Discovery of a Spin-Down State Change in the LMC Pulsar B0540-69

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of a significant, persistent increase in the spin-down rate of the young LMC pulsar B0540-69, without changes in spin rate or X-ray emission, suggesting magnetospheric alterations.

Contribution

It presents the first observation of a large, sudden, and persistent spin-down rate change in B0540-69, linking it to phenomena seen in intermittent pulsars.

Findings

36% increase in spin-down rate

No change in spin rate or pulsed X-ray emission

Comparison with intermittent pulsars

Abstract

We report the discovery of a large, sudden, and persistent increase in the spin-down rate of B0540-69, a young pulsar in the Large Magellanic Cloud, using observations from the Swift and RXTE satellites. The relative increase in the spin-down rate of 36% is unprecedented for B0540-69. No accompanying change in the spin rate is seen, and no change is seen in the pulsed X-ray emission from B0540-69 following the change in the spin-down rate. Such large relative changes in the spin-down rate are seen in the recently discovered class of 'intermittent pulsars', and we compare the properties of B0540-69 to such pulsars. We consider possible changes in the magnetosphere of the pulsar that could cause such a large change in the spin-down rate.