Search results for "pulsars"
showing 10 items of 68 documents
Are pulsars born with a hidden magnetic field?
2015
The observation of several neutron stars in the center of supernova remnants and with significantly lower values of the dipolar magnetic field than the average radio-pulsar population has motivated a lively debate about their formation and origin, with controversial interpretations. A possible explanation requires the slow rotation of the proto-neutron star at birth, which is unable to amplify its magnetic field to typical pulsar levels. An alternative possibility, the hidden magnetic field scenario, considers the accretion of the fallback of the supernova debris onto the neutron star as responsible for the submergence (or screening) of the field and its apparently low value. In this paper …
Evolutionary paths of binaries with a neutron star - I. The case of SAX J1808.4 - 3658
2018
The evolutionary status of the low mass X-ray binary SAX J1808.4-3658 is simulated by following the binary evolution of its possible progenitor system through mass transfer, starting at a period of $\sim$6.6 hr. The evolution includes angular momentum losses via magnetic braking and gravitational radiation. It also takes into account the effects of illumination of the donor by both the X-ray emission and the spin down luminosity of the pulsar. The system goes through stages of mass transfer and stages during which it is detached, where only the rotationally powered pulsar irradiates the donor. We show that the pulsar irradiation is a necessary ingredient to reach SAX J1808.4-3658 orbital pe…
Spin down of an Accreting Millisecond Pulsar, the case of XTE J1814‐338
2007
We report about a timing analysis performed on the data gathered by RXTE of the accreting millisecond pulsar XTE J1814-338 during its 2003 outburst. The first full orbital solution of this binary system is given. Moreover the evolution of the phase of the pulsed emission reveals that the rotating compact object is spinning down at a rate ν˙ = (-6.7 +/- 0.7) × 10-14 Hz/s, while accreting. This behavior is considered as a result of the braking effect due to the interaction between the magnetosphere and the inner parts of the accretion disc, in the case of an accretion rate low enough to allow the expansion of the magnetospheric radius to the corotation limit. In this context we derive an esti…
Discovery of a jet-like structure with overionized plasma in the SNR IC443
2018
IC443 is a supernova remnant located in a quite complex environment since it interacts with nearby clouds. Indications for the presence of overionized plasma have been found though the possible physical causes of overionization are still debated. Moreover, because of its peculiar position and proper motion, it is not clear if the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) within the remnant is the relic of the IC443 progenitor star or just a rambling one seen in projection on the remnant. Here we address the study of IC443 plasma in order to clarify the relationship PWN-remnant, the presence of overionization and the origin of the latter. We analyzed two \emph{XMM-Newton} observations producing background-su…
Spin up and phase fluctuations in the timing of the accreting millisecond pulsar XTE J1807-294
2007
We performed a timing analysis of the 2003 outburst of the accreting X-ray millisecond pulsar XTE J1807-294 observed by RXTE. Using recently refined orbital parameters we report for the first time a precise estimate of the spin frequency and of the spin frequency derivative. The phase delays of the pulse profile show a strong erratic behavior superposed to what appears as a global spin-up trend. The erratic behavior of the pulse phases is strongly related to rapid variations of the light curve, making it very difficult to fit these phase delays with a simple law. As in previous cases, we have therefore analyzed separately the phase delays of the first harmonic and of the second harmonic of …
The discovery of the 401 Hz accreting millisecond pulsar IGR J17498-2921 in a 3.8 h orbit
2011
We report on the detection of a 400.99018734(1) Hz coherent signal in the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer light curves of the recently discovered X-ray transient, IGR J17498-2921. By analysing the frequency modulation caused by the orbital motion observed between August 13 and September 8, 2011, we derive an orbital solution for the binary system with a period of 3.8432275(3) hr. The measured mass function, f(M_2, M_1, i)=0.00203807(8) Msun, allows to set a lower limit of 0.17 Msun on the mass of the companion star, while an upper limit of 0.48 Msun is set by imposing that the companion star does not overfill its Roche lobe. We observe a marginally significant evolution of the signal frequency …
INTEGRAL and RXTE observations of accreting millisecond pulsar IGR J00291+5934 in outburst
2005
Simultaneous observations of the accretion-powered millisecond pulsar IGR J00291+5934 by International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory and Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer during the 2004 December outburst are analysed. The average spectrum is well described by thermal Comptonization with an electron temperature of 50 keV and Thomson optical depth tau_T ~ 1 in a slab geometry. The spectral shape is almost constant during the outburst. We detect a spin-up of the pulsar with nudot=8.4x10E-13 Hz/s. The ISGRI data reveal the pulsation of X-rays at a period of 1.67 milliseconds up to ~150 keV. The pulsed fraction is shown to increase from 6 per cent at 6 keV to 12--20 per cent at 100 keV. This is n…
OBSERVATION OF THE TeV GAMMA-RAY SOURCE MGRO J1908+06 WITH ARGO-YBJ
2012
The extended gamma ray source MGRO J1908+06, discovered by the Milagro air shower detector in 2007, has been observed for about 4 years by the ARGO-YBJ experiment at TeV energies, with a statistical significance of 6.2 standard deviations. The peak of the signal is found at a position consistent with the pulsar PSR J1907+0602. Parametrizing the source shape with a two-dimensional Gauss function we estimate an extension \sigma = 0.49 \pm 0.22 degrees, consistent with a previous measurement by the Cherenkov Array H.E.S.S.. The observed energy spectrum is dN/dE = 6.1 \pm 1.4 \times 10^-13 (E/4 TeV)^{-2.54 \pm 0.36} photons cm^-2 s^-1 TeV^-1, in the energy range 1-20 TeV. The measured gamma ray…
Timing and spectral changes of the Be X-ray transient EXO 0531-6609.2 through high and low state
2004
We report on spectral and timing analysis of BeppoSAX data of the 13.6 s period transient X-ray pulsar EXO 0531-6609.2. Observations were carried out in March 1997 and October 1998, catching the source during a high and a low emission state, respectively. Correspondingly, the X-ray luminosity is found at a level of 4.2x10^37 erg/s and 1.5x10^36 erg/s in the two states. In the high state the X-ray emission in the energy range 1-100 keV is well fitted by an absorbed power-law with photon index Gamma ~1.7 plus a blackbody component with a characteristic temperature of ~3.5 keV. Moreover, we find an evidence of an iron emission at ~6.8 keV, typical feature in this class of sources but never rev…
Timing of accreting millisecond pulsars
2008
We review recent results from the X-ray timing of accreting millisecond pulsars in LMXBs. This is the first time a timing analysis is performed on accreting millisecond pulsars, and for the first time we can obtain information on the behavior of a very fast pulsar subject to accretion torques. We find both spin-up and spin-down behaviors, from which, using available models for the accretion torques, we derive information on the mass accretion rate and magnetic field of the neutron star in these systems. We also report here the first measure of the orbital period derivative for an accreting millisecond pulsar, derived for SAX J1808.4-3658 over a timespan of more 7 years.