On the spin-down mechanism of the X-ray pulsar 4U 2206+54

TL;DR

This paper investigates the unusual spin-down of the X-ray pulsar 4U 2206+54 over 15 years, proposing a magnetic accretion model with a strong magnetic field to explain its behavior and consistent spectral estimates.

Contribution

It introduces a magnetic accretion scenario to explain the pulsar's rapid spin-down, aligning observed data with a high magnetic field strength on the neutron star.

Findings

Spin period increased to 5555 seconds over 15 years.

Magnetic accretion model explains the observed spin-down rate.

Surface magnetic field estimated at 4 x 10^{12} G.

Abstract

Observations of the X-ray pulsar 4U 2206+54, performed over a 15-year span, show its period, which is now 5555 \pm 9 s, to increase drastically. Such behavior of the pulsar can be hardly explained in the frame of traditional scenarios of spin evolution of compact stars. The observed spin-down rate of the neutron star in 4U 2206+54 proves to be in good agreement with the value expected within magnetic accretion scenario which takes into account that magnetic field of the accretion stream can under certain conditions affect its geometry and type of flow. The neutron star in this case accretes material from a dense gaseous slab with small angular momentum which is kept in equilibrium by the magnetic field of the flow itself. The magnetic accretion scenario can be realized in 4U 2206+54 provided the magnetic field strength on the surface of the optical counterpart to the neutron star is in excess of 70 G. The magnetic field strength on the surface of the neutron star in the frame of this scenario turns out to be 4 x 10^{12} G which is in accordance with estimates of this parameter from the analysis of X-ray spectra of the pulsar.