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

Abstract

The young, fast-spinning, X-ray pulsar J0537-6910 displays an extreme glitch activity, with large spin-ups interrupting its decelerating rotation every ~100 days. We present nearly 13 years of timing data from this pulsar, obtained with the {\it 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 ~3.5 per year, and the post-glitch recoveries, which prevail the entire inter-glitch intervals. This distinctive behaviour provides invaluable insights into the physics of glitches. The observations can be explained with a multi-component model which 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 years, and we find the long-term braking index $n_{\mathrm{l}}=-1.22(4)$, 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.

Minor changes to match the MNRAS accepted version

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• The glitches and rotational history of the highly energetic young pulsar PSR J0537$-$6910
• A superfluid perspective on neutron star dynamics
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• Pulsar glitches in a strangeon star model. II. The activity
• Simulating pulsar glitches: an $N$-body solver for superfluid vortex motion in two dimensions
• An updated glitch rate law inferred from radio pulsars
• Measuring glitch recoveries and braking indices with Bayesian model selection
• Statistical estimates of the pulsar glitch activity
• Gravitational waves from glitch-induced f-mode oscillations in quark and neutron stars
• Measuring the vortex-nucleus pinning force from pulsar glitch rates
• The TRAPUM Small Magellanic Cloud pulsar survey with MeerKAT -- II. Nine new radio timing solutions and glitches from young pulsars