Reposeur, T; Ritz, S; Romani, R W; Romoli, C; Sanchez, D A; Saz Parkinson, P M; Schulz, A; Sgrò, C; do Couto e Silva, E; Siskind, E J; Smith, D A; Spandre, G; Spinelli, P; Suson, D J; Takahashi, H; Tanaka, T; Thayer, J B; Thayer, J G; Thompson, D J; Tibaldo, L; Tinivella, M; Troja, E; Usher, T L; Vandenbroucke, J; Vasileiou, V; Vianello, G; Vitale, V; Waite, A P; Winer, B L; Wood, K S; Wood, M; Yang, Z; Zimmer, S

    2012-12-07

    Millisecond pulsars, old neutron stars spun up by accreting matter from a companion star, can reach high rotation rates of hundreds of revolutions per second. Until now, all such "recycled" rotation-powered pulsars have been detected by their spin-modulated radio emission. In a computing-intensive blind search of gamma-ray data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (with partial constraints from optical data), we detected a 2.5-millisecond pulsar, PSR J1311-3430. This unambiguously explains a formerly unidentified gamma-ray source that had been a decade-long enigma, confirming previous conjectures. The pulsar is in a circular orbit with an orbital period of only 93 minutes, the shortest of any spin-powered pulsar binary ever found.

  8. The International Pulsar Timing Array project: using pulsars as a gravitational wave detector

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hobbs, G; Burke-Spolaor, S; Champion, D [Australia Telescope National Facility, CSIRO, PO Box 76, Epping, NSW 1710 (Australia); Archibald, A [Department of Physics, McGill University, Montreal, PQ, H3A 2T8 (Canada); Arzoumanian, Z [CRESST/USRA, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 662, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Backer, D [Astronomy Department and Radio Astronomy Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411 (United States); Bailes, M; Bhat, N D R [Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, PO Box 218, Hawthorn VIC 3122 (Australia); Burgay, M [Universita di Cagliari, Dipartimento di Fisica, SP Monserrato-Sestu km 0.7, 09042 Monserrato (Canada) (Italy); Cognard, I; Desvignes, G; Ferdman, R D [Station de Radioastronomie de Nanay, Observatoire de Paris, 18330 Nancay (France); Coles, W [Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA (United States); Cordes, J [Astronomy Department, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States); Demorest, P [National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), Charlottesville, VA 22903 (United States); Finn, L [Center for Gravitational Wave Physics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Freire, P [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Radioastronomie, Auf Dem Huegel 69, 53121, Bonn (Germany); Gonzalez, M [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, 6224 Agricultural Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1 (Canada); Hessels, J [Astronomical Institute Anton Pannekoek, University of Amsterdam, Kruislaan 403, 1098 SJ Amsterdam (Netherlands); Hotan, A, E-mail: george.hobbs@csiro.a [Department of Imaging and Applied Physics, Curtin University, Bentley, WA (Australia)

    2010-04-21

    The International Pulsar Timing Array project combines observations of pulsars from both northern and southern hemisphere observatories with the main aim of detecting ultra-low frequency (approx 10{sup -9}-10{sup -8} Hz) gravitational waves. Here we introduce the project, review the methods used to search for gravitational waves emitted from coalescing supermassive binary black-hole systems in the centres of merging galaxies and discuss the status of the project.

  9. A lower limit for the birth rate of pulsars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Narayan, R.; Vivekanand, M.

    1981-01-01

    Using experimental data on observed pulsars, a lower limit for the birth rate of pulsars in our galaxy was estimated, taking into account the beam factor which allows for the possibility that only a fraction of all pulsars is beamed towards the earth. The calculation reduces the discrepancy between pulsar and supernova birth rates. (U.K.)

  10. Pulsar spin-down: the glitch-dominated rotation of PSR J0537-6910

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antonopoulou, D.; Espinoza, C. M.; Kuiper, L.; Andersson, N.

    2018-01-01

    The young, fast-spinning X-ray pulsar J0537-6910 displays an extreme glitch activity, with large spin-ups interrupting its decelerating rotation every ∼100 d. We present nearly 13 yr of timing data from this pulsar, obtained with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. We discovered 22 new glitches and performed a consistent analysis of all 45 glitches detected in the complete data span. Our results corroborate the previously reported strong correlation between glitch spin-up size and the time to the next glitch, a relation that has not been observed so far in any other pulsar. The spin evolution is dominated by the glitches, which occur at a rate of ∼3.5 per year, and the post-glitch recoveries, which prevail the entire interglitch intervals. This distinctive behaviour provides invaluable insights into the physics of glitches. The observations can be explained with a multicomponent model that accounts for the dynamics of the neutron superfluid present in the crust and core of neutron stars. We place limits on the moment of inertia of the component responsible for the spin-up and, ignoring differential rotation, the velocity difference it can sustain with the crust. Contrary to its rapid decrease between glitches, the spin-down rate increased over the 13 yr, and we find the long-term braking index nl = -1.22(4), the only negative braking index seen in a young pulsar. We briefly discuss the plausible interpretations of this result, which is in stark contrast to the predictions of standard models of pulsar spin-down.

  11. Magnetic separation technique for environmental water purification by strong magnetic field generator loading HTS bulk magnets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oka, T.; Tanaka, K.; Kimura, T.; Mimura, D.; Fukui, S.; Ogawa, J.; Sato, T.; Ooizumi, M.; Yokoyama, K.; Yamaguchi, M.

    2010-01-01

    The magnetic separation technique in combination with high temperature superconducting bulk magnets has been investigated to purify the ground water which has been used in the coolant system for the incinerator furnace to cool the burning gas. The experiment has been operated by means of the newly-built alternating channel type magnetic separating device. The separation ratios of ferromagnetic flocks including fine magnetite powder have been estimated by means of the high gradient magnetic separation method with small iron balls filled in the water channels. As the magnetic force acting on the magnetic particle is given by the product of a magnetization of the material and a gradient of magnetic field, and as the ferromagnetic stainless steel balls yield the steep gradient of magnetic field around them in a strong magnetic field, the system has exhibited a quite excellent performance with respect to the separation ratios. The separation ratios of the flocks which contain the magnetite powder with the values more than 50 ppm have remained over 80% for under the flow rates less than 5 L/min.

  12. Star-formation functions and the genetics of pulsar origin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guseinov, O.K.; Kasumov, F.K.; Yusifov, I.M.

    1982-01-01

    The star-formation function and the genetics of pulsar origin are discussed. It is shown that the progenitors of pulsars are main-sequence stars with masses of >5M/sub sun/ for almost all the kinds of initial mass functions discussed in the literature. Pulsars are genetically connected with supernova outbursts (mainly of type II). The probability of pulsar formation as a result of ''quiet collapse'' is extremely low. Thus, the hypothesis that pulsars are formed from objects of the extreme planar component of the Galaxy is confirmed on more complete and statistically uniform material

  13. A Search for Pulsar Companions to OB Runaway Stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaspi, V. M.

    1995-01-01

    We have searched for radio pulsar companions to 40 nearby OB runaway stars. Observations were made at 474 and 770 MHz with the NRAO 140 ft telescope. The survey was sensitive to long- period pulsars with flux densities of 1 mJy or more. One previously unknown pulsar was discovered, PSRJ2044+4614, while observing towards target O star BD+45,3260. Follow-up timing observations of the pulsar measured its position to high precision, revealing a 9' separation between the pulsar and the target star, unequivocally indicating they are not associated.

  14. Clocks in the sky the story of pulsars

    CERN Document Server

    McNamara, Geoff

    2008-01-01

    Pulsars are rapidly spinning neutron stars, the collapsed cores of once massive stars that ended their lives as supernova explosions. Pulsar rotation rates can reach incredible speeds, up to hundreds of times per second. This title explores the history, subsequent discovery and contemporary research into pulsar astronomy.

  15. COHERENT NETWORK ANALYSIS FOR CONTINUOUS GRAVITATIONAL WAVE SIGNALS IN A PULSAR TIMING ARRAY: PULSAR PHASES AS EXTRINSIC PARAMETERS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Yan [MOE Key Laboratory of Fundamental Physical Quantities Measurements, School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, Hubei Province 430074 (China); Mohanty, Soumya D.; Jenet, Fredrick A., E-mail: ywang12@hust.edu.cn [Department of Physics, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, 1 West University Boulevard, Brownsville, TX 78520 (United States)

    2015-12-20

    Supermassive black hole binaries are one of the primary targets of gravitational wave (GW) searches using pulsar timing arrays (PTAs). GW signals from such systems are well represented by parameterized models, allowing the standard Generalized Likelihood Ratio Test (GLRT) to be used for their detection and estimation. However, there is a dichotomy in how the GLRT can be implemented for PTAs: there are two possible ways in which one can split the set of signal parameters for semi-analytical and numerical extremization. The straightforward extension of the method used for continuous signals in ground-based GW searches, where the so-called pulsar phase parameters are maximized numerically, was addressed in an earlier paper. In this paper, we report the first study of the performance of the second approach where the pulsar phases are maximized semi-analytically. This approach is scalable since the number of parameters left over for numerical optimization does not depend on the size of the PTA. Our results show that for the same array size (9 pulsars), the new method performs somewhat worse in parameter estimation, but not in detection, than the previous method where the pulsar phases were maximized numerically. The origin of the performance discrepancy is likely to be in the ill-posedness that is intrinsic to any network analysis method. However, the scalability of the new method allows the ill-posedness to be mitigated by simply adding more pulsars to the array. This is shown explicitly by taking a larger array of pulsars.

  16. Localizing New Pulsars with Intensity Mapping

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swiggum, Joe; Gentile, Peter

    2018-01-01

    Although low-frequency, single dish pulsar surveys provide an efficient means of searching large regions of sky quickly, the localization of new discoveries is poor. For example, discoveries from 350 MHz surveys using the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) have position uncertainties up to the FWHM of the telescope's "beam" on the sky, over half a degree! Before finding a coherent timing solution (requires 8-12 months of dedicated timing observations) a "gridding" method is usually employed to improve localization of new pulsars, whereby a grid of higher frequency beam positions is used to tile the initial error region. This method often requires over an hour of observing time to achieve arcminute-precision localization (provided the pulsar is detectable at higher frequencies).Here, we describe another method that uses the same observing frequency as the discovery observation and scans over Right Ascension and Declination directions around the nominal position. A Gaussian beam model is fit to folded pulse profile intensities as a function of time/position to provide improved localization. Using five test cases, we show that intensity mapping localization at 350 MHz with the GBT yields pulsar positions to 1 arcminute precision, facilitating high-frequency follow-up and higher significance detections for future pulsar timing. This method is also well suited to be directly implemented in future low-frequency drift scan pulsar surveys (e.g. with the Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope; FAST).

  17. FERMI LAT PULSED DETECTION OF PSR J0737-3039A IN THE DOUBLE PULSAR SYSTEM

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Guillemot, L.; Kramer, M. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Radioastronomie, Auf dem Huegel 69, D-53121 Bonn (Germany); Johnson, T. J. [National Research Council Research Associate, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC 20001 (United States); Craig, H. A.; Romani, R. W.; Kerr, M. [W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Department of Physics and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States); Venter, C. [Centre for Space Research, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, Private Bag X6001, 2520 Potchefstroom (South Africa); Harding, A. K. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Ferdman, R. D. [Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, M13 9PL (United Kingdom); Stairs, I. H., E-mail: guillemo@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1 (Canada)

    2013-05-10

    We report the Fermi Large Area Telescope discovery of {gamma}-ray pulsations from the 22.7 ms pulsar A in the double pulsar system J0737-3039A/B. This is the first mildly recycled millisecond pulsar (MSP) detected in the GeV domain. The 2.7 s companion object PSR J0737-3039B is not detected in {gamma} rays. PSR J0737-3039A is a faint {gamma}-ray emitter, so that its spectral properties are only weakly constrained; however, its measured efficiency is typical of other MSPs. The two peaks of the {gamma}-ray light curve are separated by roughly half a rotation and are well offset from the radio and X-ray emission, suggesting that the GeV radiation originates in a distinct part of the magnetosphere from the other types of emission. From the modeling of the radio and the {gamma}-ray emission profiles and the analysis of radio polarization data, we constrain the magnetic inclination {alpha} and the viewing angle {zeta} to be close to 90 Degree-Sign , which is consistent with independent studies of the radio emission from PSR J0737-3039A. A small misalignment angle between the pulsar's spin axis and the system's orbital axis is therefore favored, supporting the hypothesis that pulsar B was formed in a nearly symmetric supernova explosion as has been discussed in the literature already.

  18. Spectra of short-period pulsars according to the hypothesis of the two types of pulsars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Malov, I.F.

    1985-01-01

    The lack of low-frequency turnovers in the spectra of PSR 0531+21 and 1937+21 may be expl ned if the generation of radio emission in these pulsars occurs near the light cylinder. Differences of high frequency cut-offs and spectral inoices for long-period pulsars and short-period ones are discussed

  19. Radial oscillations of neutron stars in strong magnetic fields

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    The eigen frequencies of radial pulsations of neutron stars are calculated in a strong magnetic field. At low densities we use the magnetic BPS equation of state (EOS) similar to that obtained by Lai and Shapiro while at high densities the EOS obtained from the relativistic nuclear mean field theory is taken and extended to ...

  20. THE SECOND FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE CATALOG OF GAMMA-RAY PULSARS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abdo, A. A. [Center for Earth Observing and Space Research, College of Science, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030 (United States); Ajello, M. [Space Sciences Laboratory, 7 Gauss Way, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-7450 (United States); Allafort, A.; Bloom, E. D.; Bottacini, E. [W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Department of Physics and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States); Baldini, L. [Università di Pisa and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa (Italy); Ballet, J. [Laboratoire AIM, CEA-IRFU/CNRS/Université Paris Diderot, Service d' Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette (France); Barbiellini, G. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste, I-34127 Trieste (Italy); Baring, M. G. [Rice University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, MS-108, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251 (United States); Bastieri, D. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova, I-35131 Padova (Italy); Belfiore, A. [Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, Department of Physics and Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Bellazzini, R.; Bregeon, J. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa (Italy); Bhattacharyya, B. [National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Pune 411 007 (India); Bissaldi, E. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste, and Università di Trieste, I-34127 Trieste (Italy); Bonamente, E. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Perugia, I-06123 Perugia (Italy); Brandt, T. J. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Brigida, M., E-mail: hartog@stanford.edu [Dipartimento di Fisica ' ' M. Merlin' ' dell' Università e del Politecnico di Bari, I-70126 Bari (Italy); and others

    2013-10-01

    This catalog summarizes 117 high-confidence ≥0.1 GeV gamma-ray pulsar detections using three years of data acquired by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi satellite. Half are neutron stars discovered using LAT data through periodicity searches in gamma-ray and radio data around LAT unassociated source positions. The 117 pulsars are evenly divided into three groups: millisecond pulsars, young radio-loud pulsars, and young radio-quiet pulsars. We characterize the pulse profiles and energy spectra and derive luminosities when distance information exists. Spectral analysis of the off-peak phase intervals indicates probable pulsar wind nebula emission for four pulsars, and off-peak magnetospheric emission for several young and millisecond pulsars. We compare the gamma-ray properties with those in the radio, optical, and X-ray bands. We provide flux limits for pulsars with no observed gamma-ray emission, highlighting a small number of gamma-faint, radio-loud pulsars. The large, varied gamma-ray pulsar sample constrains emission models. Fermi's selection biases complement those of radio surveys, enhancing comparisons with predicted population distributions.

  1. The second FERMI large area telescope catalog of gamma-ray pulsars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abdo, A. A.; Ajello, M.; Allafort, A.; Baldini, L.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G.; Baring, M. G.; Bastieri, D.; Belfiore, A.; Bellazzini, R.; Bhattacharyya, B.; Bissaldi, E.; Bloom, E. D.; Bonamente, E.; Bottacini, E.; Brandt, T. J.; Bregeon, J.; Brigida, M.; Bruel, P.; Buehler, R.; Burgay, M.; Burnett, T. H.; Busetto, G.; Buson, S.; Caliandro, G. A.; Cameron, R. A.; Camilo, F.; Caraveo, P. A.; Casandjian, J. M.; Cecchi, C.; Çelik, Ö.; Charles, E.; Chaty, S.; Chaves, R. C. G.; Chekhtman, A.; Chen, A. W.; Chiang, J.; Chiaro, G.; Ciprini, S.; Claus, R.; Cognard, I.; Cohen-Tanugi, J.; Cominsky, L. R.; Conrad, J.; Cutini, S.; D' Ammando, F.; de Angelis, A.; DeCesar, M. E.; De Luca, A.; den Hartog, P. R.; de Palma, F.; Dermer, C. D.; Desvignes, G.; Digel, S. W.; Di Venere, L.; Drell, P. S.; Drlica-Wagner, A.; Dubois, R.; Dumora, D.; Espinoza, C. M.; Falletti, L.; Favuzzi, C.; Ferrara, E. C.; Focke, W. B.; Franckowiak, A.; Freire, P. C. C.; Funk, S.; Fusco, P.; Gargano, F.; Gasparrini, D.; Germani, S.; Giglietto, N.; Giommi, P.; Giordano, F.; Giroletti, M.; Glanzman, T.; Godfrey, G.; Gotthelf, E. V.; Grenier, I. A.; Grondin, M. -H.; Grove, J. E.; Guillemot, L.; Guiriec, S.; Hadasch, D.; Hanabata, Y.; Harding, A. K.; Hayashida, M.; Hays, E.; Hessels, J.; Hewitt, J.; Hill, A. B.; Horan, D.; Hou, X.; Hughes, R. E.; Jackson, M. S.; Janssen, G. H.; Jogler, T.; Jóhannesson, G.; Johnson, R. P.; Johnson, A. S.; Johnson, T. J.; Johnson, W. N.; Johnston, S.; Kamae, T.; Kataoka, J.; Keith, M.; Kerr, M.; Knödlseder, J.; Kramer, M.; Kuss, M.; Lande, J.; Larsson, S.; Latronico, L.; Lemoine-Goumard, M.; Longo, F.; Loparco, F.; Lovellette, M. N.; Lubrano, P.; Lyne, A. G.; Manchester, R. N.; Marelli, M.; Massaro, F.; Mayer, M.; Mazziotta, M. N.; McEnery, J. E.; McLaughlin, M. A.; Mehault, J.; Michelson, P. F.; Mignani, R. P.; Mitthumsiri, W.; Mizuno, T.; Moiseev, A. A.; Monzani, M. E.; Morselli, A.; Moskalenko, I. V.; Murgia, S.; Nakamori, T.; Nemmen, R.; Nuss, E.; Ohno, M.; Ohsugi, T.; Orienti, M.; Orlando, E.; Ormes, J. F.; Paneque, D.; Panetta, J. H.; Parent, D.; Perkins, J. S.; Pesce-Rollins, M.; Pierbattista, M.; Piron, F.; Pivato, G.; Pletsch, H. J.; Porter, T. A.; Possenti, A.; Rainò, S.; Rando, R.; Ransom, S. M.; Ray, P. S.; Razzano, M.; Rea, N.; Reimer, A.; Reimer, O.; Renault, N.; Reposeur, T.; Ritz, S.; Romani, R. W.; Roth, M.; Rousseau, R.; Roy, J.; Ruan, J.; Sartori, A.; Saz Parkinson, P. M.; Scargle, J. D.; Schulz, A.; Sgrò, C.; Shannon, R.; Siskind, E. J.; Smith, D. A.; Spandre, G.; Spinelli, P.; Stappers, B. W.; Strong, A. W.; Suson, D. J.; Takahashi, H.; Thayer, J. G.; Thayer, J. B.; Theureau, G.; Thompson, D. J.; Thorsett, S. E.; Tibaldo, L.; Tibolla, O.; Tinivella, M.; Torres, D. F.; Tosti, G.; Troja, E.; Uchiyama, Y.; Usher, T. L.; Vandenbroucke, J.; Vasileiou, V.; Venter, C.; Vianello, G.; Vitale, V.; Wang, N.; Weltevrede, P.; Winer, B. L.; Wolff, M. T.; Wood, D. L.; Wood, K. S.; Wood, M.; Yang, Z.

