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Article: Pulsar wind nebulae and the X-ray emission of nonaccreting neutron stars

TitlePulsar wind nebulae and the X-ray emission of nonaccreting neutron stars
Authors
KeywordsPulsars: general
Radiation mechanisms: nonthermal
Stars: neutron
X-rays: stars
Issue Date2004
PublisherInstitute of Physics Publishing Ltd. The Journal's web site is located at http://iopscience.iop.org/2041-8205
Citation
Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2004, v. 617 n. 1 I, p. 480-489 How to Cite?
AbstractThe general properties of the nonthermal nonpulsed X-ray emission of rotation-powered pulsars are investigated in the context of a pulsar wind nebula model. An examination of the observed X-ray emission from a sample of 23 pulsars in the energy range between 2 and 10 keV reveals that the relation of X-ray luminosity, L X, to the pulsar spin-down power, E, is steeper for the nonpulsed component than for the pulsed component. Specifically, L X npul ∝ E 1.4±0.1 for the nonpulsed component, whereas L X pul ∝ E 1.2±0.08 for the pulsed component. The former relation is consistent with emission from a pulsar wind nebula model in which L X npul ∝ E p/2, where p is the power- law index of the electron energy distribution. The relation for the pulsed component, on the other hand, is consistent with a magnetospheric emission model. In addition, the photon spectral index, γ, was found to be correlated with the conversion efficiency of spin-down power into nonpulsed X-ray emission, with greater efficiencies for γ ∼ 2-2.5 than for γ ∼ 1.5-2. Such a relation can be naturally understood within the framework of a pulsar wind nebula model, with the former relation corresponding to the emission of X-rays in the fast-cooling regime and the latter relation corresponding to emission in the slow-cooling regime. The X-ray properties of pulsar wind nebulae are sensitive to the physical conditions (e.g., the density and magnetic field) of the interstellar medium, which can lead to important differences between the X-ray emission characteristics (luminosity, photon spectral index, and emission morphology) of pulsars in various environments. Such wind nebulae can contribute to the nonthermal symmetric emission morphology (pointlike) and elongated emission morphology (tail-like) from sources similar to Geminga and PSR B1757-24.
Persistent Identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/43451
ISSN
2023 Impact Factor: 8.8
2023 SCImago Journal Rankings: 2.766
ISI Accession Number ID
References

 

DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorCheng, KSen_HK
dc.contributor.authorTaam, REen_HK
dc.contributor.authorWang, Wen_HK
dc.date.accessioned2007-03-23T04:45:57Z-
dc.date.available2007-03-23T04:45:57Z-
dc.date.issued2004en_HK
dc.identifier.citationAstrophysical Journal Letters, 2004, v. 617 n. 1 I, p. 480-489en_HK
dc.identifier.issn2041-8205en_HK
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/43451-
dc.description.abstractThe general properties of the nonthermal nonpulsed X-ray emission of rotation-powered pulsars are investigated in the context of a pulsar wind nebula model. An examination of the observed X-ray emission from a sample of 23 pulsars in the energy range between 2 and 10 keV reveals that the relation of X-ray luminosity, L X, to the pulsar spin-down power, E, is steeper for the nonpulsed component than for the pulsed component. Specifically, L X npul ∝ E 1.4±0.1 for the nonpulsed component, whereas L X pul ∝ E 1.2±0.08 for the pulsed component. The former relation is consistent with emission from a pulsar wind nebula model in which L X npul ∝ E p/2, where p is the power- law index of the electron energy distribution. The relation for the pulsed component, on the other hand, is consistent with a magnetospheric emission model. In addition, the photon spectral index, γ, was found to be correlated with the conversion efficiency of spin-down power into nonpulsed X-ray emission, with greater efficiencies for γ ∼ 2-2.5 than for γ ∼ 1.5-2. Such a relation can be naturally understood within the framework of a pulsar wind nebula model, with the former relation corresponding to the emission of X-rays in the fast-cooling regime and the latter relation corresponding to emission in the slow-cooling regime. The X-ray properties of pulsar wind nebulae are sensitive to the physical conditions (e.g., the density and magnetic field) of the interstellar medium, which can lead to important differences between the X-ray emission characteristics (luminosity, photon spectral index, and emission morphology) of pulsars in various environments. Such wind nebulae can contribute to the nonthermal symmetric emission morphology (pointlike) and elongated emission morphology (tail-like) from sources similar to Geminga and PSR B1757-24.en_HK
dc.format.extent301863 bytes-
dc.format.extent12158 bytes-
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf-
dc.format.mimetypetext/plain-
dc.languageengen_HK
dc.publisherInstitute of Physics Publishing Ltd. The Journal's web site is located at http://iopscience.iop.org/2041-8205en_HK
dc.relation.ispartofAstrophysical Journal Lettersen_HK
dc.rightsThe Astrophysical Journal. Copyright © University of Chicago Press.en_HK
dc.subjectPulsars: generalen_HK
dc.subjectRadiation mechanisms: nonthermalen_HK
dc.subjectStars: neutronen_HK
dc.subjectX-rays: starsen_HK
dc.titlePulsar wind nebulae and the X-ray emission of nonaccreting neutron starsen_HK
dc.typeArticleen_HK
dc.identifier.openurlhttp://library.hku.hk:4550/resserv?sid=HKU:IR&issn=0004-637X&volume=617&issue=1 pt 1&spage=480&epage=489&date=2004&atitle=Pulsar+Wind+Nebulae+and+the+X-Ray+Emission+of+Nonaccreting+Neutron+Starsen_HK
dc.identifier.emailCheng, KS: hrspksc@hkucc.hku.hken_HK
dc.identifier.authorityCheng, KS=rp00675en_HK
dc.description.naturepublished_or_final_versionen_HK
dc.identifier.doi10.1086/425295en_HK
dc.identifier.scopuseid_2-s2.0-11344281866en_HK
dc.identifier.hkuros97123-
dc.relation.referenceshttp://www.scopus.com/mlt/select.url?eid=2-s2.0-11344281866&selection=ref&src=s&origin=recordpageen_HK
dc.identifier.volume617en_HK
dc.identifier.issue1 Ien_HK
dc.identifier.spage480en_HK
dc.identifier.epage489en_HK
dc.identifier.isiWOS:000225766700034-
dc.publisher.placeUnited Kingdomen_HK
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridCheng, KS=9745798500en_HK
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridTaam, RE=7003756329en_HK
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridWang, W=21234341100en_HK
dc.identifier.issnl2041-8205-

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