Equilibrium spin pulsars unite neutron star populations
Equilibrium spin pulsars unite neutron star populations
Many pulsars are formed with a binary companion from which they can accrete matter. Torque exerted by accreting matter can cause the pulsar spin to increase or decrease, and over long times, an equilibrium spin rate is achieved. Application of accretion theory to these systems provides a probe of the pulsar magnetic field. We compare the large number of recent torque measurements of accreting pulsars with a high-mass companion to the standard model for how accretion affects the pulsar spin period. We find that many long spin period (P > 100 s) pulsars must possess either extremely weak (B < 10^10 G) or extremely strong (B > 10^14 G) magnetic fields. We argue that the strong-field solution is more compelling, in which case these pulsars are near spin equilibrium. Our results provide evidence for a fundamental link between pulsars with the slowest spin periods and strong magnetic fields around high-mass companions and pulsars with the fastest spin periods and weak fields around low-mass companions. The strong magnetic fields also connect our pulsars to magnetars and strong-field isolated radio/X-ray pulsars. The strong field and old age of our sources suggests their magnetic field penetrates into the superconducting core of the neutron star.
3664-3669
Ho, Wynn C.G.
d78d4c52-8f92-4846-876f-e04a8f803a45
Klus, Helen
c3242677-9720-4dd3-a7cd-450af3a35596
Coe, Malcolm J.
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Andersson, Nils
2dd6d1ee-cefd-478a-b1ac-e6feedafe304
1 February 2014
Ho, Wynn C.G.
d78d4c52-8f92-4846-876f-e04a8f803a45
Klus, Helen
c3242677-9720-4dd3-a7cd-450af3a35596
Coe, Malcolm J.
04dfb23b-1456-46a3-9242-5cee983471d5
Andersson, Nils
2dd6d1ee-cefd-478a-b1ac-e6feedafe304
Ho, Wynn C.G., Klus, Helen, Coe, Malcolm J. and Andersson, Nils
(2014)
Equilibrium spin pulsars unite neutron star populations.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 437 (4), .
(doi:10.1093/mnras/stt2193).
Abstract
Many pulsars are formed with a binary companion from which they can accrete matter. Torque exerted by accreting matter can cause the pulsar spin to increase or decrease, and over long times, an equilibrium spin rate is achieved. Application of accretion theory to these systems provides a probe of the pulsar magnetic field. We compare the large number of recent torque measurements of accreting pulsars with a high-mass companion to the standard model for how accretion affects the pulsar spin period. We find that many long spin period (P > 100 s) pulsars must possess either extremely weak (B < 10^10 G) or extremely strong (B > 10^14 G) magnetic fields. We argue that the strong-field solution is more compelling, in which case these pulsars are near spin equilibrium. Our results provide evidence for a fundamental link between pulsars with the slowest spin periods and strong magnetic fields around high-mass companions and pulsars with the fastest spin periods and weak fields around low-mass companions. The strong magnetic fields also connect our pulsars to magnetars and strong-field isolated radio/X-ray pulsars. The strong field and old age of our sources suggests their magnetic field penetrates into the superconducting core of the neutron star.
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Accepted/In Press date: 5 November 2013
e-pub ahead of print date: 5 December 2013
Published date: 1 February 2014
Organisations:
Applied Mathematics
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Local EPrints ID: 359693
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/359693
ISSN: 1365-2966
PURE UUID: 34d824a9-b07b-4e2e-bde3-f6fe5210cac7
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Date deposited: 08 Nov 2013 13:31
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:59
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Author:
Helen Klus
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