Accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars are an important subset of low-mass X-ray binaries in which coherent X-ray pulsations can be observed during occasional, bright outbursts (X-ray luminosity L X ∼ 10 36 erg s −1 ). These pulsations show that matter is being channeled onto the neutron star's magnetic poles. However, such sources spend most of their time in a low-luminosity, quiescent state (L X 10 34 erg s −1 ), where the nature of the accretion flow onto the neutron star (if any) is not well understood. Here we report that the millisecond pulsar/low-mass X-ray binary transition object PSR J1023+0038 intermittently shows coherent X-ray pulsations at luminosities nearly 100 times fainter than observed in any other accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar. We conclude that in spite of its low luminosity PSR J1023+0038 experiences episodes of channeled accretion, a discovery that challenges existing models for accretion onto magnetized neutron stars.

Transitional millisecond pulsars (tMSPs) switch, on roughly multi-year timescales, between rotation-powered radio millisecond pulsar (RMSP) and accretion-powered low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) states. The tMSPs have raised several questions related to the nature of accretion flow in their LMXB state and the mechanism that causes the state switch. The discovery of coherent X-ray pulsations from PSRJ1023+0038 (while in the LMXB state) provides us withthe first opportunity to perform timing observationsand to compare the neutron star's spin variation during this state to the measured spin-down in the RMSP state. Whereas the X-ray pulsations in the LMXB state likely indicate that some material is accreting onto the neutron star's magnetic polar caps, radio continuum observations indicate thepresence of an outflow. The fraction of the inflowing material being ejected is not clear, but it may be much larger than that reaching the neutron star's surface. Timing observations can measure the total torque on the neutron star. We have phase-connected nine XMM-Newton observations of PSRJ1023 +0038over the last 2.5 years of the LMXB stateto establish a precise measurement of spin evolution. We find that the average spin-down rate as an LMXB is 26.8±0.4% faster than the rate (−2.39×10 −15 Hz s −1 ) determined during the RMSP state. This shows that negative angular momentum contributions (dipolar magnetic braking, andoutflow) exceed positive ones (accreted material), and suggests that the pulsar wind continues to operate at a largely unmodified level. We discuss implications of this tight observational constraint in the context of possible accretion models.

The PSR J1023+0038 binary system hosts a neutron star and a low-mass, main-sequence-like star. It switches on year timescales between states as an eclipsing radio millisecond pulsar and a low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB). We present a multi-wavelength observational campaign of PSR J1023+0038 in its most recent LMXB state. Two long XMM-Newton observations reveal that the system spends ∼70% of the time in a ≈3 × 10 33 erg s −1 X-ray luminosity mode, which, as shown in Archibald et al., exhibits coherent X-ray pulsations. This emission is interspersed with frequent lower flux mode intervals with 5 10 32 ≈ × erg s −1 and sporadic flares reaching up to ≈10 34 erg s −1 , with neither mode showing significant X-ray pulsations. The switches between the three flux modes occur on timescales of order 10 s. In the UV and optical, we observe occasional intense flares coincident with those observed in X-rays. Our radio timing observations reveal no pulsations at the pulsar period during any of the three X-ray modes, presumably due to complete quenching of the radio emission mechanism by the accretion flow. Radio imaging detects highly variable, flat-spectrum continuum radiation from PSR J1023+0038, consistent with an origin in a weak jet-like outflow. Our concurrent X-ray and radio continuum data sets do not exhibit any correlated behavior. The observational evidence we present bears qualitative resemblance to the behavior predicted by some existing "propeller" and "trapped" disk accretion models although none can account for key aspects of the rich phenomenology of this system.

We show that discs accreting on to the magnetosphere of a rotating star can end up in a trapped state, in which the inner edge of the disc stays near the corotation radius, even at low and varying accretion rates. The accretion in these trapped states can be steady or cyclic; we explore these states over a wide range of parameter space. We find two distinct regions of instability: one related to the buildup and release of mass in the disc outside corotation, and the other to mass storage within the transition region near corotation. With a set of calculations over long time‐scales, we show how trapped states evolve from both non‐accreting and fully accreting initial conditions, and also calculate the effects of cyclic accretion on the spin evolution of the star. Observations of cycles such as found here would provide important clues on the physics of magnetospheric accretion. Recent observations of cyclic and other unusual variability in T Tauri stars (EXors) and X‐ray binaries are discussed in this context.

We present coordinated Chandra X-ray Observatory and Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array observations of the transitional millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038 in its low-luminosity accreting state. The unprecedented five hours of strictly simultaneous X-ray and radio continuum coverage for the first time unambiguously show a highly reproducible, anti-correlated variability pattern. The characteristic switches from the X-ray high mode into a low mode are always accompanied by a radio brightening with duration that closely matches the X-ray low mode interval. This behavior cannot be explained by a canonical inflow/outflow accretion model where the radiated emission and the jet luminosity are powered by, and positively correlated with, the available accretion energy. We interpret this phenomenology as alternating episodes of low-level accretion onto the neutron star during the X-ray high mode that are interrupted by rapid ejections of plasma by the active rotation-powered pulsar, possibly initiated by a reconfiguration of the pulsar magnetosphere, that cause a transition to a less luminous X-ray mode. The observed anti-correlation between radio and X-ray luminosity has an additional consequence: transitional MSPs can make excursions into a region of the radio/X-ray luminosity plane previously thought to be occupied solely by black hole X-ray binary sources. This complicates the use of this luminosity relation to identify candidate black holes, suggesting the need for additional discriminants when attempting to establish the true nature of the accretor.