An alternative interpretation of magnetars' traits deduced from the observational data on their outburst fluxes and spectra

Abstract

By applying the Efron-Petrosian method to the fluxes $S$ and distances $D$ of the magnetars listed in the Magnetar Outburst Online Catalogue, we show that the observational data are consistent with the dependence $S\propto D^{-3/2}$, which characterizes the emission from the superluminally moving current sheet in the magnetosphere of a non-aligned neutron star, at substantially higher levels of significance than they are with the dependence $S\propto D^{-2}$. This result agrees with that previously obtained by an analysis of the data in the McGill Online Magnetar Catalog and confirms that, contrary to the currently prevalent view, magnetars' X-ray luminosities do not exceed their spin-down luminosities. The X-ray spectra of magnetars, moreover, are congruous with the spectral energy distribution (SED) of a broadband non-thermal emission mechanism identical to that at play in rotation-powered pulsars: we show that the SED of the caustics that are generated in certain privileged directions by the magnetospheric current sheet single-handedly fits the observed spectra of 4U 0142+61, 1E 1841-045 and XTE J1810-197 over their entire breadths. Magnetars' outbursts and their associated radio bursts are predicted to occur when, as a result of large-scale timing anomalies (such as glitches, quakes or precession), one of the privileged directions along which the radiation from the current sheet decays more slowly than predicted by the inverse-square law either swings past or oscillates across the line of sight.

11 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (42)

• Magnetars
• The Second Fermi Large Area Telescope Catalog of Gamma-ray Pulsars
• The McGill Magnetar Catalog
• Incremental Fermi Large Area Telescope Fourth Source Catalog
• Magnetars: the physics behind observations
• Fermi Large Area Telescope Observations of the Crab Pulsar and Nebula
• Magnetars: Properties, Origin and Evolution
• Systematic study of magnetar outbursts
• Magnetar heating
• Teraelectronvolt pulsed emission from the Crab pulsar detected by MAGIC
• Resonant cyclotron scattering in magnetars' emission
• Detailed high-energy characteristics of AXP 4U 0142+61 - Multi-year observations with INTEGRAL, RXTE, XMM-Newton and ASCA
• Observations of the Crab pulsar between 25 GeV and 100 GeV with the MAGIC I telescope
• Pulsar radio emission mechanisms: a critique
• The Evolution and Luminosity Function of Quasars from Complete Optical Surveys
• Detection of the Geminga pulsar with MAGIC hints at a power-law tail emission beyond 15 GeV
• Search for gamma-ray emission from magnetars with the Fermi Large Area Telescope
• Phase-resolved X-ray spectra of magnetars and the coronal outflow model
• NuSTAR observations of magnetar 1E 1841-045
• The X-ray reactivation of the radio bursting magnetar SGR 1935+2154
• A strong X-ray polarization signal from the magnetar 1RXS J170849.0-400910
• The 2018 X-ray and Radio Outburst of Magnetar XTE J1810-197
• Discovery of a Radiation Component from the Vela Pulsar Reaching 20 Teraelectronvolts
• Rapid spin changes around a magnetar fast radio burst
• High-cadence observations and variable spin behaviour of magnetar Swift J1818.0-1607 after its outburst
• Two new outbursts and transient hard X-rays from 1E 1048.1$-$5937
• The X-ray evolution and geometry of the 2018 outburst of XTE J1810-197
• pulsar_spectra: A pulsar flux density catalogue and spectrum fitting repository
• The 2022 high-energy outburst and radio disappearing act of the magnetar 1E 1547.0-5408
• Long term radio and X-ray evolution of the magnetar Swift J1818.0-1607
• How unbiased statistical methods lead to biased scientific discoveries: A case study of the Efron-Petrosian statistic applied to the luminosity-redshift evolution of Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Observations of the magnetars 4U 0142+61 and 1E 2259+586 with the MAGIC telescopes
• Similarity to earthquakes again: periodic radio pulses of the magnetar SGR 1935+2154 are accompanied by aftershocks like fast radio bursts
• Radiation by the superluminally moving current sheet in the magnetosphere of a neutron star
• The electromagnetic radiation whose decay violates the inverse-square law: detailed mathematical treatment of an experimentally realized example
• Energetic requirements of the gamma-ray emission from pulsars: A nonparametric analysis of the data in the Fermi-LAT 12-Year Catalog
• Radio spectra of pulsars fitted with the spectral distribution function of the emission from their current sheet
• A heuristic account of the radiation by the superluminally moving current sheet in the magnetosphere of a neutron star
• Congruity of the Crab pulsar's gamma-ray spectrum with the spectral distribution of tightly focused caustics
• Gamma-ray spectra of the Crab, Vela and Geminga pulsars fitted with SED of the emission from their current sheet
• Do Magnetars' X-ray luminosities exceed their spin-down luminosities?
• Application of Efron-Petrosian method to radio pulsar fluxes