    2013-09-19

    This catalog summarizes 117 high-confidence ≥0.1 GeV gamma-ray pulsar detections using three years of data acquired by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi satellite. Half are neutron stars discovered using LAT data through periodicity searches in gamma-ray and radio data around LAT unassociated source positions. The 117 pulsars are evenly divided into three groups: millisecond pulsars, young radio-loud pulsars, and young radio-quiet pulsars. We characterize the pulse profiles and energy spectra and derive luminosities when distance information exists. Spectral analysis of the off-peak phase intervals indicates probable pulsar wind nebula emission for four pulsars, and off-peak magnetospheric emission for several young and millisecond pulsars. We compare the gamma-ray properties with those in the radio, optical, and X-ray bands. We provide flux limits for pulsars with no observed gamma-ray emission, highlighting a small number of gamma-faint, radio-loud pulsars. The large, varied gamma-ray pulsar sample constrains emission models. Fermi's selection biases complement those of radio surveys, enhancing comparisons with predicted population distributions.

  2. The second fermi large area telescope catalog of gamma-ray pulsars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abdo, A. A.; Ajello, M.; Allafort, A.; Baldini, L.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G.; Baring, M. G.; Bastieri, D.; Belfiore, A.; Bellazzini, R.; Bhattacharyya, B.; Bissaldi, E.; Bloom, E. D.; Bonamente, E.; Bottacini, E.; Brandt, T. J.; Bregeon, J.; Brigida, M.; Bruel, P.; Buehler, R.; Burgay, M.; Burnett, T. H.; Busetto, G.; Buson, S.; Caliandro, G. A.; Cameron, R. A.; Camilo, F.; Caraveo, P. A.; Casandjian, J. M.; Cecchi, C.; Çelik, Ö.; Charles, E.; Chaty, S.; Chaves, R. C. G.; Chekhtman, A.; Chen, A. W.; Chiang, J.; Chiaro, G.; Ciprini, S.; Claus, R.; Cognard, I.; Cohen-Tanugi, J.; Cominsky, L. R.; Conrad, J.; Cutini, S.; D' Ammando, F.; de Angelis, A.; DeCesar, M. E.; De Luca, A.; den Hartog, P. R.; de Palma, F.; Dermer, C. D.; Desvignes, G.; Digel, S. W.; Di Venere, L.; Drell, P. S.; Drlica-Wagner, A.; Dubois, R.; Dumora, D.; Espinoza, C. M.; Falletti, L.; Favuzzi, C.; Ferrara, E. C.; Focke, W. B.; Franckowiak, A.; Freire, P. C. C.; Funk, S.; Fusco, P.; Gargano, F.; Gasparrini, D.; Germani, S.; Giglietto, N.; Giommi, P.; Giordano, F.; Giroletti, M.; Glanzman, T.; Godfrey, G.; Gotthelf, E. V.; Grenier, I. A.; Grondin, M. -H.; Grove, J. E.; Guillemot, L.; Guiriec, S.; Hadasch, D.; Hanabata, Y.; Harding, A. K.; Hayashida, M.; Hays, E.; Hessels, J.; Hewitt, J.; Hill, A. B.; Horan, D.; Hou, X.; Hughes, R. E.; Jackson, M. S.; Janssen, G. H.; Jogler, T.; Jóhannesson, G.; Johnson, R. P.; Johnson, A. S.; Johnson, T. J.; Johnson, W. N.; Johnston, S.; Kamae, T.; Kataoka, J.; Keith, M.; Kerr, M.; Knödlseder, J.; Kramer, M.; Kuss, M.; Lande, J.; Larsson, S.; Latronico, L.; Lemoine-Goumard, M.; Longo, F.; Loparco, F.; Lovellette, M. N.; Lubrano, P.; Lyne, A. G.; Manchester, R. N.; Marelli, M.; Massaro, F.; Mayer, M.; Mazziotta, M. N.; McEnery, J. E.; McLaughlin, M. A.; Mehault, J.; Michelson, P. F.; Mignani, R. P.; Mitthumsiri, W.; Mizuno, T.; Moiseev, A. A.; Monzani, M. E.; Morselli, A.; Moskalenko, I. V.; Murgia, S.; Nakamori, T.; Nemmen, R.; Nuss, E.; Ohno, M.; Ohsugi, T.; Orienti, M.; Orlando, E.; Ormes, J. F.; Paneque, D.; Panetta, J. H.; Parent, D.; Perkins, J. S.; Pesce-Rollins, M.; Pierbattista, M.; Piron, F.; Pivato, G.; Pletsch, H. J.; Porter, T. A.; Possenti, A.; Rainò, S.; Rando, R.; Ransom, S. M.; Ray, P. S.; Razzano, M.; Rea, N.; Reimer, A.; Reimer, O.; Renault, N.; Reposeur, T.; Ritz, S.; Romani, R. W.; Roth, M.; Rousseau, R.; Roy, J.; Ruan, J.; Sartori, A.; Saz Parkinson, P. M.; Scargle, J. D.; Schulz, A.; Sgrò, C.; Shannon, R.; Siskind, E. J.; Smith, D. A.; Spandre, G.; Spinelli, P.; Stappers, B. W.; Strong, A. W.; Suson, D. J.; Takahashi, H.; Thayer, J. G.; Thayer, J. B.; Theureau, G.; Thompson, D. J.; Thorsett, S. E.; Tibaldo, L.; Tibolla, O.; Tinivella, M.; Torres, D. F.; Tosti, G.; Troja, E.; Uchiyama, Y.; Usher, T. L.; Vandenbroucke, J.; Vasileiou, V.; Venter, C.; Vianello, G.; Vitale, V.; Wang, N.; Weltevrede, P.; Winer, B. L.; Wolff, M. T.; Wood, D. L.; Wood, K. S.; Wood, M.; Yang, Z.

    2013-09-19

    This catalog summarizes 117 high-confidence ≥0.1 GeV gamma-ray pulsar detections using three years of data acquired by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi satellite. Half are neutron stars discovered using LAT data through periodicity searches in gamma-ray and radio data around LAT unassociated source positions. The 117 pulsars are evenly divided into three groups: millisecond pulsars, young radio-loud pulsars, and young radio-quiet pulsars. We characterize the pulse profiles and energy spectra and derive luminosities when distance information exists. Spectral analysis of the off-peak phase intervals indicates probable pulsar wind nebula emission for four pulsars, and off-peak magnetospheric emission for several young and millisecond pulsars. We compare the gamma-ray properties with those in the radio, optical, and X-ray bands. We provide flux limits for pulsars with no observed gamma-ray emission, highlighting a small number of gamma-faint, radio-loud pulsars. The large, varied gamma-ray pulsar sample constrains emission models. Fermi's selection biases complement those of radio surveys, enhancing comparisons with predicted population distributions.

  3. FREQUENCY-DEPENDENT DISPERSION MEASURES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PULSAR TIMING

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cordes, J. M. [Astronomy Department, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States); Shannon, R. M. [CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Box 76, Epping, NSW 1710 (Australia); Stinebring, D. R., E-mail: cordes@astro.cornell.edu, E-mail: ryan.shannon@csiro.au, E-mail: dan.stinebring@oberlin.edu [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH 44074 (United States)

    2016-01-20

    The dispersion measure (DM), the column density of free electrons to a pulsar, is shown to be frequency dependent because of multipath scattering from small-scale electron-density fluctuations. DMs vary between propagation paths whose transverse extent varies strongly with frequency, yielding arrival times that deviate from the high-frequency scaling expected for a cold, uniform, unmagnetized plasma (1/frequency{sup 2}). Scaling laws for thin phase screens are verified with simulations; extended media are also analyzed. The rms DM difference across an octave band near 1.5 GHz is ∼ 4 × 10{sup −5} pc cm{sup −3} for pulsars at ∼1 kpc distance. The corresponding arrival-time variations are a few to hundreds of nanoseconds for DM ≲ 30 pc cm{sup −3} but increase rapidly to microseconds or more for larger DMs and wider frequency ranges. Chromatic DMs introduce correlated noise into timing residuals with a power spectrum of “low pass” form. The correlation time is roughly the geometric mean of the refraction times for the highest and lowest radio frequencies used, ranging from days to years, depending on the pulsar. We discuss implications for methodologies that use large frequency separations or wide bandwidth receivers for timing measurements. Chromatic DMs are partially mitigable by including an additional chromatic term in arrival time models. Without mitigation, an additional term in the noise model for pulsar timing is implied. In combination with measurement errors from radiometer noise, an arbitrarily large increase in total frequency range (or bandwidth) will yield diminishing benefits and may be detrimental to overall timing precision.

  4. Electromagnetic modes in cold magnetized strongly coupled plasmas

    OpenAIRE

    Tkachenko, I. M.; Ortner, J.; Rylyuk, V. M.

    1999-01-01

    The spectrum of electromagnetic waves propagating in a strongly coupled magnetized fully ionized hydrogen plasma is found. The ion motion and damping being neglected, the influence of the Coulomb coupling on the electromagnetic spectrum is analyzed.

  5. Galactic distribution and genesis of pulsars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guseinov, O.H.; Kasumov, F.K.

    1981-01-01

    The radial distribution of pulsars in the Galaxy have been calculated by the authors using the available electron density figure for each pulsar. Also the luminosity function, the evolution of luminosity with age and the birth rate were determined. (Auth.)

  6. Search for gamma-ray spectral modulations in Galactic pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Majumdar, Jhilik; Calore, Francesca; Horns, Dieter

    2018-04-01

    Well-motivated extensions of the standard model predict ultra-light and fundamental pseudo-scalar particles (e.g., axions or axion-like particles: ALPs). Similarly to the Primakoff-effect for axions, ALPs can mix with photons and consequently be searched for in laboratory experiments and with astrophysical observations. Here, we search for energy-dependent modulations of high-energy gamma-ray spectra that are tell-tale signatures of photon-ALPs mixing. To this end, we analyze the data recorded with the Fermi-LAT from Galactic pulsars selected to have a line of sight crossing spiral arms at a large pitch angle. The large-scale Galactic magnetic field traces the shape of spiral arms, such that a sizable photon-ALP conversion probability is expected for the sources considered. For the nearby Vela pulsar, the energy spectrum is well described by a smooth model spectrum (a power-law with a sub-exponential cut-off) while for the six selected Galactic pulsars, a common fit of the ALPs parameters improves the goodness of fit in comparison to a smooth model spectrum with a significance of 4.6 σ. We determine the most-likely values for mass ma and coupling gaγγ to be ma=(3.6‑0.2 stat.+0.5 stat.± 0.2syst. ) neV and gaγγ=(2.3‑0.4stat.+0.3 stat.± 0.4syst.)× 10‑10 GeV‑1. In the error budget, we consider instrumental effects, scaling of the adopted Galactic magnetic field model (± 20 %), and uncertainties on the distance of individual sources. The best-fit parameters are by a factor of ≈ 3 larger than the current best limit on solar ALPs generation obtained with the CAST helioscope, although known modifications of the photon-ALP mixing in the high density solar environment could provide a plausible explanation for the apparent tension between the helioscope bound and the indication for photon-ALPs mixing reported here.

  7. Gamma ray emission from pulsars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salvati, M.; Massaro, E.

    1978-01-01

    A model for the production of gamma rays in a pulsar environment is presented, together with numerical computations fitted to the observations of PSR 0833-45. It is assumed that the primary particles are accelerated close to the star surface and then injected along the open field lines, which cause them to emit curvature radiation. The equation describing the particles' braking is integrated exactly up to the first order in the pulsar rotational frequency, and the transfer problem for the curvature photons is solved with the aberration, the Doppler shif, and the pair production absorption being taken into account. The latter effect is due not only to the transverse component of the magnetic field, but also to the electric field induced by the rotation. The synchrotron radiation emitted by the secondary particles is also included, subject to the 'on-the-spot' approximation. It is found that the observed gamma rays originate in the innermost regions of the magnetosphere, where the open lines' bundle is narrow and the geometrical beaming is effective. As shown by the computed pulse profiles, the duty cycle turns out to be equal to a few percent, comparable to the one of PSR 0833-45. The averaged spectra indicate that a substantial fraction of the primary photons do outlive the interaction with the magnetisphere; furthermore, the agreement in shape with the observational curves suggests that the acceleration output is fiarly close to a monoenergetic beam of particles. (orig.) [de

  8. Predicting Pulsar Scintillation from Refractive Plasma Sheets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simard, Dana; Pen, Ue-Li

    2018-05-01

    The dynamic and secondary spectra of many pulsars show evidence for long-lived, aligned images of the pulsar that are stationary on a thin scattering sheet. One explanation for this phenomenon considers the effects of wave crests along sheets in the ionized interstellar medium, such as those due to Alfvén waves propagating along current sheets. If these sheets are closely aligned to our line-of-sight to the pulsar, high bending angles arise at the wave crests and a selection effect causes alignment of images produced at different crests, similar to grazing reflection off of a lake. Using geometric optics, we develop a simple parameterized model of these corrugated sheets that can be constrained with a single observation and that makes observable predictions for variations in the scintillation of the pulsar over time and frequency. This model reveals qualitative differences between lensing from overdense and underdense corrugated sheets: Only if the sheet is overdense compared to the surrounding interstellar medium can the lensed images be brighter than the line-of-sight image to the pulsar, and the faint lensed images are closer to the pulsar at higher frequencies if the sheet is underdense, but at lower frequencies if the sheet is overdense.

  9. The Velocity Distribution of Isolated Radio Pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arzoumanian, Z.; Chernoff, D. F.; Cordes, J. M.; White, Nicholas E. (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    We infer the velocity distribution of radio pulsars based on large-scale 0.4 GHz pulsar surveys. We do so by modelling evolution of the locations, velocities, spins, and radio luminosities of pulsars; calculating pulsed flux according to a beaming model and random orientation angles of spin and beam; applying selection effects of pulsar surveys; and comparing model distributions of measurable pulsar properties with survey data using a likelihood function. The surveys analyzed have well-defined characteristics and cover approx. 95% of the sky. We maximize the likelihood in a 6-dimensional space of observables P, dot-P, DM, absolute value of b, mu, F (period, period derivative, dispersion measure, Galactic latitude, proper motion, and flux density). The models we test are described by 12 parameters that characterize a population's birth rate, luminosity, shutoff of radio emission, birth locations, and birth velocities. We infer that the radio beam luminosity (i) is comparable to the energy flux of relativistic particles in models for spin-driven magnetospheres, signifying that radio emission losses reach nearly 100% for the oldest pulsars; and (ii) scales approximately as E(exp 1/2) which, in magnetosphere models, is proportional to the voltage drop available for acceleration of particles. We find that a two-component velocity distribution with characteristic velocities of 90 km/ s and 500 km/ s is greatly preferred to any one-component distribution; this preference is largely immune to variations in other population parameters, such as the luminosity or distance scale, or the assumed spin-down law. We explore some consequences of the preferred birth velocity distribution: (1) roughly 50% of pulsars in the solar neighborhood will escape the Galaxy, while approx. 15% have velocities greater than 1000 km/ s (2) observational bias against high velocity pulsars is relatively unimportant for surveys that reach high Galactic absolute value of z distances, but is severe for

  10. Pulsar era

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hewish, A

    1986-12-01

    The discovery of pulsars in 1967 initiated one of the most effervescent phases of astronomy since World War II and opened up a number of important new fields of research. In looking back at the history of this event it is useful to focus on three aspects. These are the prehistory because it reveals a fascinating relationship between theory and observation concerning an entirely new phenomenon - the neutron star; the discovery itself, which was totally unexpected, to see if anything can be learned which might have a bearing on serendipitous discoveries in the future. For example, would pulsars have been found if the sky survey had been recorded digitally and analysed by a computer; the astronomical impact of the discovery as seen eighteen years after the initial excitement.

  11. RADIO POLARIMETRY SIGNATURES OF STRONG MAGNETIC TURBULENCE IN SUPERNOVA REMNANTS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stroman, Wendy; Pohl, Martin

    2009-01-01

    We discuss the emission and transport of polarized radio-band synchrotron radiation near the forward shocks of young shell-type supernova remnants, for which X-ray data indicate a strong amplification of turbulent magnetic field. Modeling the magnetic turbulence through the superposition of waves, we calculate the degree of polarization and the magnetic polarization direction which is at 90 deg. to the conventional electric polarization direction. We find that isotropic strong turbulence will produce weakly polarized radio emission even in the absence of internal Faraday rotation. If anisotropy is imposed on the magnetic-field structure, the degree of polarization can be significantly increased, provided internal Faraday rotation is inefficient. Both for shock compression and a mixture with a homogeneous field, the increase in polarization degree goes along with a fairly precise alignment of the magnetic-polarization angle with the direction of the dominant magnetic-field component, implying tangential magnetic polarization at the rims in the case of shock compression. We compare our model with high-resolution radio polarimetry data of Tycho's remnant. Using the absence of internal Faraday rotation we find a soft limit for the amplitude of magnetic turbulence, δB ∼ 0 . An alternative viable scenario involves anisotropic turbulence with stronger amplitudes in the radial direction, as was observed in recent Magnetohydrodynamics simulations of shocks propagating through a medium with significant density fluctuations.

