The High Time Resolution Universe Pulsar Survey VIII: The Galactic millisecond pulsar population
L. Levin, M. Bailes, B. R. Barsdell, S. D. Bates, N. D. R. Bhat, M. Burgay, S. Burke-Spolaor, D. J. Champion, P. Coster, N. D'Amico, A. Jameson, S. Johnston, M.… 展开作者
L. Levin, M. Bailes, B. R. Barsdell, S. D. Bates, N. D. R. Bhat, M. Burgay, S. Burke-Spolaor, D. J. Champion, P. Coster, N. D'Amico, A. Jameson, S. Johnston, M. J. Keith, M. Kramer, S. Milia, C. Ng, A. Possenti, B. Stappers, D. Thornton, W. van Straten
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13 pages, 5 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS
We have used millisecond pulsars (MSPs) from the southern High Time Resolution Universe (HTRU) intermediate latitude survey area to simulate the distribution and total population of MSPs in the Galaxy. Our model makes use of the scale factor method, which estimates the ratio of the total number of MSPs in the Galaxy to the known sample. Using our best fit value for the z-height, z=500 pc, we find an underlying population of MSPs of 8.3(\pm 4.2)*10^4 sources down to a limiting luminosity of L_min=0.1 mJy kpc^2 and a luminosity distribution with a steep slope of d\log N/d\log L = -1.45(\pm 0.14). However, at the low end of the luminosity distribution, the uncertainties introduced by small number statistics are large. By omitting very low luminosity pulsars, we find a Galactic population above L_min=0.2 mJy kpc^2 of only 3.0(\pm 0.7)*10^4 MSPs. We have also simulated pulsars with periods shorter than any known MSP, and estimate the maximum number of sub-MSPs in the Galaxy to be 7.8(\pm 5.0)*10^4 pulsars at L=0.1 mJy kpc^2. In addition, we estimate that the high and low latitude parts of the southern HTRU survey will detect 68 and 42 MSPs respectively, including 78 new discoveries. Pulsar luminosity, and hence flux density, is an important input parameter in the model. Some of the published flux densities for the pulsars in our sample do not agree with the observed flux densities from our data set, and we have instead calculated average luminosities from archival data from the Parkes Telescope. We found many luminosities to be very different than their catalogue values, leading to very different population estimates. Large variations in flux density highlight the importance of including scintillation effects in MSP population studies.
Millisecond pulsars are old neutron stars that have been spun up to high rotational frequencies via accretion of mass from a binary companion star. An important issue for understanding the physics of the early spin evolution of millisecond pulsars is the impact of the expanding magnetosphere during the terminal stages of the mass-transfer process. Here I report binary stellar evolution calculations that show that the braking torque acting on a neutron star, when the companion star decouples from its Roche-lobe, is able to dissipate >50% of the rotational energy of the pulsar. This effect may e…
We consider the currently observed spin distributions of various types of neutron stars, including isolated and binary radio millisecond pulsars in the Galactic plane and globular cluster system as well as neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binary systems where the spin rate is known either through coherent pulsations or burst oscillations. We find that the spin distributions of isolated and binary radio millisecond pulsars are statistically different, at least for those residing in globular clusters, with the binary pulsars being on average faster spinning. This result is likely to hold despite …
In this paper, we have investigated the accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars, which are rapidly rotating neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries. These systems show coherent X-ray pulsations that arise when the accretion flow is magnetically channeled to the stellar surface. Here, we have developed the fundamental equations for an accretion disc around accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars in the presence of a dynamo generated magnetic fields in the inner part of the disc and we have also formulated the numerical method for the structure equations in the inner region of the disc and the highest …
Pulsar timing has enabled some of the strongest tests of fundamental physics. Central to the technique is the assumption that the detected radio pulses can be used to accurately measure the rotation of the pulsar. Here we report on a broad-band variation in the pulse profile of the millisecond pulsar J1643-1224. A new component of emission suddenly appears in the pulse profile, decays over 4 months, and results in a permanently modified pulse shape. Profile variations such as these may be the origin of timing noise observed in other millisecond pulsars. The sensitivity of pulsar-timing observa…
For many years it has been recognized that the terminal stages of mass transfer in a low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) should cause the magnetosphere of the accreting neutron star to expand, leading to a braking torque acting on the spinning pulsar. After the discovery of radio millisecond pulsars (MSPs) it was therefore somewhat a paradox (e.g. Ruderman et al. 1989) how these pulsars could retain their fast spins following the Roche-lobe decoupling phase, RLDP. Here I present a solution to this so-called "turn-off problem" which was recently found by combining binary stellar evolution models with …
