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A New View on Young Pulsars in Supernova Remnants: Slow, Radio-quiet & X-ray Bright

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

E. V. Gotthelf  and
G. Vasisht
E. V. Gotthelf
Affiliation:
Columbia University, 550 West 120, thStreet, New York, NY 10027, USA
G. Vasisht
Affiliation:
Caltech/JPL, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA

Abstract

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We propose a simple explanation for the apparent dearth of radio pulsars associated with young supernova remnants (SNRs). Recent X-ray observations of young remnants have revealed slowly rotating (P ∼ 10s) central pulsars with pulsed emission above 2 keV, lacking in detectable radio emission. Some of these objects apparently have enormous magnetic fields, evolving in a manner distinct from the Crab pulsar. We argue that these X-ray pulsars can account for a substantial fraction of the long sought after neutron stars in SNRs and that Crab-like pulsars are perhaps the rarer, but more highly visible example of these stellar embers. Magnetic field decay likely accounts for their high X-ray luminosity, which cannot be explained as rotational energy loss, as for the Crab-like pulsars. We suggest that the natal magnetic field strength of these objects control their subsequent evolution. There are currently almost a dozen slow X-ray pulsars associated with young SNRs. Remarkably, these objects, taken together, represent at least half of the confirmed pulsars in supernova remnants. This being the case, these pulsars must be the progenitors of a vast population of previously unrecognized neutron stars.

Type
Part 10. Anomalous X-Ray Pulsars and Magnetars
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 177: Pulsar Astronomy - 2000 and Beyond , 2000 , pp. 699 - 702
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2000

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