  12. A STACKED ANALYSIS OF 115 PULSARS OBSERVED BY THE FERMI LAT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McCann, A., E-mail: mccann@kicp.uchicago.edu [Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago 933 East 56th Street, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States)

    2015-05-10

    Due to the low gamma-ray fluxes from pulsars above 50 GeV and the small collecting area of space-based telescopes, the gamma-ray emission discovered by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) in ∼150 pulsars is largely unexplored at these energies. In this regime, the uncertainties on the spectral data points and/or the constraints from upper limits are not sufficient to provide robust tests of competing emission models in individual pulsars. The discovery of power-law-type emission from the Crab pulsar at energies exceeding 100 GeV provides a compelling justification for exploration of other pulsars at these energies. We applied the method of aperture photometry to measure pulsar emission spectra from Fermi-LAT data and present a stacked analysis of 115 pulsars selected from the Second Fermi-LAT catalog of gamma-ray pulsars. This analysis, which uses an average of ∼4.2 yr of data per pulsar, aggregates low-level emission which cannot be resolved in individual objects but can be detected in an ensemble. We find no significant stacked excess at energies above 50 GeV. An upper limit of 30% of the Crab pulsar level is found for the average flux from 115 pulsars in the 100–177 GeV energy range at the 95% confidence level. Stacked searches exclusive to the young pulsar sample, the millisecond pulsar sample, and several other promising sub-samples also return no significant excesses above 50 GeV.

  13. Arecibo pulsar survey using ALFA. III. Precursor survey and population synthesis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Swiggum, J. K.; Lorimer, D. R.; McLaughlin, M. A.; Bates, S. D.; Senty, T. R. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506 (United States); Champion, D. J.; Lazarus, P. [Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, D-53121 Bonn (Germany); Ransom, S. M. [NRAO, Charlottesville, VA 22903 (United States); Brazier, A.; Chatterjee, S.; Cordes, J. M. [Astronomy Department, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States); Hessels, J. W. T. [ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Postbus 2, 7990 AA, Dwingeloo (Netherlands); Nice, D. J. [Department of Physics, Lafayette College, Easton, PA 18042 (United States); Ellis, J.; Allen, B. [Physics Department, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee WI 53211 (United States); Bhat, N. D. R. [Center for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University, Hawthorn, Victoria 3122 (Australia); Bogdanov, S.; Camilo, F. [Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (United States); Crawford, F. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA 17604-3003 (United States); Deneva, J. S. [Arecibo Observatory, HC3 Box 53995, Arecibo, PR 00612 (United States); and others

    2014-06-01

    The Pulsar Arecibo L-band Feed Array (PALFA) Survey uses the ALFA 7-beam receiver to search both inner and outer Galactic sectors visible from Arecibo (32° ≲ ℓ ≲ 77° and 168° ≲ ℓ ≲ 214°) close to the Galactic plane (|b| ≲ 5°) for pulsars. The PALFA survey is sensitive to sources fainter and more distant than have previously been seen because of Arecibo's unrivaled sensitivity. In this paper we detail a precursor survey of this region with PALFA, which observed a subset of the full region (slightly more restrictive in ℓ and |b| ≲ 1°) and detected 45 pulsars. Detections included 1 known millisecond pulsar and 11 previously unknown, long-period pulsars. In the surveyed part of the sky that overlaps with the Parkes Multibeam Pulsar Survey (36° ≲ ℓ ≲ 50°), PALFA is probing deeper than the Parkes survey, with four discoveries in this region. For both Galactic millisecond and normal pulsar populations, we compare the survey's detections with simulations to model these populations and, in particular, to estimate the number of observable pulsars in the Galaxy. We place 95% confidence intervals of 82,000 to 143,000 on the number of detectable normal pulsars and 9000 to 100,000 on the number of detectable millisecond pulsars in the Galactic disk. These are consistent with previous estimates. Given the most likely population size in each case (107,000 and 15,000 for normal and millisecond pulsars, respectively), we extend survey detection simulations to predict that, when complete, the full PALFA survey should have detected 1000{sub −230}{sup +330} normal pulsars and 30{sub −20}{sup +200} millisecond pulsars. Identical estimation techniques predict that 490{sub −115}{sup +160} normal pulsars and 12{sub −5}{sup +70} millisecond pulsars would be detected by the beginning of 2014; at the time, the PALFA survey had detected 283 normal pulsars and 31 millisecond pulsars, respectively. We attribute the deficiency in normal pulsar

  14. X-ray Pulsars Across the Parameter Space of Luminosity, Accretion Mode, and Spin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laycock, Silas

    We propose to expand the scope of our successful project providing a multi-satellite library of X-ray Pulsar observations to the community. The library provides high-level products, activity monitoring, pulse-profiles, phased event files, spectra, and a unique pulse-profile modeling interface. The library's scientific footprint will expand in 4 key directions: (1) Update, by processing all new XMM-Newton and Chandra observations (2015-2017) of X-ray Binary Pulsars in the Magellanic Clouds. (2) Expand, by including all archival Suzaku, Swift and NuStar observations, and including Galactic pulsars. (3) Improve, by offering innovative data products that provide deeper insight. (4) Advance, by implementing a new generation of physically motivated emission and pulse-profile models. The library currently includes some 2000 individual RXTE-PCA, 200 Chandra ACIS-I, and 120 XMM-PN observations of the SMC spanning 15 years, creating an unrivaled record of pulsar temporal behavior. In Phase-2, additional observations of SMC pulsars will be added: 221 Chandra (ACIS-S and ACIS-I), 22 XMM-PN, 142 XMM-MOS, 92 Suzaku, 25 NuSTAR, and >10,000 Swift; leveraging our pipeline and analysis techniques already developed. With the addition of 7 Galactic pulsars each having many hundred multisatellite observations, these datasets cover the entire range of variability timescales and accretion regimes. We will model the pulse-profiles using state of the art techniques to parameterize their morphology and obtain the distribution of offsets between magnetic and spin axes, and create samples of profiles under specific accretion modes (whether pencil-beam or fan-beam dominated). These products are needed for the next generation of advances in neutron star theory and modeling. The long-duration of the dataset and “whole-galaxy" nature of the SMC sample make possible a new statistical approach to uncover the duty-cycle distribution and hence population demographics of transient High Mass X

  15. Searching for millisecond pulsars: surveys, techniques and prospects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stovall, K; Lorimer, D R; Lynch, R S

    2013-01-01

    Searches for millisecond pulsars (which we here loosely define as those with periods < 20 ms) in the galactic field have undergone a renaissance in the past five years. New or recently refurbished radio telescopes utilizing cooled receivers and state-of-the art digital data acquisition systems are carrying out surveys of the entire sky at a variety of radio frequencies. Targeted searches for millisecond pulsars in point sources identified by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have proved phenomenally successful, with over 50 discoveries in the past five years. The current sample of millisecond pulsars now numbers almost 200 and, for the first time in 25 years, now outnumbers their counterparts in galactic globular clusters. While many of these searches are motivated to find pulsars which form part of pulsar timing arrays, a wide variety of interesting systems are now being found. Following a brief overview of the millisecond pulsar phenomenon, we describe these searches and present some of the highlights of the new discoveries in the past decade. We conclude with predictions and prospects for ongoing and future surveys. (paper)

  16. The Binary Pulsar: Gravity Waves Exist.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Will, Clifford

    1987-01-01

    Reviews the history of pulsars generally and the 1974 discovery of the binary pulsar by Joe Taylor and Russell Hulse specifically. Details the data collection and analysis used by Taylor and Hulse. Uses this discussion as support for Albert Einstein's theory of gravitational waves. (CW)

  17. Prospects for neutron star equation of state constraints using ''recycled'' millisecond pulsars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bogdanov, Slavko [Columbia University, Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, New York, NY (United States)

    2016-02-15

    ''Recycled'' millisecond pulsars are a variety of rapidly spinning neutron stars that typically show thermal X-ray radiation due to the heated surface of their magnetic polar caps. Detailed numerical modeling of the rotation-induced thermal X-ray pulsations observed from recycled millisecond pulsars, including all relevant relativistic and stellar atmospheric effects, has been identified as a promising approach towards an astrophysical determination of the true neutron star mass-radius relation, and by extension the state of cold matter at densities exceeding those of atomic nuclei. Herein, I review the basic model and methodology commonly used to extract information regarding neutron star structure from the pulsed X-ray radiation observed from millisecond pulsars. I also summarize the results of past X-ray observations of these objects and the prospects for precision neutron star mass-radius measurements with the upcoming Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) X-ray timing mission. (orig.)

  18. Optical pulsar in the Large Magellanic Cloud remnant 0540-69.3

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Middleditch, J.; Pennypacker, C.R.

    1984-01-01

    We have detected pulsed optical emission from the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) X-ray pulsar PSR 0540-693 (Seward et al. 1984). The pulsed emission has a time averaged magnitude of approximately 22.7. The X-ray pulsar was discovered in the LMC remnant, 0540-69.3 as a pulse repetition period of approx. 50 milliseconds (ms) in Einstein Obsrvatory data (Seward et al. 1984). Earlier, Clark et al. (1982) had noted that this remnant resembles the Crab Nebula because of the X-ray power law spectrum, and suggested that the nebular emission was synchrotron radiation powered by a central pulsar. After the announcement of X-ray pulsed emission, Chanan et al. (1984) measured the broad optical band properties of the nebula and found evidence for synchrotron emission. They reported that the 4.5 arc second continuum emission remnant has only a tenth the luminosity of the Crab Nebula. We have recorded broad-band optical time-series data at 1 ms intervals with the 4-m and 1.5-m Cerro Tololo telescopes and have found strong pulsations, employing the usual Fourier transform methods. A summary of the observations, including magnitudes, barycentric frequencies and times of arrival is given

  19. Heavy quark potential in a static and strong homogeneous magnetic field

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hasan, Mujeeb; Chatterjee, Bhaswar; Patra, Binoy Krishna [Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Department of Physics, Roorkee (India)

    2017-11-15

    We have investigated the properties of quarkonia in a thermal QCD medium in the background of strong magnetic field. For that purpose, we employ the Schwinger proper-time quark propagator in the lowest Landau level to calculate the one-loop gluon self-energy, which in the sequel gives the effective gluon propagator. As an artifact of strong magnetic field approximation (eB >> T{sup 2} and eB >> m{sup 2}), the Debye mass for massless flavors is found to depend only on the magnetic field which is the dominant scale in comparison to the scales prevalent in the thermal medium. However, for physical quark masses, it depends on both magnetic field and temperature in a low temperature and high magnetic field but the temperature dependence is very meager and becomes independent of the temperature beyond a certain temperature and magnetic field. With the above mentioned ingredients, the potential between heavy quark (Q) and anti-quark (anti Q) is obtained in a hot QCD medium in the presence of a strong magnetic field by correcting both short- and long-range components of the potential in the real-time formalism. It is found that the long-range part of the quarkonium potential is affected much more by magnetic field as compared to the short-range part. This observation facilitates us to estimate the magnetic field beyond which the potential will be too weak to bind Q anti Q together. For example, the J/ψ is dissociated at eB ∝ 10 m{sub π}{sup 2} and Υ is dissociated at eB ∝ 100 m{sub π}{sup 2} whereas its excited states, ψ{sup '} and Υ{sup '} are dissociated at smaller magnetic field eB = m{sub π}{sup 2}, 13 m{sub π}{sup 2}, respectively. (orig.)

  20. Detecting dark matter with imploding pulsars in the galactic center.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bramante, Joseph; Linden, Tim

    2014-11-07

    The paucity of old millisecond pulsars observed at the galactic center of the Milky Way could be the result of dark matter accumulating in and destroying neutron stars. In regions of high dark matter density, dark matter clumped in a pulsar can exceed the Schwarzschild limit and collapse into a natal black hole which destroys the pulsar. We examine what dark matter models are consistent with this hypothesis and find regions of parameter space where dark matter accumulation can significantly degrade the neutron star population within the galactic center while remaining consistent with observations of old millisecond pulsars in globular clusters and near the solar position. We identify what dark matter couplings and masses might cause a young pulsar at the galactic center to unexpectedly extinguish. Finally, we find that pulsar collapse age scales inversely with the dark matter density and linearly with the dark matter velocity dispersion. This implies that maximum pulsar age is spatially dependent on position within the dark matter halo of the Milky Way. In turn, this pulsar age spatial dependence will be dark matter model dependent.

  1. Particle acceleration through the resonance of high magnetic field and high frequency electromagnetic wave

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hong, Liu; He, X.T.; Chen, S.G.; Zhang, W.Y.; He, X.T.; Hong, Liu

    2004-01-01

    We propose a new particle acceleration mechanism. Electrons can be accelerated to relativistic energy within a few electromagnetic wave cycles through the mechanism which is named electromagnetic and magnetic field resonance acceleration (EMRA). We find that the electron acceleration depends not only on the electromagnetic wave intensity, but also on the ratio between electron Larmor frequency and electromagnetic wave frequency. As the ratio approaches to unity, a clear resonance peak is observed, corresponding to the EMRA. Near the resonance regime, the strong magnetic fields still affect the electron acceleration dramatically. We derive an approximate analytical solution of the relativistic electron energy in adiabatic limit, which provides a full understanding of this phenomenon. In typical parameters of pulsar magnetospheres, the mechanism allows particles to increase their energies through the resonance of high magnetic field and high frequency electromagnetic wave in each electromagnetic wave period. The energy spectra of the accelerated particles exhibit the synchrotron radiation behavior. These can help to understand the remaining emission of high energy electron from radio pulsar within supernova remnant. The other potential application of our theory in fast ignition scheme of inertial confinement fusion is also discussed. (authors)

  2. High-Energy X-rays from J174545.5-285829, the Cannonball: a Candidate Pulsar Wind Nebula Associated with Sgr a East

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nynka, Melania; Hailey, Charles J.; Mori, Kaya; Baganoff, Frederick K.; Bauer, Franz E.; Boggs, Steven E.; Craig, William W.; Christensen, Finn E.; Gotthelf, Eric V.; Harrison, Fiona A.; hide

    2013-01-01

    We report the unambiguous detection of non-thermal X-ray emission up to 30 keV from the Cannonball, a few arcsecond long diffuse X-ray feature near the Galactic Center, using the NuSTAR X-ray observatory. The Cannonball is a high-velocity (v(proj) approximately 500 km s(exp -1)) pulsar candidate with a cometary pulsar wind nebula (PWN) located approximately 2' north-east from Sgr A*, just outside the radio shell of the supernova remnant Sagittarius A (Sgr A) East. Its non-thermal X-ray spectrum, measured up to 30 keV, is well characterized by a Gamma is approximately 1.6 power law, typical of a PWN, and has an X-ray luminosity of L(3-30 keV) = 1.3 × 10(exp 34) erg s(exp -1). The spectral and spatial results derived from X-ray and radio data strongly suggest a runaway neutron star born in the Sgr A East supernova event. We do not find any pulsed signal from the Cannonball. The NuSTAR observations allow us to deduce the PWN magnetic field and show that it is consistent with the lower limit obtained from radio observations.

  3. Particle Acceleration in Pulsar Wind Nebulae: PIC Modelling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sironi, Lorenzo; Cerutti, Benoît

    We discuss the role of PIC simulations in unveiling the origin of the emitting particles in PWNe. After describing the basics of the PIC technique, we summarize its implications for the quiescent and the flaring emission of the Crab Nebula, as a prototype of PWNe. A consensus seems to be emerging that, in addition to the standard scenario of particle acceleration via the Fermi process at the termination shock of the pulsar wind, magnetic reconnection in the wind, at the termination shock and in the Nebula plays a major role in powering the multi-wavelength signatures of PWNe.

  4. Southern hemisphere searches for short period pulsars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Manchester, R.N.

    1984-01-01

    Two searches of the southern sky for short period pulsars are briefly described. The first, made using the 64-m telescope at Parkes, is sensitive to pulsars with periods greater than about 10 ms and the second, made using the Molonglo radio telescope, has sensitivity down to periods of about 1.5 ms. Four pulsars were found in the Parkes survey and none in the Molonglo survey, although analysis of the latter is as yet incomplete. 10 references, 1 figure, 2 tables

  5. Ion Motion in a Plasma Interacting with Strong Magnetic Fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weingarten, A.; Grabowski, C.; Chakrabarti, N.; Maron, Y.; Fruchtmant, A.

    1999-01-01

    The interaction of a plasma with strong magnetic fields takes place in many laboratory experiments and astrophysical plasmas. Applying a strong magnetic field to the plasma may result in plasma displacement, magnetization, or the formation of instabilities. Important phenomena in plasma, such as the energy transport and the momentum balance, take a different form in each case. We study this interaction in a plasma that carries a short-duration (80-ns) current pulse, generating a magnetic field of up to 17 kG. The evolution of the magnetic field, plasma density, ion velocities, and electric fields are determined before and during the current pulse. The dependence of the plasma limiting current on the plasma density and composition are studied and compared to theoretical models based on the different phenomena. When the plasma collisionality is low, three typical velocities should be taken into consideration: the proton and heavier-ion Alfven velocities (v A p and v A h , respectively) and the EMHD magnetic-field penetration velocity into the plasma (v EMHD ). If both Alfven velocities are larger than v EMHD the plasma is pushed ahead of the magnetic piston and the magnetic field energy is dissipated into ion kinetic energy. If v EMHD is the largest of three velocities, the plasma become magnetized and the ions acquire a small axial momentum only. Different ion species may drift in different directions along the current lines. In this case, the magnetic field energy is probably dissipated into electron thermal energy. When vs > V EMHD > vi, as in the case of one of our experiments, ion mass separation occurs. The protons are pushed ahead of the piston while the heavier-ions become magnetized. Since the plasma electrons are unmagnetized they cannot cross the piston, and the heavy ions are probably charge-neutralized by electrons originating from the cathode that are 'born' magnetized

  6. PINT, A Modern Software Package for Pulsar Timing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Jing; Ransom, Scott M.; Demorest, Paul; Ray, Paul S.; Stovall, Kevin; Jenet, Fredrick; Ellis, Justin; van Haasteren, Rutger; Bachetti, Matteo; NANOGrav PINT developer team

    2018-01-01

    Pulsar timing, first developed decades ago, has provided an extremely wide range of knowledge about our universe. It has been responsible for many important discoveries, such as the discovery of the first exoplanet and the orbital period decay of double neutron star systems. Currently pulsar timing is the leading technique for detecting low frequency (about 10^-9 Hertz) gravitational waves (GW) using an array of pulsars as the detectors. To achieve this goal, high precision pulsar timing data, at about nanoseconds level, is required. Most high precision pulsar timing data are analyzed using the widely adopted software TEMPO/TEMPO2. But for a robust and believable GW detection, it is important to have independent software that can cross-check the result. In this poster we present the new generation pulsar timing software PINT. This package will provide a robust system to cross check high-precision timing results, completely independent of TEMPO and TEMPO2. In addition, PINT is designed to be a package that is easy to extend and modify, through use of flexible code architecture and a modern programming language, Python, with modern technology and libraries.

