Isolated magnetar spin-down, soft X-ray emission and RXJ1856.5-3754

Abstract

When an isolated magnetar with magnetic dipole field B ~ 10^15 G moves at high velocity (v > 10^7 cm/s) through the ISM, its transition into propeller effect driven spin-down may occur in less than 10^6 years. We propose that the nearby neutron star RXJ1856.5-3754 is such a magnetar, and has spun down by the propeller effect to a period greater than 10^4 sec within ~5*10^5 years. This magnetar scenario is consistent with observed thermal X-ray emission properties and the absence of detectable spin-modulations of them. Detection of other rapidly moving long period (> 100 sec) magnetars with known ages would strongly constrain the very great variety of predicted propeller-effect torque magnitudes.

arXiv comment5 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in ApJL

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• Physics of Strongly Magnetized Neutron Stars
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• The Propeller Regime of Disk Accretion to a Rapidly Rotating Magnetized Star
• Magnetic Hydrogen Atmosphere Models and the Neutron Star RX J1856.5-3754
• Towards a unified view of inhomogeneous stellar winds in isolated supergiant stars and supergiant high mass X-ray binaries
• Atmosphere Models of Magnetized Neutron Stars: QED Effects, Radiation Spectra, and Polarization Signals
• Propeller-driven Outflows and Disk Oscillations
• A Strong, Broad Absorption Feature in the X-ray Spectrum of the Nearby Neutron Star RX J1605.3+3249
• Radiation from condensed surface of magnetic neutron stars
• Identifying birth places of young isolated neutron stars
• Density-Functional-Theory Calculations of Matter in Strong Magnetic Fields: II. Infinite Chains and Condensed Matter
• Could SXP 1062 be an Accreting Magnetar?
• Possible changes of state and relevant timescales for a neutron star in LS I +61°303
• Magnetic Braking of Accreting T Tauri Stars II: Torque Formulation Spanning Spin-Up and Spin-Down Regimes
• Spinning-Down of Moving Magnetars in the Propeller Regime
• Understanding the coexistence of spin-up and spin-down behaviors in long period X-ray pulsars
• Chandra X-Ray Observatory Observations of Neutron Stars: An Overview
• Can the Subsonic Accretion Model Explain the Spin Period Distribution of Wind-fed X-ray Pulsars?
• The optical/UV excess of X-ray-dim isolated neutron star II. nonuniformity of plasma on strangeon star surface
• Cohesive property of magnetized neutron star surfaces: Computations and implications
• Exploration of Spin-down Rate of Neutron Star in High Mass X-ray Binaries
• Modeling isolated magnetar spin-down evolution and implications for long-period radio transients