Radiative damping and emission signatures of strong superluminal waves in pulsar winds

Abstract

We analyse the damping by radiation reaction and by Compton drag of strong, superluminal electromagnetic waves in the context of pulsar winds. The associated radiation signature is found by estimating the efficiency and the characteristic radiation frequencies. Applying these estimates to the gamma-ray binary containing PSR B1259-63, we show that the GeV flare observed by Fermi-LAT can be understood as inverse Compton emission by particles scattering photons from the companion star, if the pulsar wind termination shock acquires a precursor of superluminal waves roughly 30 days after periastron. This constrains the mass-loading factor of the wind $\mu =L/\dot{N}m{c}^2$ (where $L$ is the luminosity and $\dot{N}$ the rate of loss of electrons and positrons) to be roughly $6\times 10^4$.

minor revisions, accepted for publication in ApJ

References in corpus (4)

• Gamma-ray binaries: pulsars in disguise ?
• Discovery of High-Energy Gamma-Ray Emission from the Binary System PSR B1259-63/LS 2883 Around Periastron with Fermi
• Particle acceleration in the driven relativistic reconnection
• Spectral signature of a free pulsar wind in the gamma-ray binaries LS 5039 and LSI +61$\degr$303

Cited by in corpus (17)

• Gamma-ray binaries and related systems
• Multi-wavelength Observations of the Binary System PSR B1259-63/LS~2883 around the 2014 Periastron Passage
• Multi-wavelength observations of the binary system PSR B1259-63/LS 2883 around the 2010-2011 periastron passage
• Multi-wavelength afterglows of fast radio bursts
• High-energy observations of PSR B1259-63/LS 2883 through the 2014 periastron passage: connecting X-rays to the GeV flare
• A double neutron star merger origin for the cosmological relativistic fading source PTF11agg?
• GRB Observational Properties
• The hour-timescale GeV flares of PSR B1259-63 in 2017
• Evolution of the extended X-ray emission from the PSR B1259-63/LS 2883 binary in the 2014-2017 binary cycle
• Interaction of the electro-magnetic precursor from a relativistic shock with the upstream flow. I. Synchrotron absorption of strong electromagnetic waves
• A new approach to the GeV flare of PSR B1259-63/LS2883
• Pulsar striped winds
• The Evolution of High Temperature Plasma in Magnetar Magnetospheres and its Implications for Giant Flares
• Electron acceleration at pulsar wind termination shocks
• On the timing behavior of PSR B1259-63 under the propeller torque from a transient accretion disc
• The stability of strong waves and its implications for pulsar wind shocks
• NuSTAR Analysis of the 2024 Periastron Passage of TeV Binary PSR B1259-63