If the ultraluminous source (ULX) M82 X-2 sustains its measured spin-up value of $\dot ν= 10^{-10}\,{\rm s^{-2}}$, it will become a millisecond pulsar in less than $10^5\,$ years. The observed (isotropic) luminosity of $10^{40}\,$ erg/s also supports the notion that the neutron star will spin up to a millisecond period upon accreting about $0.1\,{\rm M_\odot}$---the reported hard X-ray luminosity of this ULX, together with the spin-up value, implies torques consistent with the accretion disk extending down to the vicinity of the stellar surface, as expected for low values of the stellar dipole…
A large number of new "black widow" and "redback" energetic millisecond pulsars with irradiated stellar companions have been discovered through radio and optical searches of unidentified \textit{Fermi} sources. Synchrotron emission, from particles accelerated up to several TeV in the intrabinary shock, exhibits modulation at the binary orbital period. Our simulated double-peaked X-ray light curves modulated at the orbital period, produced by relativistic Doppler-boosting along the intrabinary shock, are found to qualitatively match those observed in many sources. In this model, redbacks and tr…
Pulsars have been recognized as normal neutron stars, but sometimes argued as quark stars. {\it Sub-millisecond pulsars, if detected, would play an essential and important role in distinguishing quark stars from neutron stars.} We focus on the formation of such sub-millisecond pulsars in this paper. A new approach to form a sub-millisecond pulsar (quark star) via accretion induced collapse (AIC) of a white dwarf is investigated here. Under this AIC process, we found that: (1) almost all the newborn quark stars could have an initial spin period of $\sim 0.1$ ms; (2) the nascent quark stars (eve…
Eclipsing binary millisecond pulsars (the so-called black widows and redbacks) can provide important information about accretion history, pulsar irradiation of their companion stars and the evolutionary link between accreting X-ray pulsars and isolated millisecond pulsars. However, the formation of such systems is not well understood, nor the difference in progenitor evolution between the two populations of black widows and redbacks. Whereas both populations have orbital periods between $0.1-1.0\;{\rm days}$ their companion masses differ by an order of magnitude. In this paper, we investigate …
The discovery of millisecond pulsations from neutron stars in low mass X-ray binary (LMXB) systems has substantiated the theoretical prediction that links millisecond radio pulsars (MSRPs) and LMXBs. Since then, the process that produces millisecond radio pulsars from LMXBs, followed by spin-down due to dipole radiation has been conceived as the 'standard evolution' of millisecond pulsars. However, the question whether all the observed millisecond radio pulsars could be produced by LMXBs has not been quantitatively addressed until now. The standard evolutionary process produces millisecond pul…
In this article, we revisit the gamma-ray emission observed from millisecond pulsars and globular clusters. Based on 5.6 years of data from the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope, we report gamma-ray spectra for 61 millisecond pulsars, finding most to be well fit by a power-law with an exponential cutoff, producing to a spectral peak near ~1-2 GeV (in $E^2 dN/dE$ units). Additionally, while most globular clusters exhibit a similar spectral shape, we identify a few with significantly softer spectra. We also determine the gamma-ray luminosity function of millisecond pulsars using the population fou…
We investigate rotational spin noise (referred to as timing noise) in non-accreting pulsars: millisecond pulsars, canonical pulsars, and magnetars. Particular attention is placed on quantifying the strength and non-stationarity of timing noise in millisecond pulsars because the long-term stability of these objects is required to detect nanohertz gravitational radiation. We show that a single scaling law is sufficient to characterize timing noise in millisecond and canonical pulsars while the same scaling law underestimates the levels of timing noise in magnetars. The scaling law, along with a …
Millisecond pulsars have been discussed as a possible source of the gamma-ray excess observed from the region surrounding the Galactic Center. With this in mind, we use the observed population of bright low-mass X-ray binaries to estimate the number of millisecond pulsars in the Inner Galaxy. This calculation suggests that only ~1-5% of the excess is produced by millisecond pulsars. We also use the luminosity function derived from local measurements of millisecond pulsars, along with the number of point sources resolved by Fermi, to calculate an upper limit for the diffuse emission from such a…
Using Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA) and box counting method, we test spacial correlation and fractality of Polarization Pulse Profiles (PPPs) of 24 millisecond pulsars (MSPs) which were observed in Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA) project. DFA analysis indicates that MSPs' PPPs are persistent and the results of box counting method confirm the fractality in the majority of PPPs. A Kolmogorov-Smirnov test indicates that isolated MSPs have more complex PPPs than binary ones. Then we apply our analysis on a random sample of normal pulsars. Comparing the results of our analysis on MSPs and …
The present work is devoted to the detection of monochromatic gravitational wave signals emitted by pulsars using ALLEGRO's data detector. We will present the region (in frequency) of millisecond pulsars of the globular cluster 47 Tucanae (NGC 104) in the band of detector. With this result it was possible to analyse the data in the frequency ranges of the pulsars J1748-2446L and J1342+2822c, searching for annual Doppler variations using power spectrum estimates for the year 1999. We tested this method injecting a simulated signal in real data and we were able to detect it.