  7. Future X-ray Polarimetry of Relativistic Accelerators: Pulsar Wind Nebulae and Supernova Remnants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Niccolò Bucciantini

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Supernova remnants (SNRs and pulsar wind nebulae (PWNs are among the most significant sources of non-thermal X-rays in the sky, and the best means by which relativistic plasma dynamics and particle acceleration can be investigated. Being strong synchrotron emitters, they are ideal candidates for X-ray polarimetry, and indeed the Crab nebula is up to present the only object where X-ray polarization has been detected with a high level of significance. Future polarimetric measures will likely provide us with crucial information on the level of turbulence that is expected at particle acceleration sites, together with the spatial and temporal coherence of magnetic field geometry, enabling us to set stronger constraints on our acceleration models. PWNs will also allow us to estimate the level of internal dissipation. I will briefly review the current knowledge on the polarization signatures in SNRs and PWNs, and I will illustrate what we can hope to achieve with future missions such as IXPE/XIPE.

  8. Neutron Star Population Dynamics. II. Three-dimensional Space Velocities of Young Pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cordes, J. M.; Chernoff, David F.

    1998-09-01

    be underrepresented (in the observed sample) by a factor ~2.3 owing to selection effects in pulsar surveys. The estimates of scale height and velocity parameters are insensitive to the explicit relation of chronological and spindown ages. A further analysis starting from our inferred velocity distribution allows us to test spindown laws and age estimates. There exist comparably good descriptions of the data involving different combinations of braking index and torque decay timescale. We find that a braking index of 2.5 is favored if torque decay occurs on a timescale of ~3 Myr, while braking indices ~4.5 +/- 0.5 are preferred if there is no torque decay. For the sample as a whole, the most probable chronological ages are typically smaller than conventional spindown ages by factors as large as 2. We have also searched for correlations between three-dimensional speeds of individual pulsars and combinations of spin period and period derivative. None appears to be significant. We argue that correlations identified previously between velocity and (apparent) magnetic moment reflect the different evolutionary paths taken by young, isolated (nonbinary), high-field pulsars and older, low-field pulsars that have undergone accretion-driven spinup. We conclude that any such correlation measures differences in spin and velocity selection in the evolution of the two populations and is not a measure of processes taking place in the core collapse that produces neutron stars in the first place. We assess mechanisms for producing high-velocity neutron stars, including disruption of binary systems by symmetric supernovae and neutrino, baryonic, or electromagnetic rocket effects during or shortly after the supernova. The largest velocities seen (~1600 km s-1), along with the paucity of low-velocity pulsars, suggest that disruption of binaries by symmetric explosions is insufficient. Rocket effects appear to be a necessary and general phenomenon. The required kick amplitudes and the

  9. Gamma-Ray Pulsars: Beaming Evolution, Statistics, and Unidentified EGRET Sources

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yadigaroglu, I.-A.; Romani, Roger W.

    1995-08-01

    We compute the variation of the beaming fraction with the efficiency of high-energy γ-ray production in the outer gap pulsar model of Romani and Yadigaroglu. This allows us to correct the fluxes observed for pulsars in the EGRET band and to derive a simple estimate of the variation of efficiency with age. Integration of this model over the population of young neutron stars gives the expected number of γ-ray pulsars along with their distributions in age and distance. This model also shows that many of the unidentified EGRET plane sources should be pulsars and predicts the γ-ray fluxes of known radio pulsars. The contribution of unresolved pulsars to the background flux in the EGRET band is found to be ˜5%.

  10. A 5.75-millisecond pulsar in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Manchester, R.N.; Lyne, A.G.; Johnston, S.; D'Amico, N.; Lim, J.; Kniffen, D.A.

    1990-01-01

    Millisecond pulsars are generally believed to be old pulsars that have been spun up ('recycled') as a result of accretion of matter from a companion in a low-mass X-ray binary system. As there is a high incidence of such systems in globular clusters, these are good places to search for millisecond pulsars; so far, ten globular-cluster pulsars have been detected unambiguously. Using the Parkes radiotelescope in Australia, we have found a pulsar with a period of 5.75 ms and a dispersion measure of 25 cm -3 pc in the direction of 47 Tucanae. Despite its probable origin as a member of a binary system, timing measurements show that the pulsar is now single. The observed dispersion measure is consistent with the pulsar lying outside the galactic electron layer and within 47 Tucanae; but it is very different from the value of 67 cm -3 pc for the pulsars that were reported recently as being in this globular cluster, and we suggest that the latter pulsars probably do not in fact lie within 47 Tucanae. (author)

  11. Supernova 1987A Interpreted through the SLIP Pulsar Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Middleditch, John

    2010-01-01

    The model of pulsar emission through superluminally induced polarization currents (SLIP) predicts that pulsations produced by such currents, induced by a rotating, magnetized body at many light cylinder radii, as would be the case for a neutron star born within any star of >1.5 solar masses, will drive pulsations close to the axis of rotation. Such highly collimated pulsations (), and later, in less collimated form, the bipolarity of SN 1987A itself. The pulsations and jet interacted with circumstellar material (CM), to produce features observed in the very early light curve which correspond to: 1) the entry of the pulsed beam into the CM; 2) the entry of the 0.95 c particles into the CM; 3) the exit of the pulsed beam from the CM (with contributions in the B and I bands -- the same as later inferred/observed for its 2.14 ms pulsations); and 4) the exit of the fastest particles from the CM. Because of the energy requirements of the jet in these early stages, the spindown required of its pulsar could exceed 1e-5 Hz/s at a rotation rate of 500 Hz. There is no reason to suggest that this mechanism is not universally applicable to all SNe with gaseous remnants remaining, and thus SN 1987A is the Rosetta Stone for 99% of SNe, gamma-ray bursts, and millisecond pulsars. This work was supported in part by the Department of Energy through the Los Alamos Directed Research Grant DR20080085.

  12. Pulsars Magnetospheres

    Science.gov (United States)

    Timokhin, Andrey

    2012-01-01

    Current density determines the plasma flow regime. Cascades are non-stationary. ALWAYS. All flow regimes look different: multiple components (?) Return current regions should have particle accelerating zones in the outer magnetosphere: y-ray pulsars (?) Plasma oscillations in discharges: direct radio emission (?)

  13. On the Spectral Shape of Non-recycled γ-ray Pulsars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chung-Yue Hui

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available More than 100 γ−ray pulsars have been discovered by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. With a significantly enlarged sample size, it is possible to compare the properties of different classes. Radio-quiet (RQ γ−ray pulsars form a distinct population, and various studies have shown that the properties of the RQ population can be intrinsically different from those of radio-loud (RL pulsars. Utilizing these differences, it is possible to further classify the pulsar-like unidentified γ−ray sources into sub-groups. In this study, we suggest the possibility of distinguishing RQ/RL pulsars by their spectral shape. We compute the probabilities of a pulsar to be RQ or RL for a given spectral curvature. This can provide a key to the estimation of the intrinsic fraction of radio-quietness in the γ−ray pulsar population, which can place a tight constraint on the emission geometry.

  14. The pulsar contribution to the diffuse galactic gamma-ray emission

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pohl, M.; Kanbach, G.; Hunter, S.D.

    1997-01-01

    There is active interest in the extent to which unresolved gamma-ray pulsars contribute to the Galactic diffuse emission, and in whether unresolved gamma-ray pulsars could be responsible for the excess of diffuse Galactic emission above 1 GeV that has been observed by EGRET. The diffuse gamma......-ray intensity due to unresolved pulsars is directly linked to the number of objects that should be observed in the EGRET data. We can therefore use our knowledge of the unidentified EGRET sources to constrain model parameters like the pulsar birthrate and their beaming angle. This analysis is based only...... on the properties of the six pulsars that have been identified in the EGRET data and is independent of choice of a pulsar emission model. We find that pulsars contribute very little to the diffuse emission at lower energies, whereas above 1 GeV they can account for 18% of the observed intensity in selected regions...

  15. Non-equilibrium magnetic interactions in strongly correlated systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Secchi, A., E-mail: a.secchi@science.ru.nl [Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6525 AJ Nijmegen (Netherlands); Brener, S.; Lichtenstein, A.I. [Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universitat Hamburg, Jungiusstraße 9, D-20355 Hamburg (Germany); Katsnelson, M.I. [Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6525 AJ Nijmegen (Netherlands)

    2013-06-15

    We formulate a low-energy theory for the magnetic interactions between electrons in the multi-band Hubbard model under non-equilibrium conditions determined by an external time-dependent electric field which simulates laser-induced spin dynamics. We derive expressions for dynamical exchange parameters in terms of non-equilibrium electronic Green functions and self-energies, which can be computed, e.g., with the methods of time-dependent dynamical mean-field theory. Moreover, we find that a correct description of the system requires, in addition to exchange, a new kind of magnetic interaction, that we name twist exchange, which formally resembles Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya coupling, but is not due to spin–orbit, and is actually due to an effective three-spin interaction. Our theory allows the evaluation of the related time-dependent parameters as well. -- Highlights: •We develop a theory for magnetism of strongly correlated systems out of equilibrium. •Our theory is suitable for laser-induced ultrafast magnetization dynamics. •We write time-dependent exchange parameters in terms of electronic Green functions. •We find a new magnetic interaction, a “twist exchange”. •We give general expressions for magnetic noise in itinerant-electron systems.

  16. An algorithm for determining the rotation count of pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freire, Paulo C. C.; Ridolfi, Alessandro

    2018-06-01

    We present here a simple, systematic method for determining the correct global rotation count of a radio pulsar; an essential step for the derivation of an accurate phase-coherent ephemeris. We then build on this method by developing a new algorithm for determining the global rotational count for pulsars with sparse timing data sets. This makes it possible to obtain phase-coherent ephemerides for pulsars for which this has been impossible until now. As an example, we do this for PSR J0024-7205aa, an extremely faint Millisecond pulsar (MSP) recently discovered in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae. This algorithm has the potential to significantly reduce the number of observations and the amount of telescope time needed to follow up on new pulsar discoveries.

  17. Theory of Spin Waves in Strongly Anisotropic Magnets

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lindgård, Per-Anker; Cooke, J. F.

    1976-01-01

    A new infinite-order perturbation approach to the theory of spin waves in strongly anisotropic magnets is introduced. The system is transformed into one with effective two-ion anisotropy and considerably reduced ground-state corrections. A general expression for the spin-wave energy, valid to any...

  18. Optical counterparts of two Fermi millisecond pulsars: PSR J1301+0833 and PSR J1628–3205

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Miao; Halpern, Jules P.; Thorstensen, John R.

    2014-01-01

    Using the 1.3 m and 2.4 m Telescopes of the MDM Observatory, we identified the close companions of two eclipsing millisecond radio pulsars that were discovered by the Green Bank Telescope in searches of Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope sources, and measured their light curves. PSR J1301+0833 is a black widow pulsar in a 6.5 hr orbit whose companion star is strongly heated on the side facing the pulsar. It varies from R = 21.8 to R > 24 around the orbit. PSR J1628–3205 is a 'redback', a nearly Roche-lobe-filling system in a 5.0 hr orbit whose optical modulation in the range 19.0 < R < 19.4 is dominated by strong ellipsoidal variations, indicating a large orbital inclination angle. PSR J1628–3205 also shows evidence for a long-term variation of about 0.2 mag, and an asymmetric temperature distribution possibly due to either off-center heating by the pulsar wind, or large starspots. Modeling of its light curve restricts the inclination angle to i > 55°, the mass of the companion to 0.16 < M c < 0.30 M ☉ , and the effective temperature to 3560 < T eff < 4670 K. As is the case for several redbacks, the companion of PSR J1628–3205 is less dense and hotter than a main-sequence star of the same mass.

  19. Probing the properties of the pulsar wind via studying the dispersive effects in the pulses from the pulsar companion in a double neutron-star binary system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yi, Shu-Xu; Cheng, K.-S.

    2017-12-01

    The velocity and density distribution of e± in the pulsar wind are crucial distinction among magnetosphere models, and contain key parameters determining the high-energy emission of pulsar binaries. In this work, a direct method is proposed, which might probe the properties of the wind from one pulsar in a double-pulsar binary. When the radio signals from the first-formed pulsar travel through the relativistic e± flow in the pulsar wind from the younger companion, the components of different radio frequencies will be dispersed. It will introduce an additional frequency-dependent time-of-arrival delay of pulses, which is function of the orbital phase. In this paper, we formulate the above-mentioned dispersive delay with the properties of the pulsar wind. As examples, we apply the formula to the double-pulsar system PSR J0737-3039A/B and the pulsar-neutron star binary PSR B1913+16. For PSR J0737-3039A/B, the time delay in 300 MHz is ≲ 10 μ s-1 near the superior conjunction, under the optimal pulsar wind parameters, which is approximately half of the current timing accuracy. For PSR B1913+16, with the assumption that the neutron-star companion has a typical spin-down luminosity of 1033 erg s-1, the time delay is as large as 10 - 20 μ s-1 in 300 MHz. The best timing precision of this pulsar is ∼ 5 μ s-1 in 1400 MHz. Therefore, it is possible that we can find this signal in archival data. Otherwise, we can set an upper limit on the spin-down luminosity. Similar analysis can be applied to other 11 known pulsar-neutron star binaries.

  20. Population Studies of Radio and Gamma-Ray Pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harding, Alice K; Gonthier, Peter; Coltisor, Stefan

    2004-01-01

    Rotation-powered pulsars are one of the most promising candidates for at least some of the 40-50 EGRET unidentified gamma-ray sources that lie near the Galactic plane. Since the end of the EGRO mission, the more sensitive Parkes Multibeam radio survey has detected mere than two dozen new radio pulsars in or near unidentified EGRET sources, many of which are young and energetic. These results raise an important question about the nature of radio quiescence in gamma-ray pulsars: is the non-detection of radio emission a matter of beaming or of sensitivity? The answer is very dependent on the geometry of the radio and gamma-ray beams. We present results of a population synthesis of pulsars in the Galaxy, including for the first time the full geometry of the radio and gamma-ray beams. We use a recent empirically derived model of the radio emission and luminosity, and a gamma-ray emission geometry and luminosity derived theoretically from pair cascades in the polar slot gap. The simulation includes characteristics of eight radio surveys of the Princeton catalog plus the Parkes MB survey. Our results indicate that EGRET was capable of detecting several dozen pulsars as point sources, with the ratio of radio-loud to radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsars increasing significantly to about ten to one when the Parkes Survey is included. Polar cap models thus predict that many of the unidentified EGRET sources could be radio-loud gamma- ray pulsars, previously undetected as radio pulsars due to distance, large dispersion and lack of sensitivity. If true, this would make gamma-ray telescopes a potentially more sensitive tool for detecting distant young neutron stars in the Galactic plane.

  1. Pulsar kicks from a dark-matter sterile neutrino

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fuller, George M.; Kusenko, Alexander; Mocioiu, Irina; Pascoli, Silvia

    2003-01-01

    We show that a sterile neutrino with a mass in the 1-20 keV range and a small mixing with the electron neutrino can simultaneously explain the origin of the pulsar motions and the dark matter in the Universe. An asymmetric neutrino emission from a hot nascent neutron star can be the explanation of the observed pulsar velocities. In addition to the pulsar kick mechanism based on resonant neutrino transitions, we point out a new possibility: an asymmetric off-resonant emission of sterile neutrinos. The two cases correspond to different values of the masses and mixing angles. In both cases we identify the ranges of parameters consistent with the pulsar kick, as well as cosmological constraints

  2. Low-frequency polarimetry of the millisecond pulsar PSR1937+214

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stinebring, D R [National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA (USA); Cordes, J M [Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (USA). Dept. of Astronomy; Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (USA). National Astronomy and Ionospheric Center)

    1983-11-24

    Polarization observations are reported at 431 MHz that have 4 ..mu..s time resolution and are free from the effects of interstellar dispersion. The interpulse polarization decreases towards lower frequencies, opposite in trend to the polarization of the main pulse and of most other pulsars. The position angles at the center of the main pulse and interpulse are approximately equal and the position angle gradients have the same sign, supporting a model in which the main pulse and interpulse are emitted above opposite magnetic poles.

  3. Navigation in space by X-ray pulsars

    CERN Document Server

    Emadzadeh, Amir Abbas

    2011-01-01

    This book covers modeling of X-ray pulsar signals and explains how X-ray pulsar signals can be used to solve the relative navigation problem. It formulates the problem, proposes a recursive solution and analyzes different aspects of the navigation system.

  4. Constraining Alternative Theories of Gravity Using Pulsar Timing Arrays

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cornish, Neil J.; O'Beirne, Logan; Taylor, Stephen R.; Yunes, Nicolás

    2018-05-01

    The opening of the gravitational wave window by ground-based laser interferometers has made possible many new tests of gravity, including the first constraints on polarization. It is hoped that, within the next decade, pulsar timing will extend the window by making the first detections in the nanohertz frequency regime. Pulsar timing offers several advantages over ground-based interferometers for constraining the polarization of gravitational waves due to the many projections of the polarization pattern provided by the different lines of sight to the pulsars, and the enhanced response to longitudinal polarizations. Here, we show that existing results from pulsar timing arrays can be used to place stringent limits on the energy density of longitudinal stochastic gravitational waves. However, unambiguously distinguishing these modes from noise will be very difficult due to the large variances in the pulsar-pulsar correlation patterns. Existing upper limits on the power spectrum of pulsar timing residuals imply that the amplitude of vector longitudinal (VL) and scalar longitudinal (SL) modes at frequencies of 1/year are constrained, AVL<4 ×10-16 and ASL<4 ×10-17, while the bounds on the energy density for a scale invariant cosmological background are ΩVLh2<4 ×10-11 and ΩSLh2<3 ×10-13.

  5. PEACE: pulsar evaluation algorithm for candidate extraction - a software package for post-analysis processing of pulsar survey candidates

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lee, K.J.; Stovall, K.; Jenet, F.A.; Martinez, J.; Dartez, L.P.; Mata, A.; Lunsford, G.; Cohen, S.; Biwer, C.M.; Rohr, M.; Flanigan, J.; Walker, A.; Banaszak, S.; Allen, B.; Barr, E.D.; Bhat, N.D.R.; Bogdanov, S.; Brazier, A.; Camilo, F.; Champion, D.J.; Chatterjee, S.; Cordes, J.; Crawford, F.; Deneva, J.; Desvignes, G.; Ferdman, R.D.; Freire, P.; Hessels, J.W.T.; Karuppusamy, R.; Kaspi, V.M.; Knispel, B.; Kramer, M.; Lazarus, P.; Lynch, R.; Lyne, A.; McLaughlin, M.; Ransom, S.; Scholz, P.; Siemens, X.; Spitler, L.; Stairs, I.; Tan, M.; van Leeuwen, J.; Zhu, W.W.

