XMM-Newton X-ray Detection of the High Magnetic Field Radio Pulsar PSR B1916+14

TL;DR

This paper reports the first X-ray detection of the high magnetic field pulsar PSR B1916+14 using XMM-Newton, revealing thermal emission properties and setting upper limits on pulsations, which inform neutron star cooling and heating models.

Contribution

It presents the first X-ray detection and spectral analysis of PSR B1916+14, providing new insights into its thermal emission and magnetic field effects.

Findings

X-ray spectrum fits an absorbed blackbody or hydrogen atmosphere model.

Thermal temperature higher than expected from fast cooling models.

No pulsations detected with an upper limit on pulsed fraction.

Abstract

Using observations made with the XMM-Newton Observatory, we report the first X-ray detection of the high magnetic field radio pulsar PSR B1916+14. We show that the X-ray spectrum of the pulsar can be well fitted with an absorbed blackbody with temperature in the range of 0.08-0.23 keV, or a neutron star hydrogen atmosphere model with best-fit effective temperature of $\sim$0.10 keV, higher than expected from fast cooling models. The origin of the likely thermal emission is not well constrained by our short observation and is consistent with initial cooling or return-current heating. We found no pulsations in these data and set a 1$\sigma$ upper limit on the pulsed fraction in the 0.1--2 keV band of $\sim$0.7. Implications of these results for our understanding of the different observational properties of isolated neutron stars are discussed.