arXivDaily arXiv每日学术速递 周一至周五更新
arXiv 1312.2913astro-ph.HE
收藏

Gamma-ray脉冲星革命

Gamma-ray Pulsar Revolution

Patrizia A. Caraveo

摘要:

孤立的中子星(INS)是高能伽马射线天文学领域发现的第一个源。起初,在70年代,只有两个确定的来源,螃蟹和船帆座。然而,尽管数量不多,这些天体对于建立伽马射线源的概念至关重要。此外,他们在理论和现象学方面都开辟了重要的发现空间。解释这些中子星的大量伽马射线辐射的需要导致了对中子星磁层结构和物理学理解的突破性发展。与此同时,长达20年的对Geminga性质的探索揭示了一种无线电安静、伽马射线发射的INS的存在,为INS家族增添了一个新的层面。今天,我们正经历一个非凡的发现时代。目前这一代的伽马射线探测器已经大大增加了已知的伽马射线发射中子星的数量。2011年突破了100个大关,现在接近150个。伽马射线发射的中子星群中,无线电噪声大的和无线电噪声小的年轻INSs数量大致相等,另外还有一组令人惊讶的、意想不到的孤立的双毫秒双星(MSP)。MSP的数量增长如此之快,以至于它们正在成为发射伽马射线的中子星(NS)家族中数量最多的成员。尽管这些发现为我们对伽马射线发射中子星的理解奠定了基础,但对伽马射线天空的长期监测揭示了蟹状星云以及PSR J 2021 +4026脉冲发射的通量变化的证据,挑战了四十年的恒定发射范式。现在我们知道,双星和它们的星云确实可以显示出可变的发射。

英文摘要:

Isolated Neutron Stars (INSs) were the first sources identified in the field of high-energy gamma-ray astronomy. At first, in the 70s, there were only two identified sources, the Crab and Vela pulsars. However, although few in number, these objects were crucial in establishing the very concept of a gamma-ray source. Moreover, they opened up significant discovery space both in the theoretical and phenomenological fronts. The need to explain the copious gamma-ray emission of these pulsars led to breakthrough developments in understanding the structure and physics of neutron star magnetospheres. In parallel, the 20-year-long chase to understand the nature of Geminga unveiled the existence of a radio-quiet, gamma-ray-emitting, INS, adding a new dimension to the INS family. Today we are living through an extraordinary time of discovery. The current generation of gamma-ray detectors has vastly increased the population of known of gamma-ray-emitting neutron stars. The 100 mark was crossed in 2011 and we are now approaching 150. The gamma-ray-emitting neutron star population exhibits roughly equal numbers of radio-loud and radio-quiet young INSs, plus an astonishing, and unexpected, group of isolated and binary millisecond pulsars (MSPs). The number of MSPs is growing so rapidly that they are on their way to becoming the most numerous members of the family of gamma-ray-emitting Neutron Stars (NSs) . Even as these findings have set the stage for a revolution in our understanding of gamma-ray-emitting neutron stars, long term monitoring of the gamma-ray sky has revealed evidence of flux variability in the Crab Nebula as well as in the pulsed emission from PSR J2021+4026, challenging a four-decade-old, constant-emission paradigm. Now we know that both pulsars and their nebulae can, indeed, display variable emission.

机构、总结、中文摘要均由AI分析而来,可能存在错误,请以论文正文为准。

↑