    2013-01-01

    Modern radio pulsar surveys produce a large volume of prospective candidates, the majority of which are polluted by human-created radio frequency interference or other forms of noise. Typically, large numbers of candidates need to be visually inspected in order to determine if they are real pulsars.

  6. Do the enigmatic ``Infrared-Faint Radio Sources'' include pulsars?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hobbs, George; Middelberg, Enno; Norris, Ray; Keith, Michael; Mao, Minnie; Champion, David

    2009-04-01

    The Australia Telescope Large Area Survey (ATLAS) team have surveyed seven square degrees of sky at 1.4GHz. During processing some unexpected infrared-faint radio sources (IFRS sources) were discovered. The nature of these sources is not understood, but it is possible that some of these sources may be pulsars within our own galaxy. We propose to observe the IFRS sources with steep spectral indices using standard search techniques to determine whether or not they are pulsars. A pulsar detection would 1) remove a subset of the IFRS sources from the ATLAS sample so they would not need to be observed with large optical/IR telescopes to find their hosts and 2) be intrinsically interesting as the pulsar would be a millisecond pulsar and/or have an extreme spatial velocity.

  7. Extreme scattering events towards two young pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerr, M.; Coles, W. A.; Ward, C. A.; Johnston, S.; Tuntsov, A. V.; Shannon, R. M.

    2018-03-01

    We have measured the scintillation properties of 151 young, energetic pulsars with the Parkes radio telescope and have identified two extreme scattering events (ESEs). Towards PSR J1057-5226, we discovered a 3 yr span of strengthened scattering during which the variability in flux density and the scintillation bandwidth decreased markedly. The transverse size of the scattering region is ˜23 au, and strong flux density enhancement before and after the ESE may arise from refractive focusing. Long observations reveal scintillation arcs characteristic of interference between rays scattered at large angles, and the clearest arcs appear during the ESE. The arcs suggest scattering by a screen 100-200 pc from the Earth, perhaps ionized filamentary structure associated with the boundary of the local bubble(s). Towards PSR J1740-3015, we observed a `double dip' in the measured flux density similar to ESEs observed towards compact extragalactic radio sources. The observed shape is consistent with that produced by a many-au scale diverging plasma lens with electron density ˜500 cm-3. The continuing ESE is at least 1500 d long, making it the longest detected event to date. These detections, with materially different observational signatures, indicate that well-calibrated pulsar monitoring is a keen tool for ESE detection and interstellar medium (ISM) diagnostics. They illustrate the strong role au-scale non-Kolmogorov density fluctuations and the local ISM structure play in such events and are key to understanding both their intrinsic physics and their impact on other phenomena, particularly fast radio bursts.

  8. MHD Interaction of Pulsar Wind Nebulae with SNRs and the ISM

    OpenAIRE

    van der Swaluw, Eric

    2005-01-01

    In the late 1960s the discovery of the Crab pulsar in its associated supernova remnant, launched a new field in supernova remnant research: the study of pulsar-driven or plerionic supernova remnants. In these type of remnants, the relativistic wind emitted by the pulsar, blows a pulsar wind nebula into the interior of its supernova remnant. Now, more then forty years after the discovery of the Crab pulsar, there are more then fifty plerionic supernova remnants known, due to the ever-increasin...

  9. Neutron Stars and the Discovery of Pulsars.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenstein, George

    1985-01-01

    Part one recounted the story of the discovery of pulsars and examined the Crab Nebula, supernovae, and neutron stars. This part (experts from the book "Frozen Star") shows how an understanding of the nature of pulsars allowed astronomers to tie these together. (JN)

  10. Pulsar perimetry in the diagnosis of early glaucoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeppieri, Marco; Brusini, Paolo; Parisi, Lucia; Johnson, Chris A; Sampaolesi, Roberto; Salvetat, Maria Letizia

    2010-01-01

    To assess the ability of Pulsar perimetry (Pulsar) in detecting early glaucomatous visual field (VF) damage in comparison with Frequency Doubling Technology (FDT), Scanning Laser Polarimetry (SLP, GDx VCC), and Heidelberg Retina Tomography (HRT). Prospective observational cross-sectional case study. This multicenter study included: 87 ocular hypertensives (OHT); 67 glaucomatous optic neuropathy (GON) patients; 75 primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients; and 90 normals. All patients underwent standard automated perimetry (SAP) HFA 30-2, Pulsar T30W, FDT N-30, HRT II, and GDx VCC. Area under Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves (AROCs) for discriminating between healthy and glaucomatous eyes and agreement among instruments were determined. The best parameters for Pulsar, FDT, HRT, and GDx were, respectively: loss variance square root; no. of areas with PPulsar (AROC, 0.90) appeared comparable with FDT (0.89) and significantly better than HRT (0.82) and GDx (0.79). For GON, Pulsar ability (0.74) was higher than GDx (0.69) and lower than FDT (0.80) and HRT (0.83). The agreement among instruments ranged from 0.12 to 0.56. Pulsar test duration was significantly shorter than SAP and FDT (PPulsar T30W test is a rapid and easy perimetric method, showing higher sensitivity than SAP in detecting early glaucomatous VF loss. Its diagnostic ability is good for detecting early perimetric POAG eyes and fair for GON eyes. Pulsar performance was comparable with FDT, HRT, and GDx, even if the agreement between instruments was poor to fair. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Probing Millisecond Pulsar Emission Geometry Using Light Curves From the Fermi Large Area Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Venter, Christo; Harding, Alice; Guillemot, L.

    2009-01-01

    An interesting new high-energy pulsar sub-population is emerging following early discoveries of gamma-ray millisecond pulsars (MSPs) by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). We present results from 3D emission modeling, including the Special Relativistic effects of aberration and time-of-flight delays and also rotational sweepback of 13-field lines, in the geometric context of polar cap (PC), slot gap (SG), outer gap (OG), and two-pole caustic (TPC) pulsar models. In contrast to the general belief that these very old, rapidly-rotating neutron stars (NSs) should have largely pair-starved magnetospheres due to the absence of significant pair production, we find that most of the light curves are best fit by SG and OG models, which indicates the presence of narrow accelerating gaps limited by robust pair production -- even in these pulsars with very low spin-down luminosities. The gamma-ray pulse shapes and relative phase lags with respect to the radio pulses point to high-altitude emission being dominant for all geometries. We also find exclusive differentiation of the current gamma-ray MSP population into two MSP sub-classes: light curve shapes and lags across wavebands impose either pair-starved PC (PSPC) or SG / OG-type geometries. In the first case, the radio pulse has a small lag with respect to the single gamma-ray pulse, while the (first) gamma-ray peak usually trails the radio by a large phase offset in the latter case. Finally, we find that the flux correction factor as a function of magnetic inclination and observer angles is typically of order unity for all models. Our calculation of light curves and flux correction factor f(_, _, P) for the case of MSPs is therefore complementary to the "ATLAS paper" of Watters et al. for younger pulsars.

  12. A glitch in the Crab pulsar (PSR B0531+21)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaw, Benjamin; Lyne, Andrew; Bassa, Cees; Breton, Rene; Jordan, Christine; Keith, Michael; Mickaliger, Mitchell B.; Stappers, Benjamin; Weltevrede, Patrick

    2018-05-01

    We have detected a glitch in the Crab pulsar, B0531+21, on 2018-04-29. The Crab pulsar is regularly monitored with the 42-ft and Lovell telescopes at the Jodrell Bank Observatory as part of the pulsar timing programme.

  13. FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS OF THE VELA PULSAR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.; Bartelt, J.; Bechtol, K.; Berenji, B.; Blandford, R. D.; Bloom, E. D.; Bogart, J. R.; Atwood, W. B.; Bagagli, R.; Baldini, L.; Bellardi, F.; Bellazzini, R.; Ballet, J.; Band, D. L.; Barbiellini, G.; Baring, M. G.; Bastieri, D.; Bisello, D.; Baughman, B. M.

    2009-01-01

    The Vela pulsar is the brightest persistent source in the GeV sky and thus is the traditional first target for new γ-ray observatories. We report here on initial Fermi Large Area Telescope observations during verification phase pointed exposure and early sky survey scanning. We have used the Vela signal to verify Fermi timing and angular resolution. The high-quality pulse profile, with some 32,400 pulsed photons at E ≥ 0.03 GeV, shows new features, including pulse structure as fine as 0.3 ms and a distinct third peak, which shifts in phase with energy. We examine the high-energy behavior of the pulsed emission; initial spectra suggest a phase-averaged power-law index of Γ = 1.51 +0.05 -0.04 with an exponential cutoff at E c = 2.9 ± 0.1 GeV. Spectral fits with generalized cutoffs of the form e -(E/E c ) b require b ≤ 1, which is inconsistent with magnetic pair attenuation, and thus favor outer-magnetosphere emission models. Finally, we report on upper limits to any unpulsed component, as might be associated with a surrounding pulsar wind nebula.

  14. The High Time Resolution Universe surveys for pulsars and fast transients

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keith, Michael J.

    2013-03-01

    The High Time Resolution Universe survey for pulsars and transients is the first truly all-sky pulsar survey, taking place at the Parkes Radio Telescope in Australia and the Effelsberg Radio Telescope in Germany. Utilising multibeam receivers with custom built all-digital recorders the survey targets the fastest millisecond pulsars and radio transients on timescales of 64 μs to a few seconds. The new multibeam digital filter-bank system at has a factor of eight improvement in frequency resolution over previous Parkes multibeam surveys, allowing us to probe further into the Galactic plane for short duration signals. The survey is split into low, mid and high Galactic latitude regions. The mid-latitude portion of the southern hemisphere survey is now completed, discovering 107 previously unknown pulsars, including 26 millisecond pulsars. To date, the total number of discoveries in the combined survey is 135 and 29 MSPs These discoveries include the first magnetar to be discovered by it's radio emission, unusual low-mass binaries, gamma-ray pulsars and pulsars suitable for pulsar timing array experiments.

  15. Angular Momentum Transfer and Fractional Moment of Inertia in Pulsar Glitches

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eya, I. O.; Urama, J. O.; Chukwude, A. E.

    2017-01-01

    We use the Jodrell Bank Observatory glitch database containing 472 glitches from 165 pulsars to investigate the angular momentum transfer during rotational glitches in pulsars. Our emphasis is on pulsars with at least five glitches, of which there are 26 that exhibit 261 glitches in total. This paper identifies four pulsars in which the angular momentum transfer, after many glitches, is almost linear with time. The Lilliefore test on the cumulative distribution of glitch spin-up sizes in these glitching pulsars shows that glitch sizes in 12 pulsars are normally distributed, suggesting that their glitches originate from the same momentum reservoir. In addition, the distribution of the fractional moment of inertia (i.e., the ratio of the moment of inertia of neutron star components that are involved in the glitch process) have a single mode, unlike the distribution of fractional glitch size (Δ ν / ν ), which is usually bimodal. The mean fractional moment of inertia in the glitching pulsars we sampled has a very weak correlation with the pulsar spin properties, thereby supporting a neutron star interior mechanism for the glitch phenomenon.

  16. Angular Momentum Transfer and Fractional Moment of Inertia in Pulsar Glitches

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Eya, I. O.; Urama, J. O.; Chukwude, A. E., E-mail: innocent.eya@unn.edu.ng, E-mail: innocent.eya@gmail.com [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State (Nigeria)

    2017-05-01

    We use the Jodrell Bank Observatory glitch database containing 472 glitches from 165 pulsars to investigate the angular momentum transfer during rotational glitches in pulsars. Our emphasis is on pulsars with at least five glitches, of which there are 26 that exhibit 261 glitches in total. This paper identifies four pulsars in which the angular momentum transfer, after many glitches, is almost linear with time. The Lilliefore test on the cumulative distribution of glitch spin-up sizes in these glitching pulsars shows that glitch sizes in 12 pulsars are normally distributed, suggesting that their glitches originate from the same momentum reservoir. In addition, the distribution of the fractional moment of inertia (i.e., the ratio of the moment of inertia of neutron star components that are involved in the glitch process) have a single mode, unlike the distribution of fractional glitch size (Δ ν / ν ), which is usually bimodal. The mean fractional moment of inertia in the glitching pulsars we sampled has a very weak correlation with the pulsar spin properties, thereby supporting a neutron star interior mechanism for the glitch phenomenon.

  17. Spin-down of radio millisecond pulsars at genesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tauris, Thomas M

    2012-02-03

    Millisecond pulsars are old neutron stars that have been spun up to high rotational frequencies via accretion of mass from a binary companion star. An important issue for understanding the physics of the early spin evolution of millisecond pulsars is the impact of the expanding magnetosphere during the terminal stages of the mass-transfer process. Here, I report binary stellar evolution calculations that show that the braking torque acting on a neutron star, when the companion star decouples from its Roche lobe, is able to dissipate >50% of the rotational energy of the pulsar. This effect may explain the apparent difference in observed spin distributions between x-ray and radio millisecond pulsars and help account for the noticeable age discrepancy with their young white dwarf companions.

  18. On the origin of cyclotron lines in the spectra of X-ray pulsars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mushtukov A. A.

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Cyclotron resonance scattering features are observed in the spectra of some X-ray pulsars and show significant changes in the line energy with the pulsar luminosity. In a case of bright sources, the line centroid energy is anti-correlated with the luminosity. Such a behaviour is often associated with the onset and growth of the accretion column, which is believed to be the origin of the observed emission and the cyclotron lines. However, this scenario inevitably implies large gradient of the magnetic field strength within the line-forming region, and it makes the formation of the observed line-like features problematic. Moreover, the observed variation of the cyclotron line energy is much smaller than could be anticipated for the corresponding luminosity changes. We argue that a more physically realistic situation is that the cyclotron line forms when the radiation emitted by the accretion column is reflected from the neutron star surface. The idea is based on the facts that a substantial part of column luminosity is intercepted by the neutron star surface and the reflected radiation should contain absorption features. The reflection model is developed and applied to explain the observed variations of the cyclotron line energy in a bright X-ray pulsar V 0332+53 over a wide range of luminosities.

  19. SEARCH FOR VERY HIGH ENERGY GAMMA-RAY EMISSION FROM PULSAR-PULSAR WIND NEBULA SYSTEMS WITH THE MAGIC TELESCOPE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderhub, H.; Biland, A.; Antonelli, L. A.; Antoranz, P.; Balestra, S.; Barrio, J. A.; Bose, D.; Backes, M.; Becker, J. K.; Baixeras, C.; Bastieri, D.; Bock, R. K.; Gonzalez, J. Becerra; Bednarek, W.; Berger, K.; Bernardini, E.; Bonnoli, G.; Bordas, P.; Bosch-Ramon, V.; Tridon, D. Borla

    2010-01-01

    The MAGIC collaboration has searched for high-energy gamma-ray emission of some of the most promising pulsar candidates above an energy threshold of 50 GeV, an energy not reachable up to now by other ground-based instruments. Neither pulsed nor steady gamma-ray emission has been observed at energies of 100 GeV from the classical radio pulsars PSR J0205+6449 and PSR J2229+6114 (and their nebulae 3C58 and Boomerang, respectively) and the millisecond pulsar PSR J0218+4232. Here, we present the flux upper limits for these sources and discuss their implications in the context of current model predictions.

  20. Comment on "Characterizing the population of pulsars in the Galactic bulge with the Fermi large area telescope" [arXiv:1705.00009v1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bartels, Richard; Hooper, Dan; Linden, Tim; Mishra-Sharma, Siddharth; Rodd, Nicholas L.; Safdi, Benjamin R.; Slatyer, Tracy R.

    2018-06-01

    The Fermi-LAT Collaboration recently presented a new catalog of gamma-ray sources located within the 40 ° × 40 ° region around the Galactic Center Ajello et al. (2017) - the Second Fermi Inner Galaxy (2FIG) catalog. Utilizing this catalog, they analyzed models for the spatial distribution and luminosity function of sources with a pulsar-like gamma-ray spectrum. Ajello et al. (2017) v1 also claimed to detect, in addition to a disk-like population of pulsar-like sources, an approximately 7 σ preference for an additional centrally concentrated population of pulsar-like sources, which they referred to as a "Galactic Bulge" population. Such a population would be of great interest, as it would support a pulsar interpretation of the gamma-ray excess that has long been observed in this region. In an effort to further explore the implications of this new source catalog, we attempted to reproduce the results presented by the Fermi-LAT Collaboration, but failed to do so. Mimicking as closely as possible the analysis techniques undertaken in Ajello et al. (2017), we instead find that our likelihood analysis favors a very different spatial distribution and luminosity function for these sources. Most notably, our results do not exhibit a strong preference for a "Galactic Bulge" population of pulsars. Furthermore, we find that masking the regions immediately surrounding each of the 2FIG pulsar candidates does not significantly impact the spectrum or intensity of the Galactic Center gamma-ray excess. Although these results refute the claim of strong evidence for a centrally concentrated pulsar population presented in Ajello et al. (2017), they neither rule out nor provide support for the possibility that the Galactic Center excess is generated by a population of low-luminosity and currently largely unobserved pulsars. In a spirit of maximal openness and transparency, we have made our analysis code available at https://github.com/bsafdi/GCE-2FIG.

  1. Three Millisecond Pulsars in Fermi LAT Unassociated Bright Sources

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ransom, S. M.; Ray, P. S.; Camilo, F.; Roberts, M. S. E.; Celik, O.; Wolff, M. T.; Cheung, C. C.; Kerr, M.; Pennucci, T.; DeCesar, M. E.; hide

    2010-01-01

    We searched for radio pulsars in 25 of the non-variable, unassociated sources in the Fermi LAT Bright Source List with the Green Bank Telescope at 820 MHz. We report the discovery of three radio and gamma-ray millisecond pulsar (MSPs) from a high Galactic latitude subset of these sources. All of the pulsars are in binary systems, which would have made them virtually impossible to detect in blind gamma-ray pulsation searches. They seem to be relatively normal, nearby (pulsars are power law in nature with exponential cutoffs at a few Ge V, as has been found with most other pulsars. The MSPs have all been detected as X-ray point sources. Their soft X-ray luminosities of approx 10(exp 30) - 10(exp 31) erg/s are typical of the rare radio MSPs seen in X-rays.

  2. Pulsar Wind Bubble Blowout from a Supernova

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Blondin, John M. [Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8202 (United States); Chevalier, Roger A., E-mail: blondin@ncsu.edu [Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 400325, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4325 (United States)

    2017-08-20

    For pulsars born in supernovae, the expansion of the shocked pulsar wind nebula is initially in the freely expanding ejecta of the supernova. While the nebula is in the inner flat part of the ejecta density profile, the swept-up, accelerating shell is subject to the Rayleigh–Taylor instability. We carried out two- and three-dimensional simulations showing that the instability gives rise to filamentary structure during this initial phase but does not greatly change the dynamics of the expanding shell. The flow is effectively self-similar. If the shell is powered into the outer steep part of the density profile, the shell is subject to a robust Rayleigh–Taylor instability in which the shell is fragmented and the shocked pulsar wind breaks out through the shell. The flow is not self-similar in this phase. For a wind nebula to reach this phase requires that the deposited pulsar energy be greater than the supernova energy, or that the initial pulsar period be in the ms range for a typical 10{sup 51} erg supernova. These conditions are satisfied by some magnetar models for Type I superluminous supernovae. We also consider the Crab Nebula, which may be associated with a low energy supernova for which this scenario applies.

