Pulsar wind-heated accretion disk and the origin of modes in transitional millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038

Abstract

Transitional millisecond pulsars provide a unique set of observational data for understanding accretion at low rates onto magnetized neutron stars. In particular, PSR~J1023+0038 exhibits a remarkable bimodality of the X-ray luminosity (low and high modes), pulsations extending from the X-ray to the optical band, GeV emission, and occasional X-ray flares. We discuss a scenario for the pulsar interaction with the accretion disk capable of explaining the observed behavior. We suggest that during the high mode the disk is truncated outside the light cylinder, allowing the pulsar wind to develop near the equatorial plane and strike the disk. The dissipative wind-disk collision energizes the disk particles and generates synchrotron emission, which peaks in the X-ray band and extends down to the optical band. The emission is modulated by the pulsar wind rotation, resulting in a pulse profile with two peaks 180\degr\ apart. This picture explains the high-mode luminosity, spectrum, and pulse profile (X-ray and optical) of PSR J1023+0038. It may also explain the X-ray flares as events of sudden increase in the effective disk cross section intercepting the wind. In contrast to previously proposed models, we suggest that the disk penetrates the light cylinder only during the low X-ray mode. This penetration suppresses the dissipation caused by the pulsar wind-disk collision, and the system enters the propeller regime. The small duty cycle of the propeller explains the low spindown rate of the pulsar.

arXiv comment14 pages, 4 figures, submitted to ApJ

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Cited by in corpus (25)

• Transitional millisecond pulsars
• Magnetic angle evolution in accreting neutron stars
• A New Candidate Transitional Millisecond Pulsar in the Sub-luminous Disk State: 4FGL J0407.7--5702
• Matter ejections behind the highs and lows of the transitional millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038
• Optical and ultraviolet pulsed emission from an accreting millisecond pulsar
• The permanent ellipticity of the neutron star in PSR J1023+0038
• The Flare-Dominated Accretion Mode of a Radio-Bright Candidate Transitional Millisecond Pulsar
• Investigating the origin of optical and X-ray pulsations of the transitional millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038
• UV and X-ray pulse amplitude variability in the transitional millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038
• Simultaneous X-ray and radio observations of the transitional millisecond pulsar candidate CXOU J110926.4-650224. The discovery of a variable radio counterpart
• NuSTAR and Parkes observations of the transitional millisecond pulsar binary XSS J12270-4859 in the rotation-powered state
• Multiwavelength evidence for a new flare-mode transitional millisecond pulsar
• Spin-down rate of the transitional millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038 in the optical band with Aqueye+
• The peculiar chemical abundance of the transitional millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038 -- Li enhancement
• X-ray variability of transitional millisecond pulsars: a faint, stable and fluctuating disk
• Deep search for gamma-ray emission from the accreting X-ray pulsar 1A 0535+262
• X-ray study of high-and-low luminosity modes and peculiar low-soft-and-hard activity in the transitional pulsar XSS J12270-4859
• Polarized multiwavelength emission from pulsar wind - accretion disk interaction in a transitional millisecond pulsar
• Discovery of UV millisecond pulsations and moding in the low mass X-ray binary state of transitional millisecond pulsar J1023+0038
• Detection of low-luminosity X-ray pulsations from the accreting millisecond pulsar IGR J17511-3057: An ever-thinning thread between bright accretion and sub-luminous states
• Identification and characterisation of the gamma-ray counterpart of the transitional pulsar candidate CXOU J110926.4-650224
• Probing multi-band variability and mode switching in the candidate transitional millisecond pulsar 3FGL J1544.6-1125
• Measuring accretion disc properties in the transitional millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038 using XMM-Newton, NuSTAR, NICER and Chandra
• Evidence for optical pulsations from a redback millisecond pulsar
• There and back again: Mysterious optical pulse profile behavior of the transitional millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038