Matter ejections behind the highs and lows of the transitional millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038

Abstract

Transitional millisecond pulsars are an emerging class of sources that link low-mass X-ray binaries to millisecond radio pulsars in binary systems. These pulsars alternate between a radio pulsar state and an active low-luminosity X-ray disc state. During the active state, these sources exhibit two distinct emission modes (high and low) that alternate unpredictably, abruptly, and incessantly. X-ray to optical pulsations are observed only during the high mode. The root cause of this puzzling behaviour remains elusive. This paper presents the results of the most extensive multi-wavelength campaign ever conducted on the transitional pulsar prototype, PSR J1023+0038, covering from the radio to X-rays. The campaign was carried out over two nights in June 2021 and involved 12 different telescopes and instruments, including XMM-Newton, HST, VLT/FORS2 (in polarimetric mode), ALMA, VLA, and FAST. By modelling the broadband spectral energy distributions in both emission modes, we show that the mode switches are caused by changes in the innermost region of the accretion disc. These changes trigger the emission of discrete mass ejections, which occur on top of a compact jet, as testified by the detection of at least one short-duration millimetre flare with ALMA at the high-to-low mode switch. The pulsar is subsequently re-enshrouded, completing our picture of the mode switches.

25 pages, 12 figures, 9 tables. Accepted for publication on Astronomy and Astrophysics

References in corpus (39)

• SciPy 1.0--Fundamental Algorithms for Scientific Computing in Python
• Array Programming with NumPy
• The Astropy Project: Sustaining and Growing a Community-oriented Open-source Project and the Latest Major Release (v5.0) of the Core Package
• Some Aspects of Measurement Error in Linear Regression of Astronomical Data
• CASA, the Common Astronomy Software Applications for Radio Astronomy
• PSRCHIVE and PSRFITS An Open Approach to Radio Pulsar Data Storage and Analysis
• A Radio Pulsar/X-ray Binary Link
• The Fundamental Performance of FAST with 19-beam Receiver at L Band
• A rapid change in X-ray variability and a jet ejection in the black hole transient MAXI J1820+070
• FAST: Its Scientific Achievements and Prospects
• Transitional millisecond pulsars
• Measuring fundamental jet properties with multi-wavelength fast timing of the black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1820+070
• A new radio census of neutron star X-ray binaries
• The Varying Kinematics of Multiple Ejecta from the Black Hole X-ray Binary MAXI J1820+070
• Rapid compact jet quenching in the Galactic black hole candidate X-ray binary MAXI J1535-571
• Polarised infrared emission from X-ray binary jets
• FAST discovery of an extremely radio-faint millisecond pulsar from the Fermi-LAT unassociated source 3FGL J0318.1+0252
• The INTEGRAL view on Black Hole X-ray Binaries
• ALMA observations of 4U 1728-34 and 4U 1820-30: first detection of neutron star X-ray binaries at 300 GHz
• Sub-mm Jet Properties of the X-Ray Binary Swift J1745$-$26
• ALMA/NICER observations of GRS 1915+105 indicate a return to a hard state
• Variable polarisation and Doppler tomography of PSR J1023+0038 - Evidence for the magnetic propeller during flaring?
• Probing X-ray emission in different modes of PSR J1023+0038 with a radio pulsar scenario
• Polarimetric and spectroscopic optical observations of the ultra-compact X-ray binary 4U 0614+091
• Polarized synchrotron emission in quiescent black hole X-ray transients
• Investigating the origin of optical and X-ray pulsations of the transitional millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038
• The binary millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038 -- II. Optical spectroscopy
• Probing jet launching in neutron star X-ray binaries: the variable and polarized jet of SAX J1808.4-3658
• Comprehensive coverage of particle acceleration and kinetic feedback from the stellar mass black hole V404 Cygni
• Peering at the outflow mechanisms in the transitional pulsar PSR J1023+0038: simultaneous VLT, XMM-Newton, and Swift high-time resolution observations
• Disk-jet coupling changes as a possible indicator for outbursts from GX 339-4 remaining within the X-ray hard state
• UV and X-ray pulse amplitude variability in the transitional millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038
• Searching for pulsed emission from XTE J0929-314 at high radio frequencies
• 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
• Investigating the mini and giant radio flare episodes of Cygnus X-3
• X-ray variability of transitional millisecond pulsars: a faint, stable and fluctuating disk
• Polarimetry of binary systems: polars, magnetic CVs, XRBs
• A search for signatures of interactions of X-ray binary outflows with their environments with ALMA

Cited by in corpus (9)

• Owens Valley Radio Observatory monitoring of LS I +61°303 completes three cycles of the super-orbital modulation
• Multiwavelength Evidence for Two New Candidate Transitional Millisecond Pulsars in the Sub-luminous Disk State: 4FGL J0639.1--8009 and 4FGL J1824.2+1231
• Polarized multiwavelength emission from pulsar wind - accretion disk interaction in a transitional millisecond pulsar
• Millisecond pulsars phenomenology under the light of graph theory
• ALMA discovery of Punctum -- a highly polarized mm source in nuclear starburst galaxy NGC 4945
• 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
• Probing multi-band variability and mode switching in the candidate transitional millisecond pulsar 3FGL J1544.6-1125
• Dynamics of magnetoviscous warped discs around compact objects
• There and back again: Mysterious optical pulse profile behavior of the transitional millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038