  3. Fermi Detection of a Luminous gamma-ray Pulsar in a Globular Cluster

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freire, P. C. C.; Abdo, A. A.; Ajello, M.; Allafort, A.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G.; Bastieri, D.; Bechtol, K.; Bellazzini, R.; Blandford, R. D.; hide

    2011-01-01

    We report the Fermi Large Area Telescope detection of gamma -ray (>100 mega-electron volts) pulsations from pulsar J1823--3021A in the globular cluster NGC 6624 with high significance (approx 7 sigma). Its gamma-ray luminosity L (sub 3) = (8:4 +/- 1:6) X 10(exp 34) ergs per second, is the highest observed for any millisecond pulsar (MSP) to date, and it accounts for most of the cluster emission. The non-detection of the cluster in the off-pulse phase implies that its contains < 32 gamma-ray MSPs, not approx 100 as previously estimated. The gamma -ray luminosity indicates that the unusually large rate of change of its period is caused by its intrinsic spin-down. This implies that J1823--3021A has the largest magnetic field and is the youngest MSP ever detected, and that such anomalous objects might be forming at rates comparable to those of the more normal MSPs.

  4. Fermi detection of a luminous γ-ray pulsar in a globular cluster.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-11-25

    We report on the Fermi Large Area Telescope's detection of γ-ray (>100 mega-electron volts) pulsations from pulsar J1823-3021A in the globular cluster NGC 6624 with high significance (~7 σ). Its γ-ray luminosity, L(γ) = (8.4 ± 1.6) × 10(34) ergs per second, is the highest observed for any millisecond pulsar (MSP) to date, and it accounts for most of the cluster emission. The nondetection of the cluster in the off-pulse phase implies that it contains <32 γ-ray MSPs, not ~100 as previously estimated. The γ-ray luminosity indicates that the unusually large rate of change of its period is caused by its intrinsic spin-down. This implies that J1823-3021A has the largest magnetic field and is the youngest MSP ever detected and that such anomalous objects might be forming at rates comparable to those of the more normal MSPs.

  5. Pulsar Emission Spectrum

    OpenAIRE

    Gruzinov, Andrei

    2013-01-01

    Emission spectrum is calculated for a weak axisymmetric pulsar. Also calculated are the observed spectrum, efficiency, and the observed efficiency. The underlying flow of electrons and positrons turns out to be curiously intricate.

  6. Kubo formulas for relativistic fluids in strong magnetic fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang Xuguang; Sedrakian, Armen; Rischke, Dirk H.

    2011-01-01

    Magnetohydrodynamics of strongly magnetized relativistic fluids is derived in the ideal and dissipative cases, taking into account the breaking of spatial symmetries by a quantizing magnetic field. A complete set of transport coefficients, consistent with the Curie and Onsager principles, is derived for thermal conduction, as well as shear and bulk viscosities. It is shown that in the most general case the dissipative function contains five shear viscosities, two bulk viscosities, and three thermal conductivity coefficients. We use Zubarev's non-equilibrium statistical operator method to relate these transport coefficients to correlation functions of the equilibrium theory. The desired relations emerge at linear order in the expansion of the non-equilibrium statistical operator with respect to the gradients of relevant statistical parameters (temperature, chemical potential, and velocity.) The transport coefficients are cast in a form that can be conveniently computed using equilibrium (imaginary-time) infrared Green's functions defined with respect to the equilibrium statistical operator. - Highlights: → Strong magnetic fields can make charged fluids behave anisotropically. → Magnetohydrodynamics for these fluids contains 5 shear, 2 bulk viscosities, and 3 heat conductivities. → We derive Kubo formulas for these transport coefficients.

  7. Confinining properties of QCD in strong magnetic backgrounds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bonati Claudio

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Strong magnetic backgrounds are known to modify QCD properties at a nonperturbative level. We discuss recent lattice results, obtained for Nf = 2 + 1 QCD with physical quark masses, concerning in particular the modifications and the anisotropies induced at the level of the static quark-antiquark potential, both at zero and finite temperature.

  8. Binary and Millisecond Pulsars at the New Millennium

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lorimer Duncan R.

    2001-01-01

    Full Text Available We review the properties and applications of binary and millisecond pulsars. Our knowledge of these exciting objects has greatly increased in recent years, mainly due to successful surveys which have brought the known pulsar population to over 1300. There are now 56 binary and millisecond pulsars in the Galactic disk and a further 47 in globular clusters. This review is concerned primarily with the results and spin-offs from these surveys which are of particular interest to the relativity community.

  9. The Crab pulsar at VHE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zanin Roberta

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The last six years have witnessed major revisions of our knowledge about the Crab Pulsar. The consensus scenario for the origin of the high-energy pulsed emission has been challenged with the discovery of a very-high-energy power law tail extending up to ~400 GeV, above the expected spectral cut off at a few GeV. Now, new measurements obtained by the MAGIC collaboration extend the energy spectrum of the Crab Pulsar even further, on the TeV regime. Above ~400 GeV the pulsed emission comes mainly from the interpulse, which becomes more prominent with energy due to a harder spectral index. These findings require γ -ray production via inverse Compton scattering close to or beyond the light cylinder radius by an underlying particle population with Lorentz factors greater than 5 × 106. We will present those new results and discuss the implications in our current knowledge concerning pulsar environments.

  10. The pulsar era

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hewish, A.

    1986-01-01

    The discovery of pulsars in 1967 initiated one of the most effervescent phases of astronomy since World War II and opened up a number of important new fields of research. In looking back at the history of this event it is useful to focus on three aspects. These are the prehistory because it reveals a fascinating relationship between theory and observation concerning an entirely new phenomenon - the neutron star; the discovery itself, which was totally unexpected, to see if anything can be learned which might have a bearing on serendipitous discoveries in the future. For example, would pulsars have been found if the sky survey had been recorded digitally and analysed by a computer; the astronomical impact of the discovery as seen eighteen years after the initial excitement. (author)

  11. Pulsar timing arrays: the promise of gravitational wave detection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lommen, Andrea N

    2015-12-01

    We describe the history, methods, tools, and challenges of using pulsars to detect gravitational waves. Pulsars act as celestial clocks detecting gravitational perturbations in space-time at wavelengths of light-years. The field is poised to make its first detection of nanohertz gravitational waves in the next 10 years. Controversies remain over how far we can reduce the noise in the pulsars, how many pulsars should be in the array, what kind of source we will detect first, and how we can best accommodate our large bandwidth systems. We conclude by considering the important question of how to plan for a post-detection era, beyond the first detection of gravitational waves.

  12. COBRA: a Bayesian approach to pulsar searching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lentati, L.; Champion, D. J.; Kramer, M.; Barr, E.; Torne, P.

    2018-02-01

    We introduce COBRA, a GPU-accelerated Bayesian analysis package for performing pulsar searching, that uses candidates from traditional search techniques to set the prior used for the periodicity of the source, and performs a blind search in all remaining parameters. COBRA incorporates models for both isolated and accelerated systems, as well as both Keplerian and relativistic binaries, and exploits pulse phase information to combine search epochs coherently, over time, frequency or across multiple telescopes. We demonstrate the efficacy of our approach in a series of simulations that challenge typical search techniques, including highly aliased signals, and relativistic binary systems. In the most extreme case, we simulate an 8 h observation containing 24 orbits of a pulsar in a binary with a 30 M⊙ companion. Even in this scenario we show that we can build up from an initial low-significance candidate, to fully recovering the signal. We also apply the method to survey data of three pulsars from the globular cluster 47Tuc: PSRs J0024-7204D, J0023-7203J and J0024-7204R. This final pulsar is in a 1.6 h binary, the shortest of any pulsar in 47Tuc, and additionally shows significant scintillation. By allowing the amplitude of the source to vary as a function of time, however, we show that we are able to obtain optimal combinations of such noisy data. We also demonstrate the ability of COBRA to perform high-precision pulsar timing directly on the single pulse survey data, and obtain a 95 per cent upper limit on the eccentricity of PSR J0024-7204R of εb < 0.0007.

  13. Statistical Study of Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections with Strong Magnetic Fields

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphy, Matthew E.

    Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) with strong magnetic fields (B ) are typically associated with significant Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events, high solar wind speed and solar flare events. Successful prediction of the arrival time of a CME at Earth is required to maximize the time available for satellite, infrastructure, and space travel programs to take protective action against the coming flux of high-energy particles. It is known that the magnetic field strength of a CME is linked to the strength of a geomagnetic storm on Earth. Unfortunately, the correlations between strong magnetic field CMEs from the entire sun (especially from the far side or non-Earth facing side of the sun) to SEP and flare events, solar source regions and other relevant solar variables are not well known. New correlation studies using an artificial intelligence engine (Eureqa) were performed to study CME events with magnetic field strength readings over 30 nanoteslas (nT) from January 2010 to October 17, 2014. This thesis presents the results of this study, validates Eureqa to obtain previously published results, and presents previously unknown functional relationships between solar source magnetic field data, CME initial speed and the CME magnetic field. These new results enable the development of more accurate CME magnetic field predictions and should help scientists develop better forecasts thereby helping to prevent damage to humanity's space and Earth assets.

  14. Critical point in the QCD phase diagram for extremely strong background magnetic fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Endrödi, Gergely

    2015-01-01

    Lattice simulations have demonstrated that a background (electro)magnetic field reduces the chiral/deconfinement transition temperature of quantum chromodynamics for eB<1 GeV 2 . On the level of observables, this reduction manifests itself in an enhancement of the Polyakov loop and in a suppression of the light quark condensates (inverse magnetic catalysis) in the transition region. In this paper, we report on lattice simulations of 1+1+1-flavor QCD at an unprecedentedly high value of the magnetic field eB=3.25 GeV 2 . Based on the behavior of various observables, it is shown that even at this extremely strong field, inverse magnetic catalysis prevails and the transition, albeit becoming sharper, remains an analytic crossover. In addition, we develop an algorithm to directly simulate the asymptotically strong magnetic field limit of QCD. We find strong evidence for a first-order deconfinement phase transition in this limiting theory, implying the presence of a critical point in the QCD phase diagram. Based on the available lattice data, we estimate the location of the critical point.

  15. Nanomagnets with high shape anisotropy and strong crystalline anisotropy: perspectives on magnetic force microscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Campanella, H; Llobet, J; Esteve, J; Plaza, J A; Jaafar, M; Vázquez, M; Asenjo, A; Del Real, R P

    2011-01-01

    We report on a new approach for magnetic imaging, highly sensitive even in the presence of external, strong magnetic fields. Based on FIB-assisted fabricated high-aspect-ratio rare-earth nanomagnets, we produce groundbreaking magnetic force tips with hard magnetic character where we combine a high aspect ratio (shape anisotropy) together with strong crystalline anisotropy (rare-earth-based alloys). Rare-earth hard nanomagnets are then FIB-integrated to silicon microcantilevers as highly sharpened tips for high-field magnetic imaging applications. Force resolution and domain reversing and recovery capabilities are at least one order of magnitude better than for conventional magnetic tips. This work opens new, pioneering research fields on the surface magnetization process of nanostructures based either on relatively hard magnetic materials—used in magnetic storage media—or on materials like superparamagnetic particles, ferro/antiferromagnetic structures or paramagnetic materials.

  16. Electrons in a strong magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Itzykson, C.

    1985-05-01

    We first describe the average one-particle spectrum in the presence of a strong magnetic field together with random impurities for a Gaussian distribution, and generalized using a supersymmetric method. We then study the effect of Coulomb interactions on an electron gas in a strong field, within the approximation of a projection on the lowest Landau level. At maximal density (or filling fraction ν equal to unity) the quantum mechanical problem is equivalent to a soluble classical model for a two-dimensional plasma. As ν decreases, more states come into play. Laughlin has guessed the structure of the ground state and its low lying excitations for certain rational values of the filling fraction. A complete proof is however missing, nor is it clear what happens as ν becomes so small that a ''crystalline'' structure becomes favoured. Our presentation shows a link with functions occurring in combinatorics and analytic number theory, which seems not to have been fully exploited

  17. Hyperfast pulsars as the remnants of massive stars ejected from young star clusters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gvaramadze, Vasilii V.; Gualandris, Alessia; Portegies Zwart, Simon

    2008-04-01

    Recent proper motion and parallax measurements for the pulsar PSR B1508+55 indicate a transverse velocity of ~1100kms-1, which exceeds earlier measurements for any neutron star. The spin-down characteristics of PSR B1508+55 are typical for a non-recycled pulsar, which implies that the velocity of the pulsar cannot have originated from the second supernova disruption of a massive binary system. The high velocity of PSR B1508+55 can be accounted for by assuming that it received a kick at birth or that the neutron star was accelerated after its formation in the supernova explosion. We propose an explanation for the origin of hyperfast neutron stars based on the hypothesis that they could be the remnants of a symmetric supernova explosion of a high-velocity massive star which attained its peculiar velocity (similar to that of the pulsar) in the course of a strong dynamical three- or four-body encounter in the core of dense young star cluster. To check this hypothesis, we investigated three dynamical processes involving close encounters between: (i) two hard massive binaries, (ii) a hard binary and an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) and (iii) a single stars and a hard binary IMBH. We find that main-sequence O-type stars cannot be ejected from young massive star clusters with peculiar velocities high enough to explain the origin of hyperfast neutron stars, but lower mass main-sequence stars or the stripped helium cores of massive stars could be accelerated to hypervelocities. Our explanation for the origin of hyperfast pulsars requires a very dense stellar environment of the order of 106- 107starspc-3. Although such high densities may exist during the core collapse of young massive star clusters, we caution that they have never been observed.

  18. Search for optical millisecond pulsars in globular clusters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Middleditch, J.H.; Imamura, J.N.; Steiman-Cameron, T.Y.

    1988-01-01

    A search for millisecond optical pulsars in several bright, compact globular clusters was conducted. The sample included M28, and the X-ray clusters 47 Tuc, NGC 6441, NGC 6624, M22, and M15. The globular cluster M28 contains the recently discovered 327 Hz radio pulsar. Upper limits of 4 sigma to pulsed emission of (1-20) solar luminosities were found for the globular clusters tested, and 0.3 solar luminosity for the M28 pulsar for frequencies up to 500 Hz. 8 references

  19. TIMING OF 29 PULSARS DISCOVERED IN THE PALFA SURVEY

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lyne, A. G.; Stappers, B. W. [Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophys., School of Phys. and Astr., Univ. of Manchester, Manch., M13 9PL (United Kingdom); Bogdanov, S. [Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia Univ., New York, NY 10027 (United States); Ferdman, R. D.; Kaspi, V. M.; Lynch, R. [Dept. of Physics and McGill Space Institute, McGill Univ., Montreal, QC H3A 2T8 (Canada); Freire, P. C. C.; Lazarus, P. [Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn (Germany); Knispel, B.; Allen, B. [Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik, D-30167 Hannover (Germany); Brazier, A.; Chatterjee, S.; Cordes, J. M. [Dept. of Astronomy, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States); Camilo, F. [SKA South Africa, Pinelands, 7405 (South Africa); Cardoso, F. [Physics Dept., Univ. of Wisconsin—Milwaukee, 3135 N. Maryland Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53211 (United States); Crawford, F. [Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA 17604-3003 (United States); Deneva, J. S. [National Research Council, resident at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375 (United States); Hessels, J. W. T.; Leeuwen, J. van [ASTRON, The Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Postbus 2, 7990 AA, Dwingeloo (Netherlands); Jenet, F. A. [Center for Gravitational Wave Astronomy, Univ. Texas—Brownsville, TX 78520 (United States); and others

    2017-01-10

    We report on the discovery and timing observations of 29 distant long-period pulsars found in the ongoing Arecibo L-band Feed Array pulsar survey. Following discovery with the Arecibo Telescope, confirmation and timing observations of these pulsars over several years at Jodrell Bank Observatory have yielded high-precision positions and measurements of rotation and radiation properties. We have used multi-frequency data to measure the interstellar scattering properties of some of these pulsars. Most of the pulsars have properties that mirror those of the previously known pulsar population, although four show some notable characteristics. PSRs J1907+0631 and J1925+1720 are young and are associated with supernova remnants or plerionic nebulae: J1907+0631 lies close to the center of SNR G40.5−0.5, while J1925+1720 is coincident with a high-energy Fermi γ -ray source. One pulsar, J1932+1500, is in a surprisingly eccentric, 199 day binary orbit with a companion having a minimum mass of 0.33 M {sub ⊙}. Several of the sources exhibit timing noise, and two, PSRs J0611+1436 and J1907+0631, have both suffered large glitches, but with very different post-glitch rotation properties. In particular, the rotational period of PSR J0611+1436 will not recover to its pre-glitch value for about 12 years, a far greater recovery timescale than seen following any other large glitches.

  20. Interaction between Electron Holes in a Strongly Magnetized Plasma

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lynov, Jens-Peter; Michelsen, Poul; Pécseli, Hans

    1980-01-01

    The interaction between electron holes in a strongly magnetized, plasma-filled waveguide is investigated by means of computer simulation. Two holes may or may not coalesce, depending on their amplitudes and velocities. The interaction between holes and Trivelpiece-Gould solitons is demonstrated...

  1. On the theory of magnetic field generation by relativistically strong laser radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berezhiani, V.I.; Shatashvili, N.L.; Mahajan, S.M.

    1996-07-01

    The authors consider the interaction of subpicosecond relativistically strong short laser pulses with an underdense cold unmagnetized electron plasma. It is shown that the strong plasma inhomogeneity caused by laser pulses results in the generation of a low frequency (quasistatic) magnetic field. Since the electron density distribution is determined completely by the pump wave intensity, the generated magnetic field is negligibly small for nonrelativistic laser pulses but increases rapidly in the ultrarelativistic case. Due to the possibility of electron cavitation (complete expulsion of electrons from the central region) for narrow and intense beams, the increase in the generated magnetic field slows down as the beam intensity is increased. The structure of the magnetic field closely resembles that of the field produced by a solenoid; the field is maximum and uniform in the cavitation region, then it falls, changes polarity and vanishes. In extremely dense plasmas, highly intense laser pulses in the self-channeling regime can generate magnetic fields ∼ 100 Mg and greater

  2. The LOFAR pilot surveys for pulsars and fast radio transient

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Coenen, T.; van Leeuwen, J.; Hessels, J.W.T.; et al., [Unknown; Alexov, A.; van der Horst, A.; Law, C.; Rowlinson, A.; Swinbank, J.

