Discovery of a Spin-Down State Change in the LMC Pulsar B0540-69

Abstract

We report the discovery of a large, sudden, and persistent increase in the spin-down rate of B0540-69, a young pulsar in the Large Magellanic Cloud, using observations from the Swift and RXTE satellites. The relative increase in the spin-down rate of 36% is unprecedented for B0540-69. No accompanying change in the spin rate is seen, and no change is seen in the pulsed X-ray emission from B0540-69 following the change in the spin-down rate. Such large relative changes in the spin-down rate are seen in the recently discovered class of 'intermittent pulsars', and we compare the properties of B0540-69 to such pulsars. We consider possible changes in the magnetosphere of the pulsar that could cause such a large change in the spin-down rate.

6 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letters

References in corpus (7)

• Switched magnetospheric regulation of pulsar spin-down
• A periodically active pulsar giving insight into magnetospheric physics
• 45 Years of Rotation of the Crab Pulsar
• Detection of 107 glitches in 36 southern pulsars
• Radio and X-ray observations of the intermittent pulsar J1832+0029
• Testing dissipative magnetosphere model light curves and spectra with FERMI pulsars
• The role of reconnection in the pulsar magnetosphere

Cited by in corpus (15)

• The Third Fermi Large Area Telescope Catalog of Gamma-ray Pulsars
• A New, Low Braking Index For the LMC Pulsar B0540-69
• Discovery of state transition behaviors in PSR J1124--5916
• Discovery of the first anti-glitch event in the rotation-powered pulsar PSR B0540-69
• Twist-induced Magnetosphere Reconfiguration for Intermittent Pulsars
• Proper motion, spectra, and timing of PSR J1813-1749 using Chandra and NICER
• The braking index of PSR B0540-69 and the associated pulsar wind nebula emission after spin-down rate transition
• Multiwavelength observations of PSR J2021+4026 across a mode change reveal a phase shift in its X-ray emission
• An Investigation of the state changes of PSR J2021+4026 and the Vela pulsar
• Spectral Break of Energetic Pulsar Wind Nebulae Detected with Wideband X-ray Observations
• Braking index jumps in young pulsars
• Spatial Variations and Breaks in the Optical-NIR spectra of the Pulsar and PWN in SNR 0540-69.3
• A growing braking index and spin-down swings for the pulsar PSR B0540-69
• A renewed search for radio emission from the variable $\gamma$-ray pulsar PSR J2021$+$4026
• Gamma-ray flares from pulsar wind nebulae in the Large Magellanic Cloud