Constraining the magnetic field geometry of the millisecond pulsar PSR~J0030+0451 from joint radio, thermal X-ray and $\gamma$-ray emission

Abstract

With the advent of multi-wavelength electromagnetic observations of neutron stars, spanning many decades in photon energies, from radio wavelengths up to X-rays and $\gamma$-rays, it becomes possible to significantly constrain the geometry and the location of the associated emission regions. In this work, we use results from the modelling of thermal X-ray observations of PSR~J0030+0451 from the NICER mission and phase-aligned radio and $\gamma$-ray pulse profiles to constrain the geometry of an off-centred dipole able to reproduce the light-curves in these respective bands simultaneously. To this aim, we deduce a configuration with a simple dipole off-centred from the location of the centre of the thermal X-ray hot spots and show that the geometry is compatible with independent constraints from radio and $\gamma$-ray pulsations only, leading to a fixed magnetic obliquity of $\alpha \approx 75°$ and a line of sight inclination angle of $\zeta \approx 54°$. We demonstrate that an off-centred dipole cannot be rejected by accounting for the thermal X-ray pulse profiles. Moreover, the crescent shape of one spot is interpreted as the consequence of a small scale surface dipole on top of the large scale off-centred dipole.

Accepted for publication in A&A

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• Neutron stars and the dense matter equation of state: from microscopic theory to macroscopic observations
• Constraining the magnetic field geometry of the millisecond pulsar PSR~J0030+0451 from joint radio, thermal X-ray and $\gamma$-ray emission
• A double dipole geometry for PSR~J0740+6620
• Multi-wavelength emission modelling of PSR~J0437$-$4715
• Impact of Accretion Assumptions on Pulse Profile Modelling of Superburst Oscillations in 4U 1636-536
• Parameter constraints for accreting millisecond pulsars with synthetic NICER data