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Register a new userUnusual glitch activity in the RRAT J1819-1458: an exhausted magnetar?
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Authors
A. G. Lyne
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We present an analysis of regular timing observations of the high-magnetic-field Rotating Radio Transient (RRAT) J1819$-$1458 obtained using the 64-m Parkes and 76-m Lovell radio telescopes over the past five years. During this time, the RRAT has suffered two significant glitches with fractional frequency changes of $0.6times10^{-6}$ and $0.1times10^{-6}$. Glitches of this magnitude are a phenomenon displayed by both radio pulsars and magnetars. However, the behaviour of J1819$-$1458 following these glitches is quite different to that which follows glitches in other neutron stars, since the glitch activity resulted in a significant long-term net decrease in the slow-down rate. If such glitches occur every 30 years, the spin-down rate, and by inference the magnetic dipole moment, will drop to zero on a timescale of a few thousand years. There are also significant increases in the rate of pulse detection and in the radio pulse energy immediately following the glitches.
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We derive the second and most stringent limit to date of the X-ray/radio flux ratio (F_x/F_R) for the radio bursts associated with the recently identified source class, the Rotating Radio Transients (RRATs). We analyze 20.1 hr of rxte/PCA observations of RRAT J1819-1458 -- a period during which 350ppm23 RRAT radio bursts occurred, based on the previously observed average radio burst rate. No X-ray bursts were detected, implying an upper-limit on the X-ray flux for RRAT-bursts of <1.5e-8 ergs cm-2 s-1 (2-10 keV) or a luminosity <2.3e37 (d/3.6kpc)^2 ergs s-1. The time-average burst flux is <2e-13 ergs cm-2 s-1 (0.5-8 keV) -- a factor of 10 below that of the previously identified persistent X-ray counterpart. Thus, X-ray bursts from the RRAT are energetically unimportant compared with the persistent X-ray emission. From the previously observed burst radio flux, we derive an upper-limit F_x/F_R< 4.2e-12 erg cm-2 s-1 mJy-1 for the radio bursts from this RRAT, the most stringent to date, due to the high radio flux of bursts from this source. The F_x/F_R ratio is a factor approximately 80 larger than that of the millisecond pulsar PSR B1821-24; thus emission processes of X-ray/radio efficiency comparable to MSP pulses cannot be ruled out. However, if the RRAT burst emission mechanism is identical to the msec bursts of magnetars, then the msec bursts of magnetars should be easily detected with radio instrumentation; yet none have been reported to date.
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We present the results of simultaneous radio and X-ray observations of PSR J1819-1458. Our 94-ks XMM-Newton observation of the high magnetic field 5*10^13 G pulsar reveals a blackbody spectrum (kT~130 eV) with a broad absorption feature, possibly composed of two lines at ~1.0 and ~1.3 keV. We performed a correlation analysis of the X-ray photons with radio pulses detected in 16.2 hours of simultaneous observations at 1-2 GHz with the Green Bank, Effelsberg, and Parkes telescopes, respectively. Both the detected X-ray photons and radio pulses appear to be randomly distributed in time. We find tentative evidence for a correlation between the detected radio pulses and X-ray photons on timescales of less than 10 pulsar spin periods, with the probability of this occurring by chance being 0.46%. This suggests that the physical process producing the radio pulses may also heat the polar-cap.
We report on the timing and spectral properties of the soft X-ray emission from the magnetar 1E 2259+586 from January 2013, $sim 8$ months after the detection of an anti-glitch, until September 2019, using the Neil Gehrels Swift and NICER observatories. During this time span, we detect two timing discontinuities. The first, occurring around 5 years after the April 2012 anti-glitch, is a relatively large spin-up glitch with a fractional amplitude $Delta u/ u=1.24(2)times10^{-6}$. We find no evidence for flux enhancement or change in the spectral or pulse profile shape around the time of this glitch. This is consistent with the picture that a significant number of magnetar spin-up glitches are radiatively-quiet. Approximately 1.5 years later in April 2019, 1E 2259+586 exhibited an anti-glitch with spin-down of a fractional amplitude $Delta u/ u=-5.8(1)times10^{-7}$; similar to the fractional change detected in 2012. We do not, however, detect any change to the pulse-profile shape or increase in the rms pulsed flux of the source, nor do we see any possible bursts from its direction around the time of the anti-glitch; all of which occurred during the 2012 event. Hence, similar to spin-up glitches, anti-glitches can occur silently. This may suggest that these phenomena originate in the neutron star interior, and that their locale and triggering mechanism do not necessarily have to be connected to the magnetosphere. Lastly, our observations suggest that the occurrence rate of spin-up and spin-down glitches is about the same in 1E 2259+586, with the former having a larger net fractional change.
We present a statistical study of the glitch population and the behaviour of the glitch activity across the known population of neutron stars. An unbiased glitch database was put together based on systematic searches of radio timing data of 898 rotation-powered pulsars obtained with the Jodrell Bank and Parkes observatories. Glitches identified in similar searches of 5 magnetars were also included. The database contains 384 glitches found in the rotation of 141 of these neutron stars. We confirm that the glitch size distribution is at least bimodal, with one sharp peak at approximately $20, rm{mu,Hz}$, which we call large glitches, and a broader distribution of smaller glitches. We also explored how the glitch activity $dot{ u}_{rm{g}}$, defined as the mean frequency increment per unit of time due to glitches, correlates with the spin frequency $ u$, spin-down rate $|dot{ u}|$, and various combinations of these, such as energy loss rate, magnetic field, and spin-down age. It is found that the activity is insensitive to the magnetic field and that it correlates strongly with the energy loss rate, though magnetars deviate from the trend defined by the rotation-powered pulsars. However, we find that a constant ratio $dot u_{rm{g}}/|dot u| = 0.010 pm 0.001$ is consistent with the behaviour of all rotation-powered pulsars and magnetars. This relation is dominated by large glitches, which occur at a rate directly proportional to $|dot{ u}|$. The only exception are the rotation-powered pulsars with the highest values of $|dot{ u}|$, such as the Crab pulsar and PSR B0540$-$69, which exhibit a much smaller glitch activity, intrinsically different from each other and from the rest of the population. The activity due to small glitches also shows an increasing trend with $|dot u|$, but this relation is biased by selection effects.
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