Swings between rotation and accretion power in a millisecond binary   pulsar

A. Papitto (1); C. Ferrigno (2); E. Bozzo (2); N. Rea (1); L. Pavan; (2); L. Burderi (3); M. Burgay (4); S. Campana (5); T. Di Salvo (6); M.; Falanga (7); M. D. Filipovi\'c (8); P. C. C. Freire (9); J. W. T. Hessels; (10,11); A. Possenti (4); S. M. Ransom (12); A. Riggio (3); P. Romano (13),; J. M. Sarkissian (14); I. H. Stairs (15); L. Stella (16); D. F. Torres; (1,17); M. H. Wieringa (18); G. F. Wong (8,14) ((1) ICE; IEEC-CSIC Barcelona,; (2) ISDC Gen\`eve; (3) Univ. of Cagliari; (4) INAF OA Cagliari; (5) INAF OA; Brera; (6) Univ. of Palermo; (7) ISSI Bern; (8) Univ. of Western Sidney; (9); MPIfR Bonn; (10) ASTRON; (11) API Univ. of Amsterdam; (12) NRAO; (13) INAF OA; Palermo; (14) CSIRO Epping; (15) Univ. of British Columbia; (16) INAF OA; Roma; (17) ICREA Barcelona (18) CSIRO Narrabri)

arXiv:1305.3884·astro-ph.HE·February 7, 2014

Swings between rotation and accretion power in a millisecond binary pulsar

A. Papitto (1), C. Ferrigno (2), E. Bozzo (2), N. Rea (1), L. Pavan, (2), L. Burderi (3), M. Burgay (4), S. Campana (5), T. Di Salvo (6), M., Falanga (7), M. D. Filipovi\'c (8), P. C. C. Freire (9), J. W. T. Hessels, (10,11), A. Possenti (4), S. M. Ransom (12), A. Riggio (3)

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TL;DR

This paper reports the first direct observation of a neutron star transitioning between accretion-powered X-ray pulsations and rotation-powered radio pulsations, confirming the evolutionary link in millisecond pulsars.

Contribution

It provides direct evidence of a neutron star switching between accretion and rotation-powered states on short timescales, supporting the evolutionary model of millisecond pulsars.

Findings

01

Detected accretion-powered millisecond X-ray pulsations from a known radio pulsar.

02

Observed the re-emergence of radio pulses shortly after the X-ray outburst.

03

Confirmed the rapid transition between accretion and rotation-powered states.

Abstract

It is thought that neutron stars in low-mass binary systems can accrete matter and angular momentum from the companion star and be spun-up to millisecond rotational periods. During the accretion stage, the system is called a low-mass X-ray binary, and bright X-ray emission is observed. When the rate of mass transfer decreases in the later evolutionary stages, these binaries host a radio millisecond pulsar whose emission is powered by the neutron star's rotating magnetic field. This evolutionary model is supported by the detection of millisecond X-ray pulsations from several accreting neutron stars and also by the evidence for a past accretion disc in a rotation-powered millisecond pulsar. It has been proposed that a rotation-powered pulsar may temporarily switch on during periods of low mass inflow in some such systems. Only indirect evidence for this transition has hitherto been…

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