Monopolar Pulsar Spin-Down

Abstract

A multipole spin-down equation based on a monopolar term is derived from the general expression $\dot{\nu }=-f(\nu ,t)$ and used to study pulsar evolution. We show that the time-independent version of such equation cannot reproduce the observed properties of pulsars and conclude that there is no equation of the form $\dot{\nu }=-f(\nu )$ consistent with the \pp diagram and braking index measurements. We explore the time-dependent model under the hypothesis of decaying magnetic fields, showing that an inverse linear decay gives reasonable evolutionary trajectories. This model distinguishes the evolution of Vela from that of the other three young pulsars considered. We discuss the origin of the monopolar term, which cannot be attributed to radiative processes, pointing to the importance of particle acceleration and/or mass loss processes in the dynamical evolution of pulsars.

9 pages, accepted for publication in the Astronomy and Astrophysics Journal

References in corpus (10)

• Discovery of Spatial and Spectral Structure in the X-Ray Emission from the Crab Nebula
• The Vela Pulsar and its Synchrotron Nebula
• Discovery of Two High-Magnetic-Field Radio Pulsars
• Chandra imaging of the X-ray nebula powered by pulsar B1509-58
• Magnetar Spin-Down
• Signal of Quark Deconfinement in the Timing Structure of Pulsar Spin-Down
• Period clustering of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsars and magnetic field decay in magnetars
• The implications of radio-quiet neutron stars
• Torque Decay in the Pulsar (P,P_dot) Diagram. Effects of Crustal Ohmic Dissipation and Alignment
• BeppoSAX observations of the young pulsar in the Kes 75 Supernova Remnant

Cited by in corpus (12)

• 45 Years of Rotation of the Crab Pulsar
• The braking index of PSR J1734-3333 and the magnetar population
• Revised Pulsar Spindown
• Pulsar braking and the P-Pdot diagram
• Braking Index of Isolated Pulsars
• The illusion of neutron star magnetic field estimates
• Braking Index of Isolated Pulsars II: A novel two-dipole model of pulsar magnetism
• Inferring neutron star properties with continuous gravitational waves
• Evolution of Spin Period and Magnetic Field of the Crab Pulsar: Decay of the Braking Index by the Particle Wind Flow Torque
• An analytic approach for the study of pulsar spindown
• The Role of r-Modes in Pulsar Spin-down, Pulsar Timing, and Gravitational Waves
• Wind of Change: Faraday Rotation in a Simulated Large Magellanic Cloud