XMM-Newton Observes the Intrabinary Shock of PSR J1959+2048

Kandel, D.; Romani, Roger W.; An, Hongjun

doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ac15f7

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…3D effects (e.g., for cases with α ≠ 0, in 2D field lines artificially accumulate ahead of the companion). Second, we have neglected the orbital motion of the system, which has been invoked to explain asymmetries in the light curve, with the two peaks having different heights (Kandel et al 2021). Third, we have ignored radiative cooling losses in the particle equation of motion.…”

Section: Summary and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global Kinetic Modeling of the Intrabinary Shock in Spider Pulsars

Cortés

Sironi

2022

ApJ

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Spider pulsars are compact binary systems composed of a millisecond pulsar and a low-mass companion. The relativistic magnetically dominated pulsar wind impacts onto the companion, ablating it and slowly consuming its atmosphere. The interaction forms an intrabinary shock, a proposed site of particle acceleration. We perform global fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations of the intrabinary shock, assuming that the pulsar wind consists of plane-parallel stripes of alternating polarity and that the shock wraps around the companion. We find that particles are efficiently accelerated via shock-driven reconnection. We extract first-principles synchrotron spectra and light curves, which are in good agreement with X-ray observations: (1) the synchrotron spectrum is nearly flat, F ν ∝ const; (2) when the pulsar spin axis is nearly aligned with the orbital angular momentum, the light curve displays two peaks, just before and after the pulsar eclipse (pulsar superior conjunction), separated in phase by ∼0.8 rad; (3) the peak flux exceeds the one at the inferior conjunction by a factor of 10.

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Section: Summary and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global Kinetic Modeling of the Intrabinary Shock in Spider Pulsars

Cortés

Sironi

2022

ApJ

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“…While appropriate for almost all pulsars, we note that J1959 presents the only bow shock surrounding a "spider" (companion-evaporating) pulsar. Since the companion wind shocks against the pulsar wind (Kandel et al 2021), and the postshock pressure does work against the massive companion wind, the total wind momentum flux should be increased beyond that of the direct relativistic pulsar wind. Further modeling is needed to see if such an increase is significant, helping to explain J1959ʼs unusually bright bow shock.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The short spin period and low inferred dipole field suggest appreciable recycling via mass accretion. Indeed it has been proposed that the pulsar has accreted sufficient mass to reach 2.4M e (van Kerkwijk et al 2011), although more recent observations find γ-ray (Clark et al 2022) and X-ray (Kandel et al 2021) eclipses, implying an edge-on view of the system and a more modest M PSR ≈ 1.8M e . The pulsar mass, and hence moment of inertia, affect the spindown energy loss rate.…”

Section:  =mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Bow Shock and Kinematics of PSR J1959+2048

Romani

Deller

Guillemot

et al. 2022

ApJ

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Pulsar Hα bow shocks provide rare opportunities to constrain the energetics and kinematics of the relativistic pulsar wind. We have acquired optical imaging and integral field unit spectroscopy of the bow shock of the millisecond pulsar PSR J1959+2048, measuring the shock symmetry axis at a position angle = 213.2 ± 0.°2 and showing that this slow nonradiative shock has a broad-to-narrow line component ratio I b /I n = 4. The data show that the pulsar’s velocity lies 2.°2 out of the plane of the sky. Coupled with a new fit for its timing proper motion, giving μ tot = 30.05 mas yr−1 and a Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) interferometric parallax measurement giving d = 2.57 − 0.77 + 1.84 kpc (90% range), we have unusually complete information on the pulsar kinematics. The bow shock constraints on the wind momentum flux imply that, at the best-fit parallax distance, the pulsar moment of inertia must be very large and/or the Hα efficiency at its modest shock velocity must be very high.

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“…With a small ∼0.1R e companion, this requires a binary inclination i > 83°, far from the result of optical LC modeling in van Kerkwijk et al (2011). Some support for this edge-on view also comes from evidence for an X-ray eclipse in Kandel et al (2021).…”

Section: Psr J1959+2048mentioning

confidence: 94%

An Optical Study of the Black Widow Population

Kandel

Romani

2022

ApJ

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The optical study of the heated substellar companions of black widow (BW) millisecond pulsars (MSPs) provides unique information on the MSP particle and radiation output and on the neutron star mass. Here we present an analysis of optical photometry and spectroscopy of a set of relatively bright BWs, many newly discovered in association with Fermi γ-ray sources. Interpreting the optical data requires sophisticated models of the companion heating. We provide a uniform analysis, selecting the preferred heating model and reporting on the companion masses and radii, the pulsar heating power, and neutron star mass. The substellar companions are substantially degenerate, with average densities 15–30× Solar, but are inflated above their zero temperature radii. We find evidence that the most extreme recycled BW pulsars have both large >0.8M ⊙ accreted mass and low <108G magnetic fields. Examining a set of heavy BWs, we infer that neutron star masses larger than 2.19M ⊙ (1σ confidence) or 2.08M ⊙ (3σ confidence) are required; these bounds exclude all but the stiffest equations of state in standard tabulations.

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XMM-Newton Observes the Intrabinary Shock of PSR J1959+2048

Cited by 12 publications

References 20 publications

Global Kinetic Modeling of the Intrabinary Shock in Spider Pulsars

Global Kinetic Modeling of the Intrabinary Shock in Spider Pulsars

The Bow Shock and Kinematics of PSR J1959+2048

An Optical Study of the Black Widow Population

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