    2014-01-01

    We have conducted two pilot surveys for radio pulsars and fast transients with the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) around 140 MHz and here report on the first low-frequency fast-radio burst limit and the discovery of two new pulsars. The first survey, the LOFAR Pilot Pulsar Survey (LPPS), observed a

  3. The LOFAR pilot surveys for pulsars and fast radio transients

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Coenen, T.J.; van Leeuwen, J.; Hessels, J.W.T.; Stappers, B.W.; Kondratiev, V.I.; Alexov, A.; Breton, R.P.; Bilous, A.; Cooper, S.; Falcke, H.; Fallows, R.A.; Gajjar, V.; Griessmeier, J.M.; Hassall, T.E.; Bentum, Marinus Jan

    2014-01-01

    We have conducted two pilot surveys for radio pulsars and fast transients with the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) around 140 MHz and here report on the first low-frequency fast-radio burst limit and the discovery of two new pulsars. The first survey, the LOFAR Pilot Pulsar Survey (LPPS), observed a

  4. LONG-TERM X-RAY MONITORING OF THE YOUNG PULSAR PSR B1509–58

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Livingstone, Margaret A.; Kaspi, Victoria M.

    2011-01-01

    It has long been thought that the pulsed X-ray properties of rotation-powered pulsars are stable on long timescales. However, long-term, systematic studies of individual sources have been lacking. Furthermore, dramatic X-ray variability has now been observed from two pulsars having inferred sub-critical dipole magnetic fields. Here we present an analysis of the long-term pulsed X-ray properties of the young, energetic pulsar PSR B1509–58 using data from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. We measured the 2-50 keV pulsed flux for 14.7 yr of X-ray observations and found that it is consistent with being constant on all relevant timescales, and place a 3σ upper limit on day-to-week variability of <28%. In addition, we searched for magnetar-like X-ray bursts in all observations and found none, which we use to constrain the measurable burst rate to less than one per 750 ks of observations. We also searched for variability in the pulse profile and found that it is consistent with being stable on timescales of days to decades. This supports the hypothesis that X-ray properties of rotation-powered X-ray pulsars can be stable on decade-long timescales. In addition, we extend the existing timing solution by 7.1 yr to a total of 28.4 yr and report updated values of the braking index, n = 2.832 ± 0.003, and the second braking index, m = 17.6 ± 1.9.

  5. Pion Production from Proton Synchrotron Radiation under Strong Magnetic Field in Relativistic Quantum Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maruyama Tomoyuki

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available We study pion production from proton synchrotron radiation in the presence of strong magnetic fields by using the exact proton propagator in a strong magnetic field and explicitly including the anomalous magnetic moment. Results in this exact quantum-field approach do not agree with those obtained in the semi-classical approach. Furthermore, we also find that the anomalous magnetic moment of the proton greatly enhances the production rate about by two orders of magnitude, and that the polar angle of an emitted pion is the same as that of an initial proton.

  6. SU-E-T-227: Could the Alpha/Beta Ratio Change in a Strong Magnetic Field?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pang, G [Odette Cancer Centre, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto M4N 3M5, Canada and Sunnybrook Research Institute and Departments of Radiation Oncology and Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto (Canada)

    2015-06-15

    Purpose: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is being integrated into radiotherapy delivery for MRI-guided radiotherapy. The presence of a strong magnetic field from a MRI machine during radiotherapy delivery presents a new challenge since the trajectories of electrons liberated by ionizing radiation in patients are strongly dependent on the applied magnetic field. The purpose of this work is to explore the potential effect of a strong magnetic field on the α/β ratio, an important radiobiological parameter in radiotherapy. Methods: Based on the theory of dual radiation action, the α/β ratio can be expressed by an integral of the product of two microdosimetry quantities γ(x) and t(x), where γ(x) is the probability that two energy transfers, a distance x apart, results in a lesion, and t(x) is the proximity function, which is the energy-weighted point-pair distribution of distances between energy transfer points in a track. The quantity t(x) depends on the applied magnetic field. An analytical approach has been used to derive a formula that can be used to calculate the α/β ratio in an extremely strong magnetic field. Results: The α/β ratio has been evaluated in the special case when the applied magnetic field approaches infinity, which gives the upper limit of the potential change of the α/β ratio due to the presence of a strong magnetic field. For V79 Chinese hamster cells it has been shown that the α/β ratio could be increased by 2.90 times for Pd-103, 2.97 times for I-125 and about 2.3 times for Co-60 sources when the applied magnetic field approaches infinity. Conclusion: It has been shown theoretically that the α/β ratio can change in a strong magnetic field, and there could be up to a nearly three-fold increase in the α/β ratio, depending on the strength of the applied magnetic field, the cell type and the radiation used.

  7. PSR J1740-3052: a pulsar with a massive companion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stairs, I. H.; Manchester, R. N.; Lyne, A. G.; Kaspi, V. M.; Camilo, F.; Bell, J. F.; D'Amico, N.; Kramer, M.; Crawford, F.; Morris, D. J.; Possenti, A.; McKay, N. P. F.; Lumsden, S. L.; Tacconi-Garman, L. E.; Cannon, R. D.; Hambly, N. C.; Wood, P. R.

    2001-08-01

    We report on the discovery of a binary pulsar, PSR J1740-3052, during the Parkes multibeam survey. Timing observations of the 570-ms pulsar at Jodrell Bank and Parkes show that it is young, with a characteristic age of 350kyr, and is in a 231-d, highly eccentric orbit with a companion whose mass exceeds 11Msolar. An accurate position for the pulsar was obtained using the Australia Telescope Compact Array. Near-infrared 2.2-μm observations made with the telescopes at the Siding Spring observatory reveal a late-type star coincident with the pulsar position. However, we do not believe that this star is the companion of the pulsar, because a typical star of this spectral type and required mass would extend beyond the orbit of the pulsar. Furthermore, the measured advance of periastron of the pulsar suggests a more compact companion, for example, a main-sequence star with radius only a few times that of the Sun. Such a companion is also more consistent with the small dispersion measure variations seen near periastron. Although we cannot conclusively rule out a black hole companion, we believe that the companion is probably an early B star, making the system similar to the binary PSR J0045-7319.

  8. A high-frequency survey of the southern Galactic plane for pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnston, Simon; Lyne, A. G.; Manchester, R. N.; Kniffen, D. A.; D'Amico, N.; Lim, J.; Ashworth, M.

    1992-01-01

    Results of an HF survey designed to detect young, distant, and short-period pulsars are presented. The survey detected a total of 100 pulsars, 46 of which were previously unknown. The periods of the newly discovered pulsars range between 47 ms and 2.5 ms. One of the new discoveries, PSR 1259-63, is a member of a long-period binary system. At least three of the pulsars have ages less than 30,000 yr, bringing the total number of such pulsars to 12. The majority of the new discoveries are distant objects with high dispersion measures, which are difficult to detect at low frequencies. This demonstrates that the survey has reduced the severe selection effects of pulse scattering, high Galactic background temperature, and dispersion broadening, which hamper the detection of such pulsars at low radio frequencies. The pulsar distribution in the southern Galaxy is found to extend much further from the Galactic center than that in the north, probably due to two prominent spiral arms in the southern Galaxy.

  9. Understanding the spectral and timing behaviour of a newly discovered transient X-ray pulsar Swift J0243.6+6124

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaisawal, Gaurava K.; Naik, Sachindra; Chenevez, Jérôme

    2018-03-01

    We present the results obtained from timing and spectral studies of the newly discovered accreting X-ray binary pulsar Swift J0243.6+6124 using Nuclear Spectroscopy Telescope Array observation in 2017 October at a flux level of ˜280 mCrab. Pulsations at 9.854 23(5) s were detected in the X-ray light curves of the pulsar. Pulse profiles of the pulsar were found to be strongly energy dependent. A broad profile at lower energies was found to evolve into a double-peaked profile in ≥ 30 keV. The 3-79 keV continuum spectrum of the pulsar was well described with a negative and positive exponential cutoff or high-energy cutoff power-law models modified with a hot blackbody at ˜3 keV. An iron emission line was also detected at 6.4 keV in the source spectrum. We did not find any signature of cyclotron absorption line in our study. Results obtained from phase-resolved and time-resolved spectroscopy are discussed in the paper.

  10. A new look at the origin of the 6.67 hr period X-ray pulsar 1E 161348-5055

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ikhsanov, N. R.; Kim, V. Y.; Beskrovnaya, N. G.; Pustil'nik, L. A.

    2013-07-01

    The point X-ray source 1E 161348-5055 is observed to display pulsations with the period 6.67 hr and |dot{P}| ≤1.6 ×10^{-9} s s^{-1}. It is associated with the supernova remnant RCW 103 and is widely believed to be a ˜2000 yr old neutron star. Observations give no evidence for the star to be a member of a binary system. Nevertheless, it resembles an accretion-powered pulsar with the magnetospheric radius ˜3000 km and the mass-accretion rate ˜ 10^{14} g s^{-1}. This situation could be described in terms of accretion from a (residual) fossil disk established from the material falling back towards the star after its birth. However, current fall-back accretion scenarios encounter major difficulties explaining an extremely long spin period of the young neutron star. We show that the problems can be avoided if the accreting material is magnetized. The star in this case is surrounded by a fossil magnetic slab in which the material is confined by the magnetic field of the accretion flow itself. We find that the surface magnetic field of the neutron star within this scenario is ˜1012 G and that a presence of ≳10^{-7} M_{⊙} magnetic slab would be sufficient to explain the origin and current state of the pulsar.

  11. Bound-state β decay of a neutron in a strong magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kouzakov, Konstantin A.; Studenikin, Alexander I.

    2005-01-01

    The β decay of a neutron into a bound (pe - ) state and an antineutrino in the presence of a strong uniform magnetic field (B > or approx. 10 13 G) is considered. The β decay process is treated within the framework of the standard model of weak interactions. A Bethe-Salpeter formalism is employed for description of the bound (pe - ) system in a strong magnetic field. For the field strengths 10 13 18 G the estimate for the ratio of the bound-state decay rate w b and the usual (continuum-state) decay rate w c is derived. It is found that in such strong magnetic fields w b /w c ∼0.1-0.4. This is in contrast to the field-free case, where w b /w c ≅4.2x10 -6 [J. N. Bahcall, Phys. Rev. 124, 495 (1961); L. L. Nemenov, Sov. J. Nucl. Phys. 15, 582 (1972); X. Song, J. Phys. G: Nucl. Phys. 13, 1023 (1987)]. The dependence of the ratio w b /w c on the magnetic field strength B exhibits a logarithmiclike behavior. The obtained results can be important for applications in astrophysics and cosmology

  12. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism strongly influenced by non-magnetic cover layers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zafar, K.; Audehm, P.; Schütz, G.; Goering, E.; Pathak, M.; Chetry, K.B.; LeClair, P.R.; Gupta, A.

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: •Energy filtering gives much larger sampling depth and escape length as expected. •XMCD sum rules could be dramatically altered by this effect. •Strong enhanced effective escape length for buried layers. •A “universal curve” model gives semi quantitative understanding. •Buried layers are more sensitive to self-absorption phenomena. -- Abstract: Total electron yield (TEY) is the dominating measurement mode in soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), where the sampling depth is generally assumed to be quite small and constant, and the related self-absorption or saturation phenomena are about to be negligible at normal incidence conditions. From the OK edge to CrL 2,3 edge XAS ratio we determined a strong change in the effective electron escape length between an uncovered and a RuO 2 covered CrO 2 sample. This effect has been explained by a simple electron energy filtering model, providing a semi quantitative description. In addition, this simple model can quantitatively describe the unexpected reduced and positive CrL 2,3 X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) signal of a RuO 2 /CrO 2 bilayer, while previous results have identified a clear negative Cr magnetization at the RuO 2 /CrO 2 interface. In our case this escape length enhancement has strong impact on the XMCD sum rule results and in general it provides much deeper sampling depth, but also larger self-absorption or saturation effects

  13. NuSTAR Discovery Of A Young, Energetic Pulsar Associated with the Luminous Gamma-Ray Source HESS J1640-465

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gotthelf, E. V.; Tomsick, J. A.; Halpern, J. P.; Gelfand, J. D.; Harrison, F. A.; Boggs, S. E.; Christensen, F. E.; Craig, W. W.; Hailey, J. C.; Kaspi, V. M.; hide

    2014-01-01

    We report the discovery of a 206 ms pulsar associated with the TeV gamme-ray source HESS J1640-465 using the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) X-ray observatory. PSR J1640-4631 lies within the shelltype supernova remnant (SNR) G338.3-0.0, and coincides with an X-ray point source and putative pulsar wind nebula (PWN) previously identified in XMM-Newton and Chandra images. It is spinning down rapidly with period derivative P = 9.758(44) × 10(exp -13), yielding a spin-down luminosity E = 4.4 × 10(exp 36) erg s(exp -1), characteristic age tau(sub c) if and only if P/2 P = 3350 yr, and surface dipole magnetic field strength B(sub s) = 1.4×10(exp 13) G. For the measured distance of 12 kpc to G338.3-0.0, the 0.2-10 TeV luminosity of HESS J1640-465 is 6% of the pulsar's present E. The Fermi source 1FHL J1640.5-4634 is marginally coincident with PSR J1640-4631, but we find no gamma-ray pulsations in a search using five years of Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) data. The pulsar energetics support an evolutionary PWN model for the broadband spectrum of HESS J1640-465, provided that the pulsar's braking index is n approximately equal to 2, and that its initial spin period was P(sub 0) approximately 15 ms.

  14. Spin-polarized states in neutron matter in a strong magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Isayev, A. A.; Yang, J.

    2009-01-01

    Spin-polarized states in neutron matter in strong magnetic fields up to 10 18 G are considered in the model with the Skyrme effective interaction. By analyzing the self-consistent equations at zero temperature, it is shown that a thermodynamically stable branch of solutions for the spin-polarization parameter as a function of density corresponds to the negative spin polarization when the majority of neutron spins are oriented opposite to the direction of the magnetic field. Besides, beginning from some threshold density dependent on magnetic field strength, the self-consistent equations also have two other branches of solutions for the spin-polarization parameter with the positive spin polarization. The free energy corresponding to one of these branches turns out to be very close to that of the thermodynamically preferable branch. As a consequence, in a strong magnetic field, the state with the positive spin polarization can be realized as a metastable state in the high-density region in neutron matter, which, under decreasing density, at some threshold density changes to a thermodynamically stable state with the negative spin polarization.

  15. Positronium-photon and photon-positronium quantum transitions in strong magnetic fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leinson, L.B.; Oraevskii, V.N.; Radio-Wave Propagation, Academy of Sciences of the USSR)

    1985-01-01

    The wave functions and energy levels of bound electron-positron pairs in a strong magnetic field H>>α 2 H 0 , where H 0 = m 2 0 c 3 /eh = 4.4 x 10 13 G and α = e 2 /hc, are found in the nonrelativistic approximation. The probabilities of one-photon annihilation of positronium and of the inverse transition from a resonance photon to a positronium atom are calculated. It is shown that in a sufficiently strong magnetic field H∼H 0 , when the probability of one-photon annihilation is considerably greater than the probability of two-photon annihilation of positronium, the lifetime of the decay photon with respect to the inverse transformation to a positronium atom is so small that the decay photon cannot propagate freely in the magnetic field. Therefore, the lifetime of the positronium atom in the case H∼H 0 is determined by the two-photon decay. The possibility of the decay γ→γ 1 +γ 2 via intermediate positronium states in a magnetic field with curved field lines is discussed

  16. Pulsars and cosmic rays in the dense supernova shells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berezinsky, V.S.; Prilutsky, O.F.

    1977-01-01

    Cosmic rays (c.r.) injected by a young pulsar in the dense supernova shell are considered. The maintenance of the Galactic c.r. pool by pulsar production is shown to have a difficulty: adiabatic energy losses of c.r. in the expanding shell demand a high initial c.r. luminosity of pulsar, which results in too high flux of γ-radiation produced through π 0 -decays (in excess over diffuse γ-ray background). (author)

  17. Planets around pulsars - Implications for planetary formation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bodenheimer, Peter

    1993-01-01

    Data on planets around pulsars are summarized, and different models intended to explain the formation mechanism are described. Both theoretical and observational evidence suggest that very special circumstances are required for the formation of planetary systems around pulsars, namely, the prior presence of a millisecond pulsar with a close binary companion, probably a low mass main-sequence star. It is concluded that the discovery of two planets around PSR 1257+12 is important for better understanding the problems of dynamics and stellar evolution. The process of planetary formation should be learned through intensive studies of the properties of disks near young objects and application of techniques for detection of planets around main-sequence solar-type stars.

  18. Observations of Pulsars with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parent, D.

    2009-11-01

    The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on Fermi, launched on 2008 June 11, is a space telescope to explore the high energy γ-ray universe. The instrument covers the energy range from 20 MeV to 300 GeV with greatly improved sensitivity and ability to localize γ-ray point sources. It detects γ-rays through conversion to electron-positron pairs and measurement of their direction in a tracker and their energy in a calorimeter. This thesis presents the γ-ray light curves and the phase-resolved spectral measurements of radio-loud gamma-ray pulsars detected by the LAT. The measurement of pulsar spectral parameters (i.e. integrated flux, spectral index, and energy cut-off) depends on the instrument response functions (IRFs). A method developed for the on-orbit validation of the effective area is presented using the Vela pulsar. The cut efficiencies between the real data and the simulated data are compared at each stage of the background rejection. The results are then propagated to the IRFs, allowing the systematic uncertainties of the spectral parameters to be estimated. The last part of this thesis presents the discoveries, using both the LAT observations and the radio and X ephemeris, of new individual γ-ray pulsars such as PSR J0205+6449, and the Vela-like pulsars J2229+6114 and J1048-5832. Timing and spectral analysis are investigated in order to constrain the γ-ray emission model. In addition, we discuss the properties of a large population of γ-ray pulsars detected by the LAT, including normal pulsars, and millisecond pulsars. (author)

  19. Magnetic properties of strongly asymmetric nuclear matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kutschera, M.; Wojcik, W.

    1988-01-01

    We investigate stability of neutron matter containing a small proton admixture with respect to spin fluctuations. We establish conditions under which strongly asymmetric nuclear matter could acquire a permanent magnetization. It is shown that if the protons are localized, the system becomes unstable to spin fluctuations for arbitrarily weak proton-neutron spin interactions. For non-localized protons there exists a threshold value of the spin interaction above which the system can develop a spontaneous polarization. 12 refs., 2 figs. (author)

  20. Rapidly rotating pulsar radiation in vacuum nonlinear electrodynamics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Denisov, V.I.; Pimenov, A.B.; Sokolov, V.A. [Moscow State University, Physics Department, Moscow (Russian Federation); Denisova, I.P. [Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research University), Moscow (Russian Federation)

    2016-11-15

    In this paper we investigate the corrections of vacuum nonlinear electrodynamics on rapidly rotating pulsar radiation and spin-down in the perturbative QED approach (post-Maxwellian approximation). An analytical expression for the pulsar's radiation intensity has been obtained and analyzed. (orig.)