We present evidence for a small glitch in the spin evolution of the millisecond pulsar J0613$-$0200, using the EPTA Data Release 1.0, combined with Jodrell Bank analogue filterbank TOAs recorded with the Lovell telescope and Effelsberg Pulsar Observing System TOAs. A spin frequency step of 0.82(3) nHz and frequency derivative step of ${-1.6(39) \times 10^{-19}\,\text{Hz} \ \text{s}^{-1}}$ are measured at the epoch of MJD 50888(30). After PSR B1821$-$24A, this is only the second glitch ever observed in a millisecond pulsar, with a fractional size in frequency of ${Δν/ν=2.5(1) \times 10^{-12}}$,…
The globular cluster Omega Centauri is the most massive and luminous cluster in the Galaxy. The $γ$-ray source FL8Y J1326.7$-$4729 is coincident with the core of the cluster, leading to speculation that hitherto unknown radio pulsars or annihilating dark matter may be present in the cluster core. Here we report on the discovery of five millisecond pulsars in Omega Centauri following observations with the Parkes radio telescope. Four of these pulsars are isolated with spin periods of 4.1, 4.2, 4.6 and 6.8 ms. The fifth has a spin period of 4.8 ms and is in an eclipsing binary system with an orb…
Polarization profiles are presented for 20 millisecond pulsars that are being observed as part of the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array project. The observations used the Parkes multibeam receiver with a central frequency of 1369 MHz and the Parkes digital filterbank pulsar signal-processing system PDFB2. Because of the large total observing time, the summed polarization profiles have very high signal/noise ratios and show many previously undetected profile features. Thirteen of the 20 pulsars show emission over more than half of the pulse period. Polarization variations across the profiles are compl…
We calculate the joint period-spindown (P-Pdot) distributions of millisecond radio pulsars (MSRP) for the standard evolutionary model in order to test whether the observed MSRPs are the unequivocal descendants of millisecond X-ray pulsars (MSXP). The P-Pdot densities implied by the standard evolutionary model compared with observations suggest that there is a statistically significant overabundance of young/high magnetic field MSRPs. Taking biases due to observational selection effects into account, it is unlikely that MSRPs have evolved from a single coherent progenitor population that loses …
Many of the characteristic properties of the millisecond pulsars found in globular clusters are markedly different from those in the Galactic disc. We find that one such physical parameter is the surface magnetic field strength. Even though the average spin-periods do not differ much the average surface magnetic field is 2-5 times larger in the globular cluster pulsars. This effect could be apparent, arising due to one or more of several biases. Alternatively, if future observations confirm this effect to be real, then this could be interpreted as a preferential recycling of pulsars in tight b…
The millisecond pulsar J1903+0327 is accompanied by an ordinary G-dwarf star in an unusually wide ($P_{\rm orb} \simeq 95.2$\,days) and eccentric ($e \simeq 0.44$) orbit. The standard model for producing MSPs fails to explain the orbital characteristics of this extraordinary binary, and alternative binary models are unable to explain the observables. We present a triple-star model for producing MSPs in relatively wide eccentric binaries with a normal (main-sequence) stellar companion. We start from a stable triple system consisting of a Low-Mass X-ray Binary (LMXB) with an orbital period of at…
