An X-ray View of Radio Millisecond Pulsars

TL;DR

Recent X-ray observations have advanced our understanding of millisecond pulsars by revealing thermal polar cap emissions and intrabinary shock phenomena, providing insights beyond radio observations.

Contribution

This paper reviews recent X-ray studies of millisecond pulsars, highlighting new insights into their thermal emission and binary interactions.

Findings

Most MSPs show thermal emission from heated polar caps.

X-ray observations reveal intrabinary shocks in binary MSPs.

X-ray data provide unique information on neutron star physics.

Abstract

In recent years, X-ray observations with Chandra and XMM-Newton have significantly increased our understanding of rotation-powered (radio) millisecond pulsars (MSPs). Deep Chandra studies of several globular clusters have detected X-ray counterparts to a host of MSPs, including 19 in 47 Tuc alone. These surveys have revealed that most MSPs exhibit thermal emission from their heated magnetic polar caps. Realistic models of this thermal X-ray emission have provided important insight into the basic physics of pulsars and neutron stars. In addition, intrabinary shock X-ray radiation observed in ``black-widow'' and peculiar globular cluster ``exchanged'' binary MSPs give interesting insight into MSP winds and relativistic shock. Thus, the X-ray band contains valuable information regarding the basic properties of MSPs that are not accesible by radio timing observations.