  1. Ghost supernova remnants : evidence for pulsar reactivation in dusty molecular clouds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heintzmann, H.; Novello, M.

    1983-01-01

    An evidence in favour of a new model for pulsar evolution is discussed, according to which pulsars may only function as regularly pulsed emitters if an accretion disc provides a sufficiently continuous return-current to the radio pulsar (neutron star). (L.C.) [pt

  2. Statistical mechanics of a plasma in a very strong magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Psimopoulos, M.

    1980-03-01

    Using the guiding centre model the behaviour of a plasma in the presence of a very strong constant magnetic field has been studied. The validity of the model is discussed and the conditions concerning the strength of the magnetic field are derived. Both the equilibrium and the non-equilibrium aspects of the problem are considered. (U.K.)

  3. Binary pulsar PSR 1718-19 contains a stripped main-sequence turn-off star

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zwitter, T.

    1993-05-01

    Lyne et al. (1993) have recently announced the discovery of a 1-second globular cluster pulsar, 1718-19, in a 6.2-hour binary system which is embedded in a cloud of material originating from the companion star. However the incident flux of the pulsar's radiation on the companion is too low to ablate it and a main sequence companion is too small to fill its Roche lobe. Here I argue that the companion is a stripped turn-off star of 0.2-0.4 solar masses (M sun ) and with approx. 0.1M sun helium core. It has approx. 1.8-times larger radius than a main sequence star of equal mass. Its position in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram overlaps that of a ∼ 0.65M sun main-sequence star. The evolutionary state of the companion and the highly magnetized slowly rotating neutron star place the system on the verge of the low mass X-ray binary phase. (author). 19 refs, 2 figs

  4. GMRT Discovery of A Millisecond Pulsar in a Very Eccentric Binary System

    OpenAIRE

    Freire, Paulo C.; Gupta, Yashwant; Ransom, Scott M.; Ishwara-Chandra, C. H.

    2004-01-01

    We report the discovery of the binary millisecond pulsar J0514-4002A, which is the first known pulsar in the globular cluster NGC 1851 and the first pulsar discovered using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT). The pulsar has a rotational period of 4.99 ms, an orbital period of 18.8 days, and the most eccentric pulsar orbit yet measured (e = 0.89). The companion has a minimum mass of 0.9 M_sun and its nature is presently unclear. After accreting matter from a low-mass companion star whi...

  5. Nonthermal Particle Acceleration in 3D Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection in Pair Plasma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Werner, Gregory R.; Uzdensky, Dmitri A., E-mail: Greg.Werner@colorado.edu [Center for Integrated Plasma Studies, Physics Department, University of Colorado, 390 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309 (United States)

    2017-07-10

    As a fundamental process converting magnetic to plasma energy in high-energy astrophysical plasmas, relativistic magnetic reconnection is a leading explanation for the acceleration of particles to the ultrarelativistic energies that are necessary to power nonthermal emission (especially X-rays and gamma-rays) in pulsar magnetospheres and pulsar wind nebulae, coronae and jets of accreting black holes, and gamma-ray bursts. An important objective of plasma astrophysics is therefore the characterization of nonthermal particle acceleration (NTPA) effected by reconnection. Reconnection-powered NTPA has been demonstrated over a wide range of physical conditions using large 2D kinetic simulations. However, its robustness in realistic 3D reconnection—in particular, whether the 3D relativistic drift-kink instability (RDKI) disrupts NTPA—has not been systematically investigated, although pioneering 3D simulations have observed NTPA in isolated cases. Here, we present the first comprehensive study of NTPA in 3D relativistic reconnection in collisionless electron–positron plasmas, characterizing NTPA as the strength of 3D effects is varied systematically via the length in the third dimension and the strength of the guide magnetic field. We find that, while the RDKI prominently perturbs 3D reconnecting current sheets, it does not suppress particle acceleration, even for zero guide field; fully 3D reconnection robustly and efficiently produces nonthermal power-law particle spectra closely resembling those obtained in 2D. This finding provides strong support for reconnection as the key mechanism powering high-energy flares in various astrophysical systems. We also show that strong guide fields significantly inhibit NTPA, slowing reconnection and limiting the energy available for plasma energization, yielding steeper and shorter power-law spectra.

  6. The SUrvey for Pulsars and Extragalactic Radio Bursts - I. Survey description and overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keane, E. F.; Barr, E. D.; Jameson, A.; Morello, V.; Caleb, M.; Bhandari, S.; Petroff, E.; Possenti, A.; Burgay, M.; Tiburzi, C.; Bailes, M.; Bhat, N. D. R.; Burke-Spolaor, S.; Eatough, R. P.; Flynn, C.; Jankowski, F.; Johnston, S.; Kramer, M.; Levin, L.; Ng, C.; van Straten, W.; Krishnan, V. Venkatraman

    2018-01-01

    We describe the Survey for Pulsars and Extragalactic Radio Bursts (SUPERB), an ongoing pulsar and fast transient survey using the Parkes radio telescope. SUPERB involves real-time acceleration searches for pulsars and single-pulse searches for pulsars and fast radio bursts. We report on the observational set-up, data analysis, multiwavelength/messenger connections, survey sensitivities to pulsars and fast radio bursts and the impact of radio frequency interference. We further report on the first 10 pulsars discovered in the project. Among these is PSR J1306-40, a millisecond pulsar in a binary system where it appears to be eclipsed for a large fraction of the orbit. PSR J1421-4407 is another binary millisecond pulsar; its orbital period is 30.7 d. This orbital period is in a range where only highly eccentric binaries are known, and expected by theory; despite this its orbit has an eccentricity of 10-5.

  7. Detecting stochastic backgrounds of gravitational waves with pulsar timing arrays

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siemens, Xavier

    2016-03-01

    For the past decade the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) has been using the Green Bank Telescope and the Arecibo Observatory to monitor millisecond pulsars. NANOGrav, along with two other international collaborations, the European Pulsar Timing Array and the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array in Australia, form a consortium of consortia: the International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA). The goal of the IPTA is to directly detect low-frequency gravitational waves which cause small changes to the times of arrival of radio pulses from millisecond pulsars. In this talk I will discuss the work of NANOGrav and the IPTA, as well as our sensitivity to stochastic backgrounds of gravitational waves. I will show that a detection of the background produced by supermassive black hole binaries is possible by the end of the decade. Supported by the NANOGrav Physics Frontiers Center.

  8. Pulsar glitches in a strangeon star model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lai, X. Y.; Yun, C. A.; Lu, J. G.; Lü, G. L.; Wang, Z. J.; Xu, R. X.

    2018-05-01

    Pulsar-like compact stars provide us a unique laboratory to explore properties of dense matter at supra-nuclear densities. One of the models for pulsar-like stars is that they are totally composed of "strangeons", and in this paper, we studied the pulsar glitches in a strangeon star model. Strangeon stars would be solidified during cooling, and the solid stars would be natural to have glitches as the result of starquakes. Based on the starquake model established before, we proposed that when the starquake occurs, the inner motion of the star which changes the moment of inertia and has impact on the glitch sizes, is divided into plastic flow and elastic motion. The plastic flow which is induced in the fractured part of the outer layer, would move tangentially to redistribute the matter of the star and would be hard to recover. The elastic motion, on the other hand, changes its shape and would recover significantly. Under this scenario, we could understand the behaviors of glitches without significant energy releasing, including the Crab and the Vela pulsars, in an uniform model. We derive the recovery coefficient as a function of glitch size, as well as the time interval between two successive glitches as the function of the released stress. Our results show consistency with observational data under reasonable ranges of parameters. The implications on the oblateness of the Crab and the Vela pulsars are discussed.

  9. On The Origin Of Hyper-Fast Pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gvaramadze, V. V.

    2006-08-01

    Recent proper motion and parallax measurements for the pulsar PSR B1508+55 gave the highest (transverse) velocity (~1100 km/s) ever measured for a neutron star (Chatterjee et al. 2005). The spin-down characteristics of PSR B1508+55 (typical of non-recycled pulsars) imply that the high velocity of this pulsar cannot be solely due to disruption of a tight massive binary system. A possible way to account for the high velocity of PSR B1508+55 is to assume that at least a part of this velocity is due to a natal or post-natal kick (Chatterjee et al. 2005). We propose an alternative explanation for the origin of hyper-fast pulsars. We suggest that PSR B1508+55 could be the remnant of a (symmetric) supernova explosion of the helium core of a massive star expelled at high velocity from the dense core of a young massive stellar cluster by an intermediate-mass (binary) black hole. The maximum peculiar velocity of the helium core is limited by the parabolic velocity on its surface and could be as large as ~2000 km/s. Thus, one can account not only for the high velocity measured for PSR B1508+55, but also for the even higher velocity of ~1600 km/s inferred for the pulsar PSR B2224+65 (Guitar; Chatterjee & Cordes 2004) on the basis of its proper motion and the dispersion measure distance estimate.

  10. Discovery of a cyclotron absorption line in the spectrum of the binary X-ray pulsar 4U 1538 - 52 observed by Ginga

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, George W.; Woo, Jonathan W.; Nagase, Fumiaki; Makishima, Kazuo; Sakao, Taro

    1990-01-01

    A cyclotron absorption line near 20 keV has been found in the spectrum of the massive eclipsing binary X-ray pulsar 4U 1538 - 52 in observations with the Ginga observatory. The line is detected throughout the 529 s pulse cycle with a variable equivalent width that has its maximum value during the smaller peak of the two-peak pulse profile. It is found that the profile of the pulse and the phase-dependence of the cyclotron line can be explained qualitatively by a pulsar model based on recent theoretical results on the properties of pencil beams emitted by accretion-heated slabs of magnetized plasma at the magnetic poles of a neutron star. The indicated field at the surface of the neutron star is 1.7 (1 + z) x 10 to the 12th G, where z is the gravitational redshift.

  11. Diffusion of charged particles in strong large-scale random and regular magnetic fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mel'nikov, Yu.P.

    2000-01-01

    The nonlinear collision integral for the Green's function averaged over a random magnetic field is transformed using an iteration procedure taking account of the strong random scattering of particles on the correlation length of the random magnetic field. Under this transformation the regular magnetic field is assumed to be uniform at distances of the order of the correlation length. The single-particle Green's functions of the scattered particles in the presence of a regular magnetic field are investigated. The transport coefficients are calculated taking account of the broadening of the cyclotron and Cherenkov resonances as a result of strong random scattering. The mean-free path lengths parallel and perpendicular to the regular magnetic field are found for a power-law spectrum of the random field. The analytical results obtained are compared with the experimental data on the transport ranges of solar and galactic cosmic rays in the interplanetary magnetic field. As a result, the conditions for the propagation of cosmic rays in the interplanetary space and a more accurate idea of the structure of the interplanetary magnetic field are determined

  12. Nonperturbative QED vacuum birefringence

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Denisov, V.I.; Dolgaya, E.E.; Sokolov, V.A. [Physics Department, Moscow State University,Moscow, 119991 (Russian Federation)

    2017-05-19

    In this paper we represent nonperturbative calculation for one-loop Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) vacuum birefringence in presence of strong magnetic field. The dispersion relations for electromagnetic wave propagating in strong magnetic field point to retention of vacuum birefringence even in case when the field strength greatly exceeds Sauter-Schwinger limit. This gives a possibility to extend some predictions of perturbative QED such as electromagnetic waves delay in pulsars neighbourhood or wave polarization state changing (tested in PVLAS) to arbitrary magnetic field values. Such expansion is especially important in astrophysics because magnetic fields of some pulsars and magnetars greatly exceed quantum magnetic field limit, so the estimates of perturbative QED effects in this case require clarification.

  13. Asymmetric supernova explosions and the origin of binary pulsars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sutantyo, W.

    1978-01-01

    The author investigates the effect of asymmetric supernova explosions on the orbital parameters of binary systems with a compact component. Such explosions are related to the origin of binary pulsars. The degree of asymmetry of the explosion is represented by the kick velocity gained by the exploding star due to the asymmetric mass ejection. The required kick velocity to produce the observed parameters of the binary pulsar PSR 1913 + 16 should be larger than approximately 80 km s -1 if the mass of the exploding star is larger than approximately 4 solar masses. The mean survival probability of the binary system ( ) is examined for various degrees of asymmetry in the explosion. The rare occurrence of a binary pulsar does not neccessarily imply that such a probability is low since not all pulsars have originated in a binary system. Assuming the birth rate of pulsars by Taylor and Manchester (1977), it is derived that would be as high as 0.25. Such values of can be obtained if the mass of the exploding stars is, in general, not large (< approximately 10 solar masses). (Auth.)

  14. The Emerging Population of Pulsar Wind Nebulae in Hard X-rays

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mattana, F.; Götz, D.; Terrier, R.; Renaud, M.; Falanga, M.

    2009-05-01

    The hard X-ray synchrotron emission from Pulsar Wind Nebulae probes energetic particles, closely related to the pulsar injection power at the present time. INTEGRAL has disclosed the yet poorly known population of hard X-ray pulsar/PWN systems. We summarize the properties of the class, with emphasys on the first hard X-ray bow-shock (CTB 80 powered by PSR B1951+32), and highlight some prospects for the study of Pulsar Wind Nebulae with the Simbol-X mission.

  15. Characterizing the nature of subpulse drifting in pulsars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Basu, Rahul; Mitra, Dipanjan

    2018-04-01

    We report a detailed study of subpulse drifting in four long-period pulsars. These pulsars were observed in the Meterwavelength Single-pulse Polarimetric Emission Survey and the presence of phase-modulated subpulse drifting was reported in each case. We carried out longer duration and more sensitive observations lasting 7000-12 000 periods in the frequency range 306-339 MHz. The drifting features were characterized in great detail, including the phase variations across the pulse window. For two pulsars, J0820-1350 and J1720-2933, the phases changed steadily across the pulse window. The pulsar J1034-3224 has five components. The leading component was very weak and was barely detectable in our single-pulse observations. The four trailing components showed subpulse drifting. The phase variations changed in alternate components with a reversal in the sign of the gradient. This phenomenon is known as bi-drifting. The pulsar J1555-3134 showed two distinct peak frequencies of comparable strengths in the fluctuation spectrum. The two peaks did not appear to be harmonically related and were most likely a result of different physical processes. Additionally, the long observations enabled us to explore the temporal variations of the drifting features. The subpulse drifting was largely constant with time but small fluctuations around a mean value were seen.

  16. A Potential Cyclotron Resonant Scattering Feature in the Ultraluminous X-Ray Source Pulsar NGC 300 ULX1 Seen by NuSTAR and XMM-Newton

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walton, D. J.; Bachetti, M.; Fürst, F.; Barret, D.; Brightman, M.; Fabian, A. C.; Grefenstette, B. W.; Harrison, F. A.; Heida, M.; Kennea, J.; Kosec, P.; Lau, R. M.; Madsen, K. K.; Middleton, M. J.; Pinto, C.; Steiner, J. F.; Webb, N.

    2018-04-01

    Based on phase-resolved broadband spectroscopy using XMM-Newton and NuSTAR, we report on a potential cyclotron resonant scattering feature (CRSF) at E ∼ 13 keV in the pulsed spectrum of the recently discovered ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) pulsar NGC 300 ULX1. If this interpretation is correct, the implied magnetic field of the central neutron star is B ∼ 1012 G (assuming scattering by electrons), similar to that estimated from the observed spin-up of the star, and also similar to known Galactic X-ray pulsars. We discuss the implications of this result for the connection between NGC 300 ULX1 and the other known ULX pulsars, particularly in light of the recent discovery of a likely proton cyclotron line in another ULX, M51 ULX-8.

  17. Second Generation Dutch Pulsar Machine - PuMa-II

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Karuppusamy, Ramesh; Stappers, Ben; Slump, Cornelis H.; van der Klis, Michiel

    2004-01-01

    The Second Generation Pulsar Machine (PuMa- II) is under development for the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope. This is a summary of th e system design and architecture. We show that state of the art pulsar research is possible with commercially available hardware components. This approach

  18. On the nature of pulsars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Radhakrishnan, V.

    1982-01-01

    Although neutron stars were predicted nearly half a century ago, their radiations have been received and studied for just over a decade. Called pulsars because of the pulsating nature of their signals, they exhibit a wide variety of periodic phenomena in their radio emission. This article begins with a historical introduction followed by a short review of their main characteristics. The major models proposed to explain these properties are then outlined. Finally, some very recent developments which promise to throw new light on the mechanism of pulsars and their relationship to supernova remnants are briefly described and discussed. (author)

  19. Pulsar scintillation patterns and strangelets

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pérez-García, M. Ángeles, E-mail: mperezga@usal.es [Department of Fundamental Physics and IUFFyM, University of Salamanca, Plaza de la Merced s/n, 37008 Salamanca (Spain); Silk, Joseph, E-mail: silk@iap.fr [Institut d' Astrophysique, UMR 7095, CNRS, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 98bis Blvd Arago, 75014 Paris (France); Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Homewood Campus, Baltimore MD 21218 (United States); Beecroft Institute of Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Pen, Ue-Li, E-mail: pen@cita.utoronto.ca [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 0N M5S 3H8 (Canada)

    2013-12-18

    We propose that interstellar extreme scattering events, usually observed as pulsar scintillations, may be caused by a coherent agent rather than the usually assumed turbulence of H{sub 2} clouds. We find that the penetration of a flux of ionizing, positively charged strangelets or quark nuggets into a dense interstellar hydrogen cloud may produce ionization trails. Depending on the specific nature and energy of the incoming droplets, diffusive propagation or even capture in the cloud are possible. As a result, enhanced electron densities may form and constitute a lens-like scattering screen for radio pulsars and possibly for quasars.

  20. Effects of phase transition induced density fluctuations on pulsar dynamics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Partha Bagchi

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available We show that density fluctuations during phase transitions in pulsar cores may have non-trivial effects on pulsar timings, and may also possibly account for glitches and anti-glitches. These density fluctuations invariably lead to non-zero off-diagonal components of the moment of inertia, leading to transient wobbling of star. Thus, accurate measurements of pulsar timing and intensity modulations (from wobbling may be used to identify the specific pattern of density fluctuations, hence the particular phase transition, occurring inside the pulsar core. Changes in quadrupole moment from rapidly evolving density fluctuations during the transition, with very short time scales, may provide a new source for gravitational waves.