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Radio Pulsars 1: Pulsar Basics: Outline
Radio Pulsars 1: Pulsar Basics: Outline
Radio Pulsars 1: Pulsar Basics: Outline
Outline
Rotating neutron stars, SN associations, Binaries, MSPs
Pulse profiles, polarisation, beaming, RVM model
Pulse fluctuations: drifting, nulling, mode changing
Basic References
Books
Manchester & Taylor 1977 Pulsars
Lyne & Smith 2005 Pulsar Astronomy
Lorimer & Kramer 2005 Handbook of Pulsar Astronomy
Review Articles
Rickett 1990, ARAA - Scintillation
Science, 23 April 2004 - Three articles: NS, Isolated Pulsars, Binary
Pulsars
Living Reviews articles: (http://relativity.livingreviews.org/Articles)
Stairs 2003: GR and pulsar timing
Lorimer 2005: Binary and MS pulsars
Will, 2006: GR theory and experiment
SKA science: New Astron.Rev. 48 (2004)
Cordes et al.: Pulsars as tools
Kramer et al.: Strong-field tests of GR
The Discovery of Pulsars
PSR B2224+65
(MT77)
then recycled
About 30% of MSPs are single - what has happened to
companion?
Blown away by relativistic wind from pulsar - ?
Lost in 3-body encounter - only in core of globular
cluster
Pulsar Energetics
Spin-down Luminosity:
Radio Luminosity:
Pulsar Electrodynamics
For a typical pulsar, P = 1s and P = 10-15, Bs ~ 108 T or 1012 G.
Typical electric field at the stellar surface E ~ RBs/c ~ 109 V/cm
Electrons reach ultra-relativistic energies in < 1 mm.
Emit -ray photons by curvature radiation. These have energy >> 1
MeV and hence decay into electron-positron pairs in strong B field.
These in turn are accelerated to ultra-relativistic energies and in turn
pair-produce, leading to a cascade of e+/e- pairs.
Relativistic pair-plasma flows out along open field lines.
Instabilities lead to generation of radiation beams at radio to -ray
energies.
Rotating neutron-star model: magnetospheric gaps
.B = 0
Regions of particle
acceleration!
Inner (polar cap) gap
Outer gaps
P.A.
Stokes I
Linear
Stokes V
P.A.
%L
Complex PA variation, L
including orthogonal
transition V
Navarro et al. (1997)
Wide Beams from Young and MS Pulsars
Crab Pulsed (non-thermal) X-ray and -ray profiles from
young pulsars have wide double shape
Emitted from field lines high in magnetosphere
associated with a single magnetic pole
Some young radio pulsars have a similar pulse profile,
e.g. PSR B1259-63
(Ulmer et al. 1994) Class of young pulsars with very high (~100%) linear
polarisation, e.g. Vela, PSR B0740-28
PSR B1259-63 Radio emission from high in pulsar magnetosphere?
MSPs also have very wide profiles - also single-pole
emission from high in magnetosphere?
PSR B0740-28
Other Examples:
Vela
PSR B0950+08
PSR J0737-3039A
Drifting subpulses and periodic fluctuations
Drifting subpulses Periodic fluctuations
PULSE LONGITUDE
On
Null
Radio
Chandra 